'SH-3640' - Best of the FHIA Line
 

Re: 'SH-3640' - Best of the FHIA Line
 

Why do you think it is "the best?" How long from flower to harvest?

Re: 'SH-3640' - Best of the FHIA Line
 

Two large studies were done here, one had the SH-3640 as 'overall best tasting synthetic banana' and the other showed it to be the shortest cycle and the second shortest plant of the FHIA in the study.



Two problems with the SH-3640

1. Susceptibility to Sigatoka - which the study and also my professional experience has showed should not be a major concern to the grower. The index is low at flowering and higher than the other FHIA cultivars at harvest, but because it has the shortest cycle BLS does not have the necessary time to be detrimental.

2. Short shelf life.

Re: 'SH-3640' - Best of the FHIA Line
 

That is good to hear , I have 2 3640's in the Ground here in NE Florida, and if I can add that when a Hard Frost hits, Its The 1st to recover ,From My Other Bananas Like Orionoco, namwah .. Also Its A great looking Plant , Leaves stay Green Lmy other bananas , Im very happy with them & They will stay in My Garden , Unlike My Orionocos, & Namwah , I Will be replacing those with other varieties this summer..

Ed

Re: 'SH-3640' - Best of the FHIA Line
 

Ed, I have two SH 3640 as well, but have not tasted the fruits yet. I agree on the recovery point after a frost, both plants look a lot nicer than any of my other (8 )varieties.
Out of curiosity: I get the Orinoco replacement but why are you planning to replace the Namwah and with what? They are very productive here and everyone loves the fruit.

Re: 'SH-3640' - Best of the FHIA Line
 

I have 3 matts of namwah, We liked the taste of the bananas , but the store bought Cavendish taste better to me, so I will be removing 2 matts of Namwah and replacing with The Real Deal BJ I got from you , and French Red Plantain From Keith , I have no Plantains in my garden so im balancing out my Grove , I am keeping 1 namwah matt .

I also have 2 Mona Lisa Planted .

Ed

Re: 'SH-3640' - Best of the FHIA Line
 

That is interesting.
No one of my family members or friends would ever prefer a store bought Cavendish over one of my Namwah (and it is honesty over being polite ;). )
We like the Blue Java and are munching on a great bunch right now as I type, but past bunches have not been consistent enough.
I would never get rid of my Namwah, but I understand you are just downsizing on them.
My apologies to the OP, did not mean to side track this thread. Coming back to the title of this thread now: I cannot wait to taste fruits of my SH3640, but so far it needs to grow a little more. BTW: what is the average fruiting height of it?

Re: 'SH-3640' - Best of the FHIA Line
 

Im keeping that 1 matt of Namwah to see if next time the fruit quality will improve, Maybe it didn't hang enuff time on the plant ?, I did taste a Namwah At Going bananas & Tasted Great .. The Jury Is still out Though ;) ..

Ed

Re: 'SH-3640' - Best of the FHIA Line
 

Can I want one

Re: 'SH-3640' - Best of the FHIA Line
 

Even though Namwah has a tendency to split, I do like to harvest them at the first sign of color change. Yummy!

Re: 'SH-3640' - Best of the FHIA Line
 

Namwa suck but if they're the best you can grow then they're great, I'm just glad I don't have to eat them. I'd say a SH-3640 is about 7 times better than a Namwa and just below the quality of a Cavendish, I grow enough top quality bananas so there's no need to eat any synthetics or Cavs. Although occasionally I miss that crisp tearing sound when peeling a perfectly ripe Cavendish.

Re: 'SH-3640' - Best of the FHIA Line
 

This study also included the FHIA-21, 6 EMBRAPA cultivars, 2 TMB cultivars, and the CRBP-39.

Re: 'SH-3640' - Best of the FHIA Line
 

can not wait to taste the 3640 ! ..
Ed

Re: 'SH-3640' - Best of the FHIA Line
 

namwa is way better than BJ. So much so that I yanked my BJ out with a flower on it. Was just not worth waiting to kill it off.

Re: 'SH-3640' - Best of the FHIA Line
 

It failed the taste test for me. Which was a shame as it looked fantastic. I'll give it another cycle to see if it was a fluke.

Re: 'SH-3640' - Best of the FHIA Line
 

Thanks for the info, but it doesn't look like a SH-3640.
Next time leave the male bud on and try doing a proper ID.

With some experience you'll find the SH-3640 to be extremely easy to distinguish from the other common FHIA cultivars prior to bud emergence.

Re: 'SH-3640' - Best of the FHIA Line
 

I have more pictures, and I am pretty sure it is 3640. I think I got mine from the same place as you.

Re: 'SH-3640' - Best of the FHIA Line
 

Great... post as many as you want.

A good photo would be the male bud at 60 nodes.

Re: 'SH-3640' - Best of the FHIA Line
 

That would require that I actually keep the male bud, which is something I don't do...especially if I am bagging the bunch. It's definitely not FHIA-1, FHIA-18 or Dwarf Brazillian as a I have all those in the same row.

Re: 'SH-3640' - Best of the FHIA Line
 

Sometimes adults do things that they might not wanna do because their able to rationalize the benefit.

It's fairly common knowledge that leaving a male bud intact can be very helpful in identifying a banana plant.

By knowing what you're growing/tasting you'll be able to share meaningful data with others.