robguz24

The only thing I can think of is that it's a bit cooler here most of the year than Puerto Rico and a lot of tropical areas of the world. The last few years they have started flowering at the beginning of winter, so fruit development has been throughout the coldest, rainiest, least sunny time of year. The other possibility is my Williams are another cavendish type which takes longer. I also wait to harvest until at least one fruit begins to turn yellow, but the fruit does seem to remain the same size for weeks before that. Sucrier and Iholena are the only types I've had so far that ripen within 100 days. Most have been 5-6 months.

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paradisi

I live on the Sunshine Coast in Australia -our bananas do take a lot longer to ripen than growers further north near Cairns. I would guess the maritime sub tropical climate we have is similar to Hawaii. We have bananas flowering all year and the winter flowering ones do take a lot longer. I pick the bunch before any bananas are yellowing and ripen them in a protection bag under our pergola. This way the possums cant get at them and we can easily check how the ripening is going and of course the grandsons can check the ripening process for themselves without needing a ladder to get up the tree. I am not sure of the exact times for ripening, I always work on 3-4 months from when the flower first appears.

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robguz24

Harvested my first "Thai Dessert" bunch today. Very small bunch and very small fruit, about 3" each. The person I bought it from also calls it Kluay Khai. However I also have a Sucrier which looks similar. I've seen that both Kluay Khai and Sucrier are also called Pisang Mas. However, the two plants I have are distinct. Slightly different color and the Sucrier leans heavily and must be propped up even when about 5' tall with no bloom. The other doesn't. Has taken 3 years to get this small bunch. One of my fastest flower to harvest, just under 80 days. I probably tasted one banana of this type 3 years ago. Will give a taste report hopefully later this week.

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momoese

Harvest this FHIA 18 bunch about a week late. All ripe at the same time, splitting skins after all this rain, and breaking off the bunch if you even look at them wrong so into the freezer they go!

robguz24

Taste report on them? I've got one but it's a long way from fruiting.

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momoese

A solid tasting banana. Like an improved Cavendish with a little sub-acid.

edzone9

That is awesome ! a double ARH ..
those are huge ! You are lucky to live and grow your Plantains in a perfect climate !

The view is'nt to shabby either

La Isla De Elcanto !

robguz24

Finally harvested the A'ea'e that was a transplanted water sucker 18 months ago. 30 lb bunch. About 135 days flower emergence to harvested fruit. One banana had a noticeable change in the lightness of the green color, so I cut it down. Steamed two off the bunch for dinner, though ideally I like them a bit more ripe. Looking forward to the rest of these. One I picked off a few weeks ago and took 2 weeks to ripen was quite good out of hand too! Been 3 years since my first one planted and that p-stem collapsed due to weevil damage before the fruit was mature, so this is really my first bunch of this type. Very excited about these!

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Nicolas Naranja

The prediction of a low below 40 made me go ahead and cut the fruit that was ready. 10 Hua Moa and 2 Kind of runty macho plantains

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cincinnana

Nice !!
I will assume that is a full size tailgate on a pickup truck.
And not a Fiat.
Good paycheck!!

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cincinnana

Thanks for the information
Had no idea of the profit stream.

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bananimal

It's always easy to figure out what the farmer gets. Just take your retail rice and divide it by 5 to 10. When I was a kid we visited a chicken farm that sold the chickens for meat to Campbell soup. They got 1.5 cents per pound at the time and were expecting lower prices soon. Small scale farming is tough! Always has been.

Julian

I find it interesting that you don't prefer DB. The environment must really change the taste, because in Hawaii, DB tastes so much better than Williams. It's like something gourmet being compared to something bland.

PR-Giants

I always find it amusing when someone partakes in "Cavendish Bashing", in an attempt to elevate their preferred cultivar.

A dwarf brazilian tastes slightly better than wet cardboard, when compared to a true gourmet banana like the Puerto Rican Morado.

Even though the Morado is super sweet and packed with tropical flavors, the Cavendish is still a quality banana and deserves some respect.

Now a more serious response to a silly post.

According to the last study I read from the U of H, the Cavendish represents 90% of the market in Hawaii. 50% imported, 40% local, and 10% other local cultivars.

If more people in Hawaii held your opinion of the db, it should then represent a larger market share. If there's a real demand a farmer would most certainly meet it.

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Julian

Williams grown here are all right. I eat them because they are cheap. DB's are 50% more expensive at the market than Williams. People like cheap. Especially in Hawaii. I have Jamaican reds in my yard. I am not sure if it is the same as morado. They are pretty good. I like them. You can ask these guys Contact | Phone, Email, Store Locations, Maps | Koolau Farmers They supply the majority of the home growers with banana plants here in Hawaii. They will tell you that people who know and grow their own bananas to eat, prefer DB's over everything else combined. I was not really trying to bash. I was just wondering about the differences in environment affecting taste. The other month people were talking about how Manzanos grown in Hawaii don't taste as good as those grown in other places... It could very well be, that Williams grown where you live taste better. That's why I was asking. It's all good man. More Cavs for you.

Julian

So sensitive about your Bananas. It's not like I said my Banana is bigger than yours. You go and enjoy your cavs.

Julian

It's true man. Even our Walmart carry banana plants. Primarily Db's. At Walmart they sell for $39.00 a plant. At Ko'olau you can get a small TC for as low as $11.99. As far as the cost of living and being cheap, you can buy cavs from .79-.99 cents a pound at the market and the typical price of DB's are $1.49. The cost of living is really high in Hawaii.

The only Cavs I ever see growing in peoples yard are Dwarf Cavs because of their small stature and the small yards that people have here.

venturabananas

Talk about bashing!

I've never met anyone who has actually tasted a Dwarf Brazilian who shares your view that they taste slightly better than wet cardboard, though you did phrase your statement in a way that makes it impossible for me to refute it from personal experience because you compare it to a variety I've never tried. My understanding is that Morado is just a local name for Red (AAA genome). Personally, I would never choose a Red over Dwarf Brazilian (I just finished eating one moments ago), but taste is a personal thing. But wet cardboard, no, not at all. (For full disclosure, Dwarf Brazilian is not my favorite cultivar, but it's near the top of my list.)

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Yug

Last time I went to Ko'olau Farms they had virused 'nanners. I told the guy running the cash register, but he said the owner didn't want to get rid of them. (for all I know, the guy running the register may have been the owner, and was just putting me off). When I get 'nanners from Wal-Mart, they are usually the smaller pots, and I think they were running about 14.99 or so. The Wal-mart in Pearl City had a dwarf Red recently that was showing bunchy signs recently. I told them about it, and it's not there now.

PR-Giants

Yes Mark, and Thank you very much for noticing.

I tried to make it obvious in order to solicit a comment like yours.

The original post and the part of the next post above "Now a more serious response" was all done in a

Tongue-in-Cheek manner to demonstrate how ineffective bashing really is.

Dwarf Brazilian was only used because that was the cultivar Rob used in his comparison, back on Dec-20-12

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