ngiann

Hi. The first 2-3 rows(hands?) of my Pitogo flowers are dropping along with the bracts. It does not seem to me normal unless the next bracts uncover good flowers that remain.
I thought that some of them would continue to grow but all of them are off now.
I feel very bad to see these little things lying around.
My inflorescence is still in the beginning and hopefully it'll continue flower production.
Any ideas/help ?

Gabe15

do you have any pictures?

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

ngiann

I uploaded some pictures

May 27,2007


May 30,2007 (a)



May 30,2007 (b)


Closeup of fallen bract & flower


Also look here for progessive pictures of the same flower some days ago:
Pitogo Blooming

MediaHound

yikes!

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Apologies in advance if I am slow to reply to your PM. I suggest posting in the forums for support if you need something urgent.

Gabe15

well, it looks like the problem isnt bananas falling off, those are male flowers which are supposed to fall off, it just didnt make any female flowers it appears (those that turn into fruit). if you can, get on a latter or something and look down into the top and see if there are a few, its hard to see from the pictures you show whether there could be come hiding there or not.

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

eggo

That's interesting. I've never seen that happen on a fruiting type before.

ngiann

This is today's just opened bract.

May 31,2007





@Gabe15: I checked carefully and there are no other flowers left behind in the rachis. And the just uncovered ones, seem to be male again!

Gabe15

what is the history of this plant? when it was young, how much care did it receive? The growth period that most influences fruit production are the first few months of its life after initial planting, if when young, it was heavily stressed and or not taken care of, that could at least partly explain the lack of fruit. however, i am also noticing the leaves look sickly and yellow, and it does not appear to have any good strong green leaves. most bananas should have at least 8 strong leaves to support the growth of a fruit bunch. if you could describe the history of this plant as it has grown and matured, maybe we could pinpoint where it went wrong. also, i admit i have no experience identifying diseases, but if your plant should otherwise be healthy, it looks to have some sort of pathogen affecting it.

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

ngiann

The plant remained in a pot for 4-5 months after receiving in order for winter to finish. Planted in the ground on April 2006 (13 months ago) and since then it was growing very fast with green leaves. I applied rich potassium fertlizer and the plant reacted very good. This winter was not so cold and the plant did not completely stopped growing, but it produced once in a while a leave. In our winter the leaves are turning yellow and only in spring when it is getting warm, one by one is getting greener again. This plant may had not the chance to have enough time for the leaves to grow and get green again because it flowered soon. The pups look healthy and have normal green color.
My diagnosis is that it flowered early, before have enough green leaves, (only 2-3 yellow ones) and now is too late to support it.
My other bananas that are not flowering yet, had yellow leaves too but now they started to look green & healthy again, so hopefully if one of them flowers it will be ok.
I always consider that this (flower timing) must be my number one problem here: Too early -> not enough leaves, Too late -> not enough warm period for ripening.
Later, I will upload a photo of the pups to see that they look ok.

Gabe15

That is still odd though, even if it did not have energy to support fruit at the time of flowering, it should have at least made some. I have seen many malnourished plants that set out female flowers but cannot grow them into proper fruit. The case with yours seems to be the complete lack of female flowers at all, which would have been detirmined sometime prior to actually flowering, however if this was caused by poor conditions as a juvenile or during the time of flower production (the infloresence is produced up to 6 months prior to emergence in the winter, 3 months in the summer). So if something could have been negatively affecting the plant 3-6months ago, that could explain why female flowers were not produced, but keep in mind this is just speculation and I really have no solid clue as to why your plant would do this.

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

Rmplmnz

My Pitogo ran the course bloomed no bananas...

Tampa, FL zero frost days last winter.
First generation plant purchased from Going Bananas
Moved it one time (very common)
Organic fertilization consistent with how I have grown bananas for 20 years with tons of production....

See attached pics...

