Originally Posted by PR-Giants

There's a guide online that you can download.

Identification and characterization guide for FHIA banana and plantain hybrids

Originally Posted by venturabananas

Yes, I do have that guide. I haven't found it as helpful as I'd like, in that either their defining characteristics are not typically shown in the photos folks post, or that some of the characteristics they use (e.g., amount of red in the leaf sheaths) are so environmentally variable that when you compare from one growing site to another, the same variety might look pretty different. I'm not saying it isn't useful for some varieties, but, for example, I'm not convinced I could distinguish FHIA-01 from FHIA-18 just by using it.

Originally Posted by PR-Giants

I've found the guide to be incredibly helpful and if you're not confident with using the morphological characters that can be influence by the environment then just use the characters that are stable.

It is fairly easy to distinguish the FHIA-01 from the FHIA-18 by just using this guide.

The guide states, that the FHIA-01 has a short heart-shaped male bud with wide shoulders and bracts that lift one at a time.

Now by just using that short description. try to see if you can distinguish FHIA-01 from FHIA-18.

Originally Posted by venturabananas

That's a great observation of a difference between those two varieties, but not one that the guide mentions. I'll remember that distinction for the future. The guide does mention those characteristics of the FHIA-01 bud, but it says nothing about the the FHIA-18 bud (and doesn't include a photo of it). Without you mentioning it, I wouldn't have got that info from the guide. Thanks.

Originally Posted by JCA433

My SH 3640 has calcium deficiency so I expect my bunch will really disappoint! The leaves are twisted and bent but it is not very severe. I am over fertilizing and must adjust!

Originally Posted by PR-Giants

There was no observation done for you, you did everything on your own... well, you and your trusty FHIA Guidebook.

Thanks for showing the folks that by reading a short description in your FHIA Guidebook about the FHIA-01 bud,

"the FHIA-01 has a short heart-shaped male bud with wide shoulders and bracts that lift one at a time."

you were easily able to distinguish the FHIA-01 from the FHIA-18 without the need of any description or photo of the FHIA-18. With this knowledge you've acquired you will be able to distinguish the FHIA-01 from most of the others bananas in the world.

Originally Posted by PR-Giants

The SuperHuge-3640

It's amazing, these fingers are over 6" long before the bract even falls.

Originally Posted by servatusprime

TEXTURE- It’s a little hard to describe. While eating, the fruit feels smooth but the chew is somewhat brittle, so you get these smooth “chunks” on the initial bite. It blends to be a little creamy as you continue to chew. The banana feels more dense with no fluff, but not as dense as a namwah. The slightly brittle nature decreases as the fruit continue to ripen. This characteristic is a little odd, but it’s probably one of those things most people wouldn’t take the time to notice.

FIRMNESS – More firm than a grocery store Cavendish.

SWEETNESS- Sweet and mellows a bit as it gets riper. I wouldn't eat more than 2-3 at a time when it is actually ripe. The window when it’s sweeter isn't long.

TARTNESS- When fully yellow it can be a bit tart, but as it gets some brown spots the acidity lessens and you can eat it when its “just right”. This seems to be a variety where you've got to time the stage of ripeness to consume fresh out of hand. Nowhere near as time sensitive as pisang raja, but you’ll need to make some mental notes for the next harvest.

RIPENESS- Wait till its fully yellow, otherwise is can be a bit vegetal. I would wait for some brown spots. But you also don’t want to go too far either because it starts reminding me of a potato.

FLAVOR- When timed right, there is a lot of intense flavor in this little banana. When yellow you there is a strong presence of apple, cherry and lime with a hint of typical banana flavor. As it continues to ripen the tart and bright flavors diminish and you experience more of a classic banana flavor with coconut. This is a banana that you have to time the ripeness on to eat it out of hand. Before ripeness there is a vegetal taste and while perfectly ripe you don’t notice it (maybe a hint) because of the overpowering flavors, but as it ripens the fruity flavors diminish, the potato flavor becomes present and increases somewhat in intensity. It’s a little weird eating a mix of tropical fruity flavor and potato. My wife didn't care for it. So far it’s her least favorite out of the yard.

No attempt at cooking green (I just don’t like nanners that way). I like eating these ripe. I did try grilling them like I do with plantains. There were good that way, but I rather eat a plantain from the grocery.

OTHER: The fingers tend to split, so pay attention. It peels fairly easily so that’s nice. Not sure why it’s called “High Noon”. (Maybe it has something to do with eating it at the right time)

GROWING IT: It is a beautiful plant that grows fast and is hardy in my yard. It holds it leaves better than the other verities I grow. Its leaves also seem to be “tougher” as they are a little harder to cut off. I do notice the beginnings of sigtoka now and then, but I just chop off those leaves. Getting well rooted pups has been a little more challenging on this one compared to other varieties. It seems that I have to wait until the pups are a bit bigger. Also I didn't need to support the bunch which is a plus.




OVERALL RATING: 7 I’m not completely satisfied in terms of fruit. I’ll let it grow for a while longer and see if the fruit characteristics improve with the next bunches. My wife wasn't crazy about it, and I can’t eat these all by myself especially with a smaller "ripe window". It is a beautiful plant that grows well so that is helping its score.

SUGGESTED USE: Eat it out of hand if you can get the timing right. I imagine if you like a more savory cooking banana you might enjoy this one. I guess I would label it a dual purpose banana with an emphasis on cooking. But I am not as much of a fan of savory bananas. Give me the sweet ones!!

Originally Posted by PR-Giants

Originally Posted by servatusprime

P.S. I'm sorry if my previous post in this thread sounded snarky.

Originally Posted by PR-Giants

Originally Posted by servatusprime

I got my goldfinger as a tissue culture plant from Echo Nursery. I imagine their source was agri-starts.

Originally Posted by PR-Giants

I've gotten plenty of goldfinger tissue cultures from agri-starts and some looked like yours, but none ended up being the real goldfinger.

Your SH-3640 looks different than mine, your flowers are yellow & purple and mine are yellow & white, even the buds are different. It seems like the source was the only thing the same.

Was the peduncle on your SH-3640 hairless or hairy?
Check your GF also.

Originally Posted by PR-Giants

I've gotten plenty of goldfinger tissue cultures from agri-starts and some looked like yours, but none ended up being the real goldfinger.

Originally Posted by robguz24

Makes me wonder if mine was the real thing. It started life at agristarts and many traits seemed to fit, but who knows.

Originally Posted by servatusprime

I have to admit I'm not sure what else it really could be.

Originally Posted by PR-Giants

All bananas have many similar traits, but not all bananas are Goldfingers.

Focusing on the many traits that seem to fit, will lead to many different bananas being called a Goldfinger.

Focusing on the traits that don't fit, will help eliminate many bananas that aren't Goldfingers.





If it's not a Goldfinger, then it's something other than a Goldfinger.

Identifying a banana by phenotype is done by simply eliminating what it isn't.

If you have 2 different bananas that are both named Goldfinger, then you can be sure that one is not a Goldfinger, but that does not ensure that one is a Goldfinger.