bananimal

Looks great Nick. I could use some plantain pups. There's a lot of interest in plantains where I am.

shilisha

WOW!Great photos!Thanks for sharing the pretty photos of banana trees!I love bananas,but I know little about it.Great!

venturabananas

Nick, do you chop them off at ground level and the gouge down with the machete to get the meristem, or do you use the machete to completely remove the sucker at its attachment point to the mother corm?

If you were to look at my yard, you'd see I have a lot to learn about mat maintenance!

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Nicolas Naranja

I gauge down. My wife said that If I had bananas in the backyard they had to be maintained a whole lot better than they were at the farm. It seriously takes me less than an hour to desucker. It's only 85 plants. I know how ridiculous that sounds but I've gone from 2000 plants to a little over 500.

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Some people go bananas, I went plantains.

PR-Giants

Thanks Nick,

Great photos & info.

I have a Super & a Giant growing, these are my first and I will not be pruning any hands this time.

What should I expect for size & yield ?

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PR-Giants Photo Gallery


15,000+ Varieties

Nicolas Naranja

The supers will probably be 7-8" long and 45mm wide if you don't prune. The bunch will probably have 8 hands and over 100 fingers. I have learned that these varieties of french plantains are used by plantain chip producers who don't really care how long the plantain is. The overall yield should be 30-40lbs

The giant plantain will probably have 5 hands of 10" long 50mm wide fruit. The bunch will probably weight 25-30 lbs. Probably only has 35-45 fingers.

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Some people go bananas, I went plantains.

PR-Giants

This is how they were advertised...

Giant Plantain produces 150 lb. bunches of long fruit on 12ft. trees.

Super plantain is named so for its ability to produce fruit in 11 months!!!

Super Plantain produces large bunches of fruit on compact 8ft. trees.

I wanted to grow them out of curiosity.

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PR-Giants Photo Gallery


15,000+ Varieties

Nicolas Naranja

The only bunch I've ever seen that approached 150 lbs was FHIA-17. The super plantain is as quick and probably shorter than advertised. I can probably count on one hand the number of bunches I have seen that exceed 60 lbs.

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Some people go bananas, I went plantains.

Nicolas Naranja

"Giant Plantain"


"Dwarf Puerto Rican Plantain"


"Dwarf Super Plantain"

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Some people go bananas, I went plantains.

Nicolas Naranja

Super plantain bunch unfurling its bracts

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Some people go bananas, I went plantains.

bananimal

Nick -- how come you didn't hand prune the super?

Nicolas Naranja

Hand pruning is on the agenda for tomorrow, I took these pictures between getting home and going to the chamber of commerce meeting. It's actually 3 different bunches.

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Some people go bananas, I went plantains.

edzone9

Nicolas how do you deal with The Black spots That PR dwarf Plantain are knonw for.

I have 2 PR Plantain Dwarfs & They Get Black spots On The Leaves .
What do you treat that with & Can the black spot kill the entire plant ?

Thank you...Oh do you have PR Maricongo Plantain?

Nicolas Naranja

Black spots: I have a rotation of Kocide, Serenade, and Keyplex and I have gotten more aggressive with deleafing and desuckering.

I have the dwarfs and the tall maricongo. I also have dwarf superplantain and A tall french-type plantain that was a bunch reversion of Maricongo. I am a big proponent of Serenade. It is a biological fungicide that has helped me control all kinds of diseases.

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Some people go bananas, I went plantains.

Nicolas Naranja

Dwarf Puerto Rican Plantain

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Some people go bananas, I went plantains.

venturabananas

Nick, how do plantains that flower now for you fare over winter?

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Nicolas Naranja

They do OK. I imagine that these will do better than others have since it rarely gets below 50 this close to the lake. I was a good 1000' from the lake shore at my old farm now I am 100-200' away. Nevertheless, it will probably be April before I harvest these.

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Some people go bananas, I went plantains.

edzone9

Hello Nick;

Is Your Plantain Tree Farm Is Open To The Public ?

I work all over the state of FL & I know that its a matter of time before i get sent to your neck of the woods.

If so i would like to visit the farm and buy afew pups & hall them to NE Florida

About your Guanabana tree , i bought one about 6ft tall in miami fl by Acosta Farms , And after a cold snap here in St Augustine , all the leaves fell out .
is it dead ? the trunk looks healthy thou..

I am treating it with a lil Super Thrive .
Thank You ..

Nicolas Naranja

So I went out and took some pictures at night and was generally pleased

This guy is nearing harvest


So is this one


This one probably has another 6 weeks

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Some people go bananas, I went plantains.

Nicolas Naranja

Sunset in Pahokee


I've just about harvested the 1st crop from my backyard

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Some people go bananas, I went plantains.