Tog Tan

You have to be HERE to be in the tropics Beth! You have no Tsunamis!

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Tog Tan has sadly suddenly passed away 6/16/09. We will miss you Tog Tan.

lorax

Yeah yeah. I'm technically ecuatorial - I don't have to worry about the big winds. Even so!

Gabe15

Some different bananas at the Hilo farmers market.


Left to right: Williams Cavendish, a Fe'i of some type (very rare to see here, this was the first time I ever got to try some Fe'i fruit!), Dwarf Brazilian.



Some type of Popo'ulu


Manzano (front, rounder fruit) and Dwarf Brazilian

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Growing bananas in Colorado, Washington, Hawaii since 2004. Commercial banana farmer, 200+ varieties.

Tog Tan

Gabe, how would you rate the taste of the Fe'i against the Cav? Very, very curious. Btw, they look really nice.

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Tog Tan has sadly suddenly passed away 6/16/09. We will miss you Tog Tan.

Caloosamusa

Good afternoon Gabe, Is it legal to bring bananas back to the mainland, or how does one get permitted to do so?

Gabe15

You have to have them inspected at the airport.

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Growing bananas in Colorado, Washington, Hawaii since 2004. Commercial banana farmer, 200+ varieties.

Caloosamusa

Good, then does your "student farm" sell Fei's with an Ag. Certification?

Gabe15

Well, having tried so many different bananas, and having a love of bananas in general, I guess I just kinda appreciate them all for their differences more than liking anyone more than others based on taste alone (though, there are definitely some that stand out).

The Fe'i bananas are strange, from their genetics and history to the fruit in your mouth, they are a completely different story from other bananas. I can't say with confidence that the ones I had were at all similar to a Cavendish in any way. The flesh is bright yellow, very soft (kinda gummy, like a thick paste) and (to me) similar in flavor and texture to a ripe, raw breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis). It is sweet like a sweetpotato or ripe breadfruit, but not sweet and tangy like a dessert banana. It is slightly sour and a tiny bit astringent but not enough to put off eating it raw. I put some pieces in the microwave for cooking (my standard for sampling what a particular banana is like when cooked), and even though they were completely ripe and edible in a raw state, they cooked up like a standard cooking banana (I've never had a banana that cooked so nicely when ripe, the ripe state must still have a high starch content but still remain palatable if uncooked) and was then rather similar to other cooked bananas, but still a little sour and gummy, but agreeable. There are a few seeds in some of the fruits, but many are malformed and they are rather soft, unlike biting into some Musa seeds, these crunch up easily and do not distract from eating the fruit. I would say I liked these ones better cooked, but I might end up eating the rest of them raw so as to not damage any potentially viable seeds!

On a technical note, it appeared as though it had 4 locules per ovary as opposed to the standard 3. Without many seeds and only looking at a ripe fruit, its hard to tell if this was just an illusion or really something unique.

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Growing bananas in Colorado, Washington, Hawaii since 2004. Commercial banana farmer, 200+ varieties.

Gabe15

We don't have any rare bananas to sell right now, plants or fruits. Its easier to get the plants than the fruits though, and I have some plants of different Fe'i varieties but they are not for sale at this time.

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Growing bananas in Colorado, Washington, Hawaii since 2004. Commercial banana farmer, 200+ varieties.

Caloosamusa

Thank you, Please let me know when your student farm will have them ready. My wife and I now have more reasons to go to Hawaii.

Thank you and best wishes

momoese

Very cool Gabe, I'd love to grow that indigenous fe'i. Please let me know if and when they become available.

Caloosamusa

Now that I've considered it, are those pictures taken at a local farmers market? Does the Hawaian Fe'i, or any of the Fe'i cultivars show any cold tolerance?

Gabe15

As stated in the first post, these were at the Hilo farmers market. Fe'i bananas are relatively so rare and so poorly known, that the kind of horticultural information most growers will be wanting to know is simply not available. Its easier to say where they grow well in the Pacific, but as for making any guesses as to how they would do on the mainland US or Europe or anywhere were they are not already growing, you would have to try to find out. My inclination is to think that they are likely very tropical and not at all cold tolerant. They are not in any kind of wide circulation and they are mostly grown by local farmers scattered throughout the Pacific. The plants are extremely hard to come by at nurseries and botanic gardens, but they are out there.

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Growing bananas in Colorado, Washington, Hawaii since 2004. Commercial banana farmer, 200+ varieties.

lorax

Wow, Gabe. When I've got my licenses, I'll trade you a your choice of Ecuadorean cultivars for a Fe'i.

Bananaman88

Great pictures, Gabe. You just keep teasing me with these Feh'i types. Hopefully some day your plants will be ready for sale/trade. Again, thanks for sharing the pictures.

TomK

Thanks for the pictures, Gabe. Adding another type to my growing wish list.

Richard

Ditto. Those are fantastic pictures! They made me hungry for some native fruit. Walking up my local hillside, all I find are sumac berries!

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Back in business at plantsthatproduce.com

island cassie

Hey Tog - my neighbour tells me we had a tsunami here in the 1950's whe he and his father had to ride their horses up into the hills to save themselves - so I guess we are in the tropics!
Gabe - great pics and information - thank you!

Gabe15

Just a quick note on the photos:

You will see lots of interesting names for fruits and things out there, the label "Indigenous Banana" is in no way correct or informative given the circumstances it was found in. These fruits are not indigenous to Hawai'i, and even if they were there are much better names to give them, even if they were found in their country of origin. This is not a criticism of the grower/seller, it really doesn't even matter to those not interested in them to the level we are, but since we are mostly all banana nerds here, I just wanted to make that clear to the people reading these posts and looking at the photos.

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Growing bananas in Colorado, Washington, Hawaii since 2004. Commercial banana farmer, 200+ varieties.

Gabe15

With all the interest in the Fe'i, I forgot to post this other photo. 'Bluefields' in the locally common name for 'Gros Michel' (aka 'Big Mike'). This was in the gift shop of the coffee mill (across from the 12 Trees project) on Napo'opo'o road.

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Growing bananas in Colorado, Washington, Hawaii since 2004. Commercial banana farmer, 200+ varieties.