Namwahs and Ice Creams
 

How closely related are these cultivars?

Thanks

Re: Namwahs and Ice Creams
 

I read someplace that Ice Cream's original cultivar is unknown, but most likely the byproduct of hundreds of years of growing bananas for food.

Re: Namwahs and Ice Creams
 

They are in different groups and not regarded as being closely related, though they are possibly a little closer related to each other than to other common varieties but I cannot currently find the paper I was looking for to confirm how close they are in fact related.

Re: Namwahs and Ice Creams
 

When I wrote this, I suspected they were similar. What I did not know for a few years was that Agristart's Ice Creams were tall namwahs.

Re: Namwahs and Ice Creams
 

A tall namwah is what my ice cream TC turned out to be.

Re: Namwahs and Ice Creams
 

How tall do tall namwah/ice cream get before the flower emerges?
My first one is over nine feet tall already.

Re: Namwahs and Ice Creams
 

Have had ice creams flower as short as 6', and my first tall namwah is more like 9-10'. Subsequent pseudostems are taller.

Re: Namwahs and Ice Creams
 

My "Ice Cream" (= tall Namwah) was 12' when it flowered for the first time. The next couple of followers on that mat are already taller than that.

Re: Namwahs and Ice Creams
 

I recently planted a goldfinger FHIA 1 which should be shorter before flower. I live in a region that is hurricane prone and tall banana plants are more vulnerable, however tall Namwah is a great banana with good cold tolerance and excellent fruit and I still think it is worth it.

Re: Namwahs and Ice Creams
 

You might consider Dwarf Namwah or "Misi Luki" if height is an issue for you. I can't really taste a difference between tall Namwah ("Ice Cream"), "Misi Luki", and Dwarf Namwah. And all three handle cold temperatures about the same, at least down into the 30's. Misi Luki is a bit shorter than "Ice Cream" and doesn't lean as much, and Dwarf Namwah is a lot shorter.

Re: Namwahs and Ice Creams
 

Interesting Mark, My "Misi Luki" that's also some type of Namwah is also shorter than my TC Namwah from a different source. Blooms were just a few week apart, so hopefully I'll be able to directly compare the fruit.

Re: Namwahs and Ice Creams
 

I think that Nick also noted that the "Ice Cream" namwah clone makes bigger bunches that the "Misi Luki" namwah clone, but I don't recall if he mentioned any difference in height. So far, that difference in bunch size has held true for me -- from a very limited sample size of one bunch of each type. But the Misi Luki clone still makes a pretty big bunch, and I like that it doesn't need to be propped and isn't so tall.

Re: Namwahs and Ice Creams
 

Same here, both bunches are big, but the Misi Luki one is smaller.

Re: Namwahs and Ice Creams
 

Which has the larger bud :)

Re: Namwahs and Ice Creams
 

"Not Mona Lisa" :ha:

Re: Namwahs and Ice Creams
 

Has anyone ever ordered from "Going Banana's" out of Homestead Florida? I ordered an Ice cream from them a few years ago and they company and the plant were great. I was just wondering, what is the probability that it was a "real" Ice cream? Also, how do you tell if it is a "real" Ice cream or not?

Re: Namwahs and Ice Creams
 

http://www.bananas.org/f12/namwah-re...ure-18167.html
Take a photo, post it, and ask for input if the thread above doesn't give you your answer.. :^)

Re: Namwahs and Ice Creams
 

Re: Namwahs and Ice Creams
 

Hmm. I think it was a Namwa... Shoot. I lost it over the winter and was a real shame because it was my favorite of all my plants. I wanted to order another but the company was out until next year. What a shame.

Re: Namwahs and Ice Creams
 

Is that a Namwah impression since the cone isn't angular? :^)