My first banana
 

After reading this forum, I decided I had the confidence and the burning desire to grow my own. Just came. A dwarf Gros Michel

I have to go out and get a pot and I'll be following the sage advice of JP and getting a mix of 40% coarse sand and 20% manure plus garden soil to fill it.

I'm in Ohio and it is August, so weather conditions are fine and I'll have to create a place indoors for it to continue to grow once temps drop.

So excited. I hope my new baby survives and thrives.

Gros Michel - Album on Imgur

Re: My first banana
 

Hello i am also new to the banana growing world and i have been looking for a dwarf gros michel banana plant. I was wondering where did you get yours and is it really a dwarf? Oh and the plant looks really nice hope it grows for you.

Re: My first banana
 

I got mine from a seller on Amazon (because as a beginner, I have no idea where else to go).

Link: https://amzn.com/B0094JDSAC

I can't speak for the authenticity as I have to take the seller at his word that it is what he says it is. However, I CAN say it arrived earlier than projected (in fact, I wasn't prepared for it to get here as quickly as it did). It was well fed, well packaged, it needed a transplant into a much bigger pot immediately, but was healthy enough to survive that, and after only a week, seems to be starting to thrive. I think it is already shooting off a second stem (daughter?). If it really is a dwarf Gros Michele, it is going to be a healthy one, assuming I can convert a room in my house to help it survive and thrive in an Ohio Winter.

Hope this helps and best of luck! I personally am excited for mine.

Re: My first banana
 

Thank you very much for the info i to am a beginner so i dont know where to look haha. I've been looking at the forums to see if anyone knows where to get a dwarf gros michel as i to would like to grow one in a container. Thanks again bananacordero from las vegas.

Re: My first banana
 

I ordered a dwarf banana 3 pack from Baker Creek heirloom seeds and recieved a Gros Michel, Dwarf Green, and Little Prince. I didn't know there was a dwarf cultivar of GM, only a shorter version people call "Cocos". Mine doesn't have wine markings on the leaves like yours eharriet, but we'll know if they're the real deal if they produce bananas. My GM is on the right.
[IMG][/IMG]

Re: My first banana
 

I was kind of wondering about that, actually. I was noticing the reddening of the leaves and I too did not expect the Gros Michele to have it. I am having difficulty figuring out if it is supposed to. Il try and post some growth photos where it is a little more obvious if anyone else could help identify.

Re: My first banana
 

Unless you get one from a member on here who has fruited it you never know what you get. Sadly nurserys now days just want to make $ and will send you anything. Going bananas is the only one I would trust outside this forum.

Re: My first banana
 

From your pictures it appears you have Dwarf Cavendish.

In the nursery trade there is no dwarf G.M. cultivar.

http://www.bananas.org/f310/richards...tml#post296373

Re: My first banana
 

It appears to be a Pisang Awak; e.g., Namwa.

Re: My first banana
 

It is sadder that many first time buyers are lured in by internet sellers whose actual operation has no resemblance to a real nursery.

Re: My first banana
 

I just downloaded your guide and am going to go through that shortly today.

You are apparently correct about the dwarf part. I went back to the page to get the seller's link and it did not mention dwarf at all. So apparently I've got the full size sucker. (Now gotta figure out how to deal with that)

However, if you are correct about it being a Cavendish, then there will be a problem, because the seller specifically states in the listing that it is NOT. Hopefully I will know before a year goes by.

Re: My first banana
 

I got my DGM from PR Giants,, Keith is super nice not to mention super knowledgeable. When he has them avail as well as other hard to find Bananas he will start a thread on what he has for sale.

Happy growing,

Darla

Re: My first banana
 

Thank you i have seen that he had some for sale but i was about a year too late. Hopefully next time he has some for sale I'll be able to get one from him, but i lnow im not the only one looking for one haha.

Re: My first banana
 

Many folks here know him as an unscrupulous seller.

Here is a link to information on many varieties compiled by member pitangadiego:
We Be Bananas - varieties

Here is information from his site for Gros Michael:
Varieties G through I (scroll down about half way)

Re: My first banana
 

With this many banana lovers there is going to be a lot of differences and we are going to have good and bad experiences. i have bought so many plants from many different sources through the years, some have been costly and a big waste of money and time and some has stood the test of time in my garden.
i can only report on my experiences and mine have been excellent with Keith at PR Giants. Anyone buying any type of plant needs to make there own mind up, and ask them self, is it the right buy for me :)



happy growing to all and may everyone when you go visit your gardens each day i truly hope it brings a smile to you face.

Darla

Re: My first banana
 

Then add this to your experience: he does not have a source for D.G.M. - in fact no one does. He is simply jumping on the bandwagon of others who sell Dwarf Cavendish as D.G.M. -- meeting the buyers' false hope that there is a version of this media worthy banana that is short enough to grow in their house.

And further, even if there is a banana short enough to grow indoors - you're not going to meet the false advertising expectations of other sellers that it will fruit indoors -- unless you're willing to install greenhouse-like conditions complete with lighting that will cost you hundreds of dollars per month to operate.

Re: My first banana
 

Not sure what your talking about Richard to be honest. I grow all my bananas out side, only the new ones start in a pot but over time the all end up in the ground. I do have a greenhouse that i might put some in the fall. i paid what i thought to be fair for the DGM and have no intentions of growing it indoors. I am not here to judge anyone. My experiences with many on this thread of which i have got several different varieties of bananas from have all been great and made some new friends.
Everyone i have talked to on this thread have been nothing but helpful to me.

And what ever my DGM turns out to be i am sure i will be happy with, I am hoping it will get 6 to 8 ft. I grow bananas because i am good at it, just like the rest of my plants in my garden they are my therapy. I do not grow them to make money i grow them because they make me happy.

Richard i hope your garden makes you happy as well.

happy growing to all,

Darla :ha:

Re: My first banana
 

Just wanted to say i am happy with my Super dwarf if you are wanting something small to container grow. Even though it is an outside plant for me it has done very well in a pot and is about 3ft.

happy growing,

Darla

Re: My first banana
 

i grow Little Prince as well, it will grow fast and give you plenty of pups. here is mine.




happy growing,

Darla

Re: My first banana
 

So Darla, are you saying you DO have a dwarf Gros Michele? I guess the one thing this thread is doing for me, although not my intent when I started it, is to place doubt upon what I bought. Not something I really was looking for. I now wonder if I've got a full size GM, or a Cavendish, or something else. I am not going to throw this away because of the doubts, but Now I'm always going to wonder and I can't stand that feeling