I_GROWER

Wild unknowns, they almost look like store brought bananas.

Can anyone help with an ID?

ez

What's the p-stem height and do you have any pictures of the plant?

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2woodensticks

sorry no pics..did harvest praying hands..1 bunch 4 hands..small but really flavorful..right at six months..could have gone little longer but I think cold weather we are having caused it to turn...tight hands,come apart easy great flavor

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got to love em..{neotropical rattlesnake..cascabell}

I_GROWER

yes i do, i believe it was infected with some something.

plant was rotting while the fruit just hang there.





here is a sibling of a more "healthier" plant with fruit - "grand nain" ?



and finally the fruit

JCA433

I harvested a Namwa banana bunch today.





A few of the bananas split. What causes the bananas to split? None of the bananas on the bunch before this one split and some ripened before harvesting.

sunfish

The bananas split because they saw the salad dressing.

servatusprime

My recent bunch of namwah split too. I think its from them continuing to plump up and filling in. Its not to be unexpected. If you harvested them a little earlier perhaps you could help avoid it. Someone more learned chime in please.

ez

There can be many reasons why a banana peel will split and with my soil it's low calcium. I use gypsum (calcium + sulfur) to raise my calcium without raising my pH, it's not a quick fix you have to apply it 3 to 6 months before the plant begins to fruit.

Before you add anything have your soil tested to make sure it's low calcium.


Calcium (Ca)

Function: Calcium is another secondary plant nutrients, absorbed by plant roots as Ca 2+. Calcium is a constituent of the middle lamella of cell walls as Ca-pectate. Calcium is required as a cofactor by some enzymes involved in the hydrolysis of ATP and phospholipids. It is an important element for root development and functioning; a constituent of cell walls; and is required for chromosome
flexibility and cell division.

Calcium deficiency is a widespread problem in banana crops and significantly reduces fruit quality.
Moisture stress is the major cause of calcium deficiency as it interrupts the root uptake of calcium
and leads to localized deficiencies in fruit. Boron is required for the maintenance of transpiration
(water uptake) and therefore also calcium uptake. Over-use of nitrogen fertilizers and excessive
plant vigour also compound calcium deficiencies. Calcium and boron are also essential for plant
strength and therefore deficient plants are more likely to suffer from fungal diseases and
environmental stresses. Calcium deficiencies are common in both acid and alkaline soils even when
exchangeable soil calcium levels are high. This is largely due to the low mobility of soil calcium and
competition with other nutrients such as ammonium nitrogen, potassium and magnesium.


Calcium deficiency caused by:

 Low transpiration – e.g. at high humidity
 Fruit has a low transpiration rate: a) Reduced Ca uptake in maturating fruits may result in Ca deficiency b) Maturity spots of banana (e.g. aggravated by plastic bags on bunch)
 Rapid leaf growth may cause a Ca shortage
 Cold winters in subtropics
 Imbalances with K and Mg a) high rates of K, Mg or NH 4 + will reduce Ca availability b) optimum Ca uptake at soil CaK+Ca+Mg) ratio of 0.7
Source: Lahav & Turner (1989 - IPI - Bulletin No 7), C.B.I Banadex (1998 – AIM database)


Deficiency Symptoms Typical symptoms indicating calcium deficiency in banana are: general dwarfing, reduced leaf length, reduced rate of leaf emission; leaves are undulated; tissue near midrib thickens, may turn reddish - brown. In sub - tropical growing areas, calcium deficiency , generally, appears in early summer after spring flush. It reveals as typical chlorosis and necrosis and “Spike - Leaf’ in severe cases.


Leaf:

 The symptoms are found on the youngest leaves causes the spike leaf in which the lamina in new leaves is deformed
 Black Sigatoka (Mycosphaerella fijiensis) disease is worse
 Interveinal chlorosis near leaf margins
 Creates ‘spike leaf’ appearance where lamina of new leaves is deformed or absent
 Symptoms appear in after a flush of growth
 OR where high levels of potassium are applied


Plant:

 It causes heart rot to newly planted tissue culture plantlets.


Fruit:

 Peel splits when fruit ripe
 Fruit curls – scratching others in bunch
 Fruit weight and diameter is reduced
 The fruit quality is inferior and the peel splits during the ripening.

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JCA433

The first hand on this bunch appeared on September 25 which was more than 19 weeks ago. They appeared mostly filled in after about 15 weeks. I harvested my first Namwa bunch 18 weeks after the first hand appeared. Four months from September 25 is January 25 so I left them on the plant too long. Next time I will harvest a few weeks earlier IF they have filled in.

Our average high temperature since December 1 is near 78 F so the bananas are still growing but more slowly than in summer.

I tasted one of the split bananas and it was edible although the texture was a little chewy. I do not mind the chewy texture as long as the flavor is good and this split banana certainly had OK flavor and it was not even completely ripe yet.
They taste a lot better though when allowed to ripen more. My first Namwa bunch was great and the texture was not chewy.

Richard

Just let 'em hang for awhile - they'll probably ripen up just fine.

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Bender

The way you/they describe the symptoms reminds me what I've seen with my bananas. Where did you get this info, could you please provide a link?

Richard

I wish to caution people in general to get a soil test before adding Calcium or a source of Calcium (e.g. gypsum) to a soil. For example, here in metropolitan areas of San Diego there is a lot of Calcium in the various soils. Too much Calcium can also be a problem.

On the other hand, having trace amounts of Calcium in a water-soluble fertilizer is generally a good thing. That's why I put it in the Fruit Fuel fertilizer I designed. (warning: shameless advertising!)

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ez

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JCA433

I ate so many Namwa bananas today that I feel bloated. Maybe I will take a break tomorrow. What do you guys do with all the excess bananas? I ate every banana on my first bunch but the fruit were smaller. My second bunch, recently harvested, has longer thicker fingers. I will take quite an effort to eat them all.

Richard

I cook, bake, and bribe people with them

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robguz24

Namwah in particular make excellent bananas for freezing ripe and making 1 ingredient "ice cream" in a blender or champion juicer.

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My micro-farm

Stay on my Big Island banana farm cottage

robguz24

Oops, had this in the wrong thread. Belongs here!
2nd generation 1000 fingers. 2 other bigger racks on this mat currently. 9/8-2/14, a bit less than the 6 full months on my first harvest. This was not propped up and collapsed under its own weight last week and the top hand started ripening so it was time to come down. 26 months after it was a small TC. I've removed and sold a dozen or more pups from this mat too.



Compare this to the 1st pathetic bunch off the same mat. After this, I added monthly handfuls of 0-0-51 in addition to monthly 13-3-37 and the results speak for themselves.

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My micro-farm

Stay on my Big Island banana farm cottage

bananimal

I donate excess bananas to the food bank in Ft Pierce. Also put them on the tasting table at my rare fruit club. And the pups go up for auction. I get 80%, the club gets the rest. Good deal.

servatusprime

The freezer can be a great way to store them for use in baking, cooking, or smoothies. There can be pro/cons for either leaving them out or still in their skin. Depends on how you are going to use them.

Richard

The Champion Juicer is an awesome machine! I never thought about putting bananas through mine though ... thanks for mentioning it!

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