chipboy44

Hello gebe, I am truely a banana lover and have been for so long. There waqs a time when I had 59 varieties ob bananas in my yard, but due to the hurricanes and the winters here in Daytona Beach (zone9-b) I have lost so many. trying to keep uyp with replacement and getting them to show results I have left so much now to book knowledge and keeping up with everything I see on this site. But as I did see that you werent able to collect suckers but you managed to make connections and contacts there which is always so important. I made a friend in Borneo that was able to get me so so many of the most rare difficult and unavaible bulbs and seeds of the wonderful Amorphophallus species. That I can say that sooo many of the serious collectors here in America now have species not available at all before. So I was wanting to know was wether you managed to get some seeds of that banana that you were holding that enormous stalk? I noticed they were full of seeds. Also did that pink banana produce seeds or was it an eating banana or was it also a seede variety? Once someone shared 3 seeds of M ingens he managed to get out of Paupa N Guinea. Of which I managed to get 2 to gferminate and only grew for a few weeks adn somehow I lost them. Now that I have a greenhouse, even though it is not big enough I can keep mananas in there till they are bigger and stronger before I plant them in the ground to face a winter. Well I guess everyone is wanting seeds also, and hitting you up for them. I hope I have not gone on and on. Thanks again for yor fabulous pics and would just love to visit a paradise like that myself.
Salute'
rick

Yug

Great pics!

The edible varieties make me curious as to how they were developed. Could they just be variations of very old edible cultivars that have been grown for centuries, that have shown some deviation of the original, and are now considered a different cultivar? I'm guessing, I don't really know how different bananas are made/bred.

Gabe15

I don't have seeds or plants from the trip to send out. I get asked all of the time for the many varieties I have and come across, but it is quite difficult to collect and distribute the plants safely (to avoid disease issues) and legally in some cases. I hope one day to be able to make some more varieties available, and I have in the past introduced a few varieties to nurseries which are now available in the market, but it takes a lot of time which is something I don't have a lot of these days. I recommended those wild ones be collected for the germplasm bank, so maybe one day they will be available.

The pink-fruited banana, 'Ruhuvia Chichi', is an edible banana and did not have seeds.

Yes, that is more or less how all edible bananas have become unique cultivars, as mutants from other types. This is why there are so many varieties which are very similar, but differ in some small ways such as height, pigmentation, fruit size etc...

The process which made those first edible bananas is much more complex and can be found elsewhere on this site, perhaps later I can try to find some old posts I've written about it to link to here.

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

Gabe15

Here are some more photos.

'Pisang Jari Buaya' from Malaita island. Known locally as either '50 Cent' or '5 Finger'. 50-cent refers to its price at the market.


'Ba'u Egeru' on Malaita. The name translates to Betel Nut Banana, because the fruit is about the size and shape of a betel nut with the husk on. I have pretty much the same variety in Hawaii from Papua New Guinea called 'Pama'. It is a very small and very slow plant for me, but it looks very nice.


'Toraka Bonubonu', another fe'i from Makira.



'5-Minute' in the female stage on Guadalcanal.


An unknown variety on Guadalcanal.


'Kovokovo' on Guadalcanal.

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

ArchAngeL01

You are so lucky to get to travel to such places and see the world... thank you for sharing with us.

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Brad

trebor

This "50 Cent" is totally awesome
I just dont get to see stuff like this in person .. Ive been in the reptile business for years and constantly have had people say to me "Man your lucky to do what you do".. And I guess I am getting a dose back from Gabe here this morning because he is lucky to be doing what he is doing .. Just great stuff Thanks Gabe for sharing

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If ya can't eat it, it ain't growing in my back yard !

kcj1219

Wow! Outstanding photos!

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KJ

saltydad

Gabe, your contributions here, as always, really add a professional dimension to the org. Thanks so much. Keep it up!

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momoese

That 50 cent is crazy looking!

What's going on over there with banana diseases?

Gabe15

The '50-cent' is one that everyone here can get if they want, it is 'Monkey Fingers', 'Crocodile Teeth', 'Crocodile Fingers', 'Pisang Jari Buaya'...whatever you would like to call it is the same plant.

There were a few varieties there that you can easily get in the us such as 'Ice Cream', 'Mysore', 'Namwah', 'Williams' and others.

Here is my 'Pisang Jari Buaya' growing in Hawaii. It has been a fairly vigorous plant, and a lot of people seem to really like the fruit. It has gotten poor taste test ratings in some studies, it definitely has a unique flavor but I really like it and pretty much everyone I've given fruit to seems to really like the flavor as well.

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

Gabe15

I saw some Sigatoka which is expected, but really nothing too serious. I suspect there are some other problems such as nematodes and weevils, but really nothing too devastating.

The problem most farmers cited as a big problem is Banana Scab Moth whose larvae eat the young fruit skins causing scarring. If it's not too bad, it still definitely affects how much the fruit can fetch at market, but is not as serious as BBTV or Panama Wilt which I didn't see at all (but they might be present). Most people are not growing bananas for the market anyways. If scab moth gets really bad though and they start feeding on the fruit early enough, it can ruin the bunch by stunting the fruit.

In the '50-cent' photo from Malaita you can see Scab Moth damage towards the bottom of the bunch.

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

harveyc

Thanks, Gabe, I was away when this thread started and just found it. I look forward to seeing your full write-up in a month or so.

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Rmplmnz

Pisang Jari Buaya thread:

Pisang Jari Buaya

Rmplmnz

Fehi

A few videos.
Boiling and mashing Fei.
Moorea, French Polynesia
June 2009
Where we stayed..
Hotel Hibiscus - Google Maps


Ripe Fei


This one is not quite as ripe

Rmplmnz

Gabe has experienced Fei in a manner we can only dream of....

Musa 'Aiuri', fe'i banana

fe'i bananas in Manoa Valley

Cheryl's Thread
Colored Bananas...

momoese is all over this banana as well!

Rmplmnz

Illustrated guide to the identification of banana varieties in the South Pacific
4 PDF Files

Illustrated guide to the identification of banana varieties in the South Pacific | ACIAR

Page 38 Plate 64
Soa'a

Rmplmnz

Hua Moa Pics


Tostones Thread:
Banana ID

Ahava

I am in love with this thread. Love the pictures with a passion Gabe. Not only do I enjoy the unique, and lovely pictures that you share here - but I think it's awesome that you share with us the way these bananas are tied into the culture of the people there. Thank you for that, in itself. I geek out over information like that.

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Banana Student For Life Live the dream ~

Yug

Gabe - that Kovokovo looks like an Ele Ele. Any connection?

Gabe15

No. That type of coloration can happen on any type of banana, pigmentation in plants is easily and commonly changed through mutation and sexual recombination. There is even another form of 'Kovokovo' which is totally green.

If you look at the inflorescences of the two, they are totally different and they are not closely related.

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