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Originally Posted by ez
Thanks Mark I appreciate your input, I learn something new everyday.
I did my homework before buying this plant and wanted it because it's a fast grower, (AA) and it's a small plant 6-8'.
I have other banana plants that produce large bunches, for me a large bunch is only 20 to 25 pounds which may not sound like much but I harvest 8 to 12 bunches per year not including a handful that are damaged by cold weather. Next year if I'm lucky my FHIA-3 will produce for the first time. I consider myself very fortunate to be able to eat and share with family and friends the bananas that I grow.
The reason why I mentioned that it's a "dwarf plant" is because the description in this book, Farmers’ Handbook on Introduced and Local Banana Cultivars in the Philippines. There are two members Gabe15 and pitangadiego that describe the fruit as sweet and good. You mention "leaf length to width ratios, petiole length to blade length ratios" what is the formula use to identify banana plants as dwarfs? |
Hi Ed. I'm not trying to discourage you from growing this cultivar, as I suspect it will do better in your tropical-like summer conditions. Just letting folks know what my personal experiences have been. After my initial excitement about its appearance and relatively quick time to bloom, the fruit part of the equation has been a disappointment for me with Rose. Of the 4-5 blooms I've had so far, all but one has had the fruit rot before they ever came near to ripening -- and that was not during winter. I haven't had that happen a single time on any other cultivar I'm growing. The one bunch that ripened never really filled, with an average fruit only weighing 10-15 grams. Mine looked like the least filled ones in the photo below from Encanto Farms (Jon, AKA Pitangadiego). Note that even in the Philippine study you quote, when these fruit do fill, they still only weigh around 30 grams -- about an ounce. The fruit from the one bunch that ripened were OK, not particularly good or bad, but I suspect they'd be better had they filled properly.
I haven't had the same experience as Jon with tolerance to cooler temperatures. Rose does just as poorly with cool weather as Dwarf Red in my yard. Could be a microclimate thing.
The comment about dwarfism in bananas was a technical point. Rose is a small plant, but that's not how dwarfism is defined. A leaf ratio (blade length : blade width) of less than 2.5 is generally considered a dwarf. More accurately, it is defined relative to the characteristics of the standard size cultivar it was a sport of. BTW, Rose can get taller than you might suspect. Mine are now flowering at 9', and with those long, erect leaves, the tops of the leaves are pretty darn high.
Good luck with your Rose. Keep us posted when it flowers, etc.