'Veinte Cohol' bananas are ripe, 2 months later.
 

True to the hype, they ripened up almost exactly 60 days after the first hand opened up in April. Not a lot to brag about, but hey...they are bananas, LOL!



Well, really there are five hands, but I don't think that the 2 deformed squirts in the middle really count...do they? With them counted, it was 5 hands, 35 fingers total.


First taste test was...disappointing. A grocery store banana has more flavor. I'll leave them out on the counter for a couple of days and try them again.

Frank

Re: 'Veinte Cohol' bananas are ripe, 2 months later.
 

Hey, Frank, congrats! Dr. Wallace reported that most people reported the flavor as very good so, hopefully, they'll taste much better in a few days.

Any idea on the average weight on those bananas?

Thanks,

Harvey

Re: 'Veinte Cohol' bananas are ripe, 2 months later.
 

Those are some plump little buggers! Congrats!! :woohoonaner:

Re: 'Veinte Cohol' bananas are ripe, 2 months later.
 

Whatever happened to Dr. Wallace?

Re: 'Veinte Cohol' bananas are ripe, 2 months later.
 

At his profile page it looks like he's out standing in bananas (lame pun intended) Dr. Richard Wallace | Chemistry and Physics

He had posted here before but isn't active these days.

Re: 'Veinte Cohol' bananas are ripe, 2 months later.
 

THOSE ARE JUST THE CUTEST BANANAS EVER! :D
Thanks for sharing the pics. I can't wait until they become more commonly available.

Cool shirt btw...

Re: 'Veinte Cohol' bananas are ripe, 2 months later.
 

Very cool and exiting Frank. 2 months as advertised is something !!! Hopefully with some time they'll sweeten up. I just got a note from Katie at G.B.and hope to get mine soon.

Re: 'Veinte Cohol' bananas are ripe, 2 months later.
 

ok.... I'm going to go see if I can still get in line to buy one!! Thanks so much for the pics!!

Deb

Re: 'Veinte Cohol' bananas are ripe, 2 months later.
 

Those are beautiful bananas, Frank! I've pretty much given up with my latest experience with VC. I'm focusing on dwarf orinoco for now since it stores so easily in a crawlspace. Maybe I can at least get this banana to give me fruit!

Re: 'Veinte Cohol' bananas are ripe, 2 months later.
 

Frank, you are simply my star. Hope that one day my plants will produce jsut as much.

Re: 'Veinte Cohol' bananas are ripe, 2 months later.
 

That is really a really fast time from first finger to ripe - the flavour will probably get better as they mature. Congratulations!! I have never had anything ripen in less than 4 months - are they renown for being fast?

Re: 'Veinte Cohol' bananas are ripe, 2 months later.
 

Yes, I think that is sort of their claim to fame: early to fruit and quick to ripen.

Re: 'Veinte Cohol' bananas are ripe, 2 months later.
 

thats kewl!

Re: 'Veinte Cohol' bananas are ripe, 2 months later.
 

Well, I can't say that the flavor has really improved any, IMHO. The first thing you notice is how soft the texture is of the fruit. You think you might almost be able to eat the peel, it is so soft and thin, and comes off very easily. The first flavor I notice is a distinct peel taste, almost like it gets in your nose. Then that is followed by a very bland banana flavor. The last flavor I noticed is a definite "bite" at the end. The tartness comes with a nice, sweet flavor, and almost makes up for the complete blandness in the middle. But not quite.

I don't particularly care for the texture of this banana. It's too soft! The only redeeming quality I notice is the nice, tart and sweet bite at the end. It's a nice little sensation, really! Oh well, what do you want from a banana that ripens in 60 days?

I will note that this was greenhouse-grown, not field-grown. Don't know if that makes a difference or not. Dr. Wallace states in his article that "'Veinte Cohol' has a dynamic banana flavor with slight acidity and citrus undertones. It is considered by most who taste it to be of excellent quality."

I'll try again!

Frank

Re: 'Veinte Cohol' bananas are ripe, 2 months later.
 

cuties little fat things.

Re: 'Veinte Cohol' bananas are ripe, 2 months later.
 

I would love to buy a pup of that banana. have any for sale?

Re: 'Veinte Cohol' bananas are ripe, 2 months later.
 

Frank, I'm hoping that theyll be better quality like Dr. Wallace reported if I get them to fruit in the ground. In your discussion thread at http://www.bananas.org/f2/oh-no-my-v...oing-7410.html it seems like your plant was a bit small to be flowering and maybe the stress contributing to the smaller plant size and maybe also less banana flavor??

I've found it difficult to always keep my plants watered, etc. in pots but that's always a temporary situation for me.

Re: 'Veinte Cohol' bananas are ripe, 2 months later.
 

Harvey, they were even smaller than the one's Dr. Wallace grew in the ground, lol. He reported them to be around 3 inches. Mine were between 1 and 2 inches! I hope that being in a pot in the greenhouse contributed to the average flavor. BTW, I weighed one for you. 1 ounce! LOL! It was never a problem keeping it watered, since it was kept at the greenhouse where I work every day, and I water every day anyway. It probably didn't get the proper nutrition though, although I fertilized it weekly...weakly. It was stressed also, and didn't have enough leaves for much of a bunch. I still don't know though...I have tasted Dwarf Cavendish from our same greenhouse, and it was pretty good. I still prefer the old grocery store bananas though.

Carmensol, I don't have any pups for sale...yet.

Frank

Re: 'Veinte Cohol' bananas are ripe, 2 months later.
 

Thanks, Frank. As I recall, Dr. Wallace reported that the bunches averaged 150 fingers and 15 pounds, so that would be 1.6 ounces each. Still small, but not quite as tiny as yours.

I wonder if the length of daylight might have anything to do with the taste of bananas or the development of the flower before it emerges. Just some things I'm wondering about.

You better watch your comments here, you might get run out of the place saying you prefer store-bought bananas. I'll leave it up to Pete or someone else 'cause you're too big of a dog for me! :P

Thanks,

Harv

Re: 'Veinte Cohol' bananas are ripe, 2 months later.
 

Good show Frank, its an interesting cultivar. I was talking with Don Chafin a bit ago and he was wondering why everyone wanted Veinte Cohol so bad all of the sudden, he told me he thought they weren't that good for eating compared to most others.

I'm currently growing out Senorita and Pisang Berlin, both reputed 40 day bananas (40 days from flag to harvest). I hope to see fruit from the Pisang Berlin later this year or early next year if bunchy top doesn't get to it first.

Re: 'Veinte Cohol' bananas are ripe, 2 months later.
 

Are you crazy???? Leave me outa this one!

Those fruits look bigger than 1 oz. was that peel and all?

Re: 'Veinte Cohol' bananas are ripe, 2 months later.
 

No, but I thought you were! :D

Re: 'Veinte Cohol' bananas are ripe, 2 months later.
 

Come one, Pete! You can take him! BigDog is all bark and no bite! (I'll stop now before I get myself roped into this as well.)

Thanks for sharing your experiences on the VC with us, BD. I think that it will likely perform better and taste better if grown in the ground. I think there is something about these soilless commercial mixes that make plants lack in taste and there just seems to be no substitute for growing most things in ground. I think bananas really need that free root-run to do their best.

Re: 'Veinte Cohol' bananas are ripe, 2 months later.
 

Well, I'm glad to hear that I'm not the only one! If you let them get very ripe, they're difficult to peel without making a mushy mess out of them. That being said, I just ate a whole hand of overripe ones, and the "peel" taste wasn't there in the first bite, or the bland taste. Kind of a conundrum! I bet they'd be good in a smoothie, or ice cream or something. They are decent, but I've definitely had better. Let me know how that 'Pisang Berlin' comes along!

Pete, yeah, that was peel and all! In fact, I rounded up just a little bit to get to an ounce, lol.

Oh...you don't want to test the "Bigdog's" bite! LOL!

Frank

Re: 'Veinte Cohol' bananas are ripe, 2 months later.
 

I missed this post when went to page 2.

It's easy to understand why it's popular. To borrow a phrase posted here a couple of years ago by Jeff Earl (something like it, anyways), "A fair tasting banana is better than no banana at all." For many people in marginal climates, something like Venite Cohol offers a better chance to get ripe fruit than any other available. I have pups of Senorita but I've been told that it's a taller plant and didn't ripen very quickly and I've heard from others that there is a dwarf version and I'd like to try that. Put me on your list for some TC plants, Gabe! :)

Thanks,

Harv

Re: 'Veinte Cohol' bananas are ripe, 2 months later.
 

More plants need to be into the TC realm so that temperate gardeners have more access to try new varieties. The process of TC seems way behind of demand in my opinion (or maybe just the demand of crazy folks like us on the board)! :ha:

Re: 'Veinte Cohol' bananas are ripe, 2 months later.
 

I guess this could be said about Orinoco too, right?

Re: 'Veinte Cohol' bananas are ripe, 2 months later.
 

Orinoco is known to be hardy, but not fast at fruiting. As long as we get into the low 20s for several days, Orinoco's psuedostem will probably stay alive and be able to fruit the following summer if it's large enough. But if you grow a pup in the greenhouse and set it out in the spring, it won't flower and mature fast enough for fruit production. Dr. Wallace grew Veinte Cohol in this manner in Savannah over a three year period and every plant (50 plants, I believe) produced ripe fruit my October. He tried 40 varieties and Veinte Cohol was the most consistent producer.

Re: 'Veinte Cohol' bananas are ripe, 2 months later.
 

Oh, I mean in regards to the flavor and popularity. Like how Orinoco is probably not the tastiest, but its quite popular for a reason, albeit in a different aspect which is its hardiness. I personally would never grow an Orinoco cos it doesn't seem worth it for the fruit to me. And I probably would never want to grow a VC if the fruits weren't so pretty darn cute.

Re: 'Veinte Cohol' bananas are ripe, 2 months later.
 

Oh. "Now I see", said the blind man to the deaf mute as he picked up a hammer and saw.

Re: 'Veinte Cohol' bananas are ripe, 2 months later.
 

Harvey - Musaboru - you couldn't be more wrong about orinoco ripened on the plant - they are about the most delicious fruit around and perhaps I have a good cultivar, but people here are begging for pups! Let them ripen on the plant and then don't think of eating them until they start to soften. The only problem is the size - you need to share a finger as one is too much to eat.

Much better than blue java, manzano, dwarf cavendish and even dwarf orinoco - the jury is out on the saba.

Re: 'Veinte Cohol' bananas are ripe, 2 months later.
 

Cassie, I made no comment as to the quality of fruit from Orinoco. I've not had one. Please add me to your list of beggars! :P

Re: 'Veinte Cohol' bananas are ripe, 2 months later.
 

Frank, have you fruited this one again since 2009? Just wondering if it was any better if it fruited in the ground. One of mine bloomed a couple of weeks ago and weather is cool so I expect mine might even taste worse than yours! ;)

Re: 'Veinte Cohol' bananas are ripe, 2 months later.
 

I'd be more excited by a seedless velutina than VC. They are cold hardy and still usually manage fruit by fall even up here in Tennessee!

Re: 'Veinte Cohol' bananas are ripe, 2 months later.
 

Harvey, sorry for the late reply. I haven't fruited anything in several years, since all of my banana plants are at my folks' house in Gainesville, FL, and I no longer keep very many of them due to a couple of moves in the past 2 years. I have a mat growing in Gainesville, but they have yet to fruit there. It has proven to be cold hardy enough to grow there, but we'll have to wait and see if it will ripen a bunch in one season there.

Frank

Re: 'Veinte Cohol' bananas are ripe, 2 months later.
 

Those two definitely sounds interesting. Are they being sold by any nursery yet in North America?

Re: 'Veinte Cohol' bananas are ripe, 2 months later.
 

Veinte Cohol is sold by Going Bananas and some seller on eBay advertises plants but I don't know if their trustworthy (they also list plants as California Gold but they appear to be something else).

Re: 'Veinte Cohol' bananas are ripe, 2 months later.
 

Thanks

But I was thinking about Señorita and Pisang Berlin.

Re: 'Veinte Cohol' bananas are ripe, 2 months later.
 

Hey Harvey, did your veinte cohol ever turn out or did you lose the fruit?

Re: 'Veinte Cohol' bananas are ripe, 2 months later.
 

The flower was too late for the fruit to develop and all of the plants and pups died. :( There's a chance that a new pup may still come up from the corm now that the weather is warm.

Re: 'Veinte Cohol' bananas are ripe, 2 months later.
 

If not I have one I can sell you or trade:woohoonaner:

Re: 'Veinte Cohol' bananas are ripe, 2 months later.
 

So I will guess that they don't do well here then.

Re: 'Veinte Cohol' bananas are ripe, 2 months later.
 

Well, I don't think they're very hardy but they can grow pretty quick so they have a place if you're willing to get plants started in a greenhouse. That's what they were touted for in a Savannah, GA study.

Re: 'Veinte Cohol' bananas are ripe, 2 months later.
 

I know this is an old thread. I was just wondering if anyone still has 'Veinte Cohol' and if it is easily wintered in colder climates.

Re: 'Veinte Cohol' bananas are ripe, 2 months later.
 

I don't think you can cold-store them. I think if you let them go dormant in a pot you might have issues even. Easily doesn't come to mind for this one.

Re: 'Veinte Cohol' bananas are ripe, 2 months later.
 

I got a VC pup from a club member at his open house. Dug it off the mat myself. Lots of roots. It's still potted and will go in the ground when it takes on some size and vigor to make it thru winter.

Re: 'Veinte Cohol' bananas are ripe, 2 months later.
 

Smart choice since they are predicting a colder winter than normal for florida for some reason.

Re: 'Veinte Cohol' bananas are ripe, 2 months later.
 

I guess I'll pass on this one. Still looking to raise more of my own food and banana is my favorite fruit. I have one every morning for breakfast. But is St. Louis a steady supply of home grown is not even a dream.

Re: 'Veinte Cohol' bananas are ripe, 2 months later.
 

This is one of the most sensitive bananas I've grown (maybe 40 varieties or more). I had 3-4 large plants surround by some smaller pups of VC going into last winter, one with undeveloped fruit hanging, and they all died completely. It was a colder than normal winter with 35 nights of frost and one morning got down to 22F, but none of those days were very cold during the daytime (40s or higher).

Re: 'Veinte Cohol' bananas are ripe, 2 months later.
 

Don't give up hope. VC is a bad choice for raising your own bananas also because, even in good conditions, it makes very small bunches of small fruit, i.e., very little of your favorite fruit. If I were you, I'd get a Dwarf Namwah. They are about as indestructible as you will find in an edible banana plant and they make big bunches of tasty fruit.