Attached Images

	Pitoga.JPG (160.1 KB, 31 views)
	Pitoga V.JPG (266.8 KB, 29 views)
	Pitoga IV.JPG (147.2 KB, 30 views)
	Pitoga III.JPG (156.5 KB, 22 views)
	Pitoga II.JPG (183.4 KB, 32 views)

MediaHound

__________________
Apologies in advance if I am slow to reply to your PM. I suggest posting in the forums for support if you need something urgent.

ngiann

As my Pitogo was the first banana that bloomed for me after my decision to collect and grow bananas seriously, I was a little bit dissapointed and worried for my other bananas too.
Now that i see that it was not only me, your case gives me hopes again for my rest collection.

Rmplmnz, when these photos are taken? (this month?) And did you contact Going Bananas and asked if this is a common issue for the Pitogos? Maybe the mat must be bigger and the pups will have a better production?
In Greece and in marginal places, the first pstems do not fill the fruits fully, and only after 3-4 years (when i understand the mat gets bigger) pups start having normal production, but in Greece there are no other banana types except Cavendishes!

Since your place and care seems ideal for bananas, maybe this is a symptom for Pitogos only.

To sum up our case is: Pitogo is blooming only male flowers!

And generally asking, does anyone have Pitogo fruited before? Photos are welcome too..

Rmplmnz

Thanks for the response Nikos and you were correct about the Travelers Tree in my photo gallery...

Pics were taken Sunday 6/3/07.

I have grown Pitogo before...and it did not have a lot of fruit....so I am thinking it needed more fertilizer and did not like being moved.

bananimal

Nikos,

I had to replace my pitogo also. I got it beginning of this year and potted it for 3 months. It grew just as well as the other 4 types bought at the same time. Put it in the ground in April and it grew, still looked OK - for 6 weeks. Then each new leaf got smaller and smaller. Pulled it out and repotted it. Corm rotted away and have yet to see if pups will form.

Got a replacement - a 5 foot pup cut off the parent and its' new leaves are huuuuuuge. And very green.

My conclusions are these ---------- I think it is a "weak" type like the reds. If I had kept it potted and put it in the ground in warmer weather it might have made it. Your picture tells me you have either a serious pH issue and/or you need to check your fertilizer. And especially rate of application.

My starter collection is 11 different types. I use a custom fertilizer blend of 6-2-12 with minors. And especially important - I apply fert monthly. Up to 3 pounds when the plants are bigger and show real vigor. I can't believe my dwarf orinoco and goldfinger. At eight feet now the leaves are huge, very green and thick. I also dump a 20 lb bag of composted cow manure on the mat every 3 months and alternate with mushroom compost. Compost whacks nematodes.

I'll post photos to my gallery as soon as I can.

Dan, a.k.a. bananimal

ngiann

Dan, thanks for the reply.
You are right about my main Pitogo stem - it does not look very good. This is my case here: when the winter ends the first leaves of my bananas are yellow, and only after 2-3 leaves the new ones are green. This plant never had the chance to put green leaves again because of flowering. But the pups of this plant look very healthy and grow fast right now.

Now i am wondering if i must cut off the main stem in order for the pups to gain energy.

bananimal

Nikos,

Absolutely - cut off the old main stem right at the top of the mat. I would also remove all of the pups except the biggest to have best chance of fruit this year. Don't worry, you will get more pups later. Send a PM to tlturbo as he loves to see new posts for directions on how to remove a pup!!! Hee, hee.

By the way I'll trade you 5 pups for a plate of lamb kapamas and a bottle of retsina wine. I miss the Greek restaurant in New York City I used to go to when I lived in NJ.

Dan

bananimal

Here is a shot of my Pitogo replacement -- just look at the size of the new leaves.



It really pays to get a pup cut off the parent. Ohhhpah!!!

Don't forget to brace new big pups if you experience high winds like I do. Check out my photo gallery. Posted it last night at 3AM.

Dan

Rmplmnz

August 21, 2010
Tampa, FL

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September 27, 2010
Tampa, FL
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Harvested Fruit:
November 20, 2010
Tampa, FL
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Not as round as I have seen...
April 15, 2008
Going Bananas
Homestead, FL
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Rmplmnz

Video with Pitogo bloom:
July 16, 2010
Tampa, FL

!