1rainman

After reading the legends of California Gold/Texas star online I ordered an d. orinoco from a company that claimed the texas star, dwarf orinoco, and california gold are the same thing. Well I kept looking it up and I found somebody who said they grew them all side by side and tested them. Apparently they are extremely similar but with slight difference. I think like the Cal. Gold was slightly shorter than the dwarf orinoco or something. They were just slightly more cold hardy than the dwarf orinoco and I think a little quicker to fruit with the fruit being basically the same (by a little I mean like a month or something). Apparently they are just variations of the dwarf orinoco, but maybe slightly more desirable. I wrote the company I ordered off of and told them it wasn't the same thing but they never changed their description.

I also think the reputation is a little over stated. The Raja Puri is pretty close in cold hardiness as is the dwarf brazillian. I read one guys blog who tested a whole crