Bananas.org - View Single Post - 'Orinoco' ripening issues for late bloomers

mnorell · 09-20-2007, 06:10 PM

Just noticed that one of my 'Orinoco' banana plants has thrown a flower, probably emerged about a week ago but I just noticed it today, the stalk/bud is about two feet long and drooping, with the first bracts starting to reflex slightly. The problem is that this is 20 September and I'm in zone 9a/southwestern Mississippi, and we (in the years I've been here) have our first frost here sometime between 23 Nov and 16 Dec. A couple of years ago I had one bloom at Labor Day and was able to cut down the bunch just after the first light frost around the first of December. It sat on the refrigerator and did ripen nicely in January even though the fruit were still somewhat angled. But I'm wondering if I should try putting an open-bottomed plastic bag over the bunch to hasten development. Anybody have any experience with this method, or any other suggestions?

09-20-2007, 06:10 PM	#1 (permalink)
mnorell Location: Rancho Mirage, CA (formerly Big Pine Key, FL & Natchez, MS) Find me on the map! Zone: 10a Name: Michael Norell Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 21 BananaBucks : 16,398 Feedback: 0 / 0% Said "Thanks" 0 Times Was Thanked 13 Times in 5 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 0 Times	'Orinoco' ripening issues for late bloomers Just noticed that one of my 'Orinoco' banana plants has thrown a flower, probably emerged about a week ago but I just noticed it today, the stalk/bud is about two feet long and drooping, with the first bracts starting to reflex slightly. The problem is that this is 20 September and I'm in zone 9a/southwestern Mississippi, and we (in the years I've been here) have our first frost here sometime between 23 Nov and 16 Dec. A couple of years ago I had one bloom at Labor Day and was able to cut down the bunch just after the first light frost around the first of December. It sat on the refrigerator and did ripen nicely in January even though the fruit were still somewhat angled. But I'm wondering if I should try putting an open-bottomed plastic bag over the bunch to hasten development. Anybody have any experience with this method, or any other suggestions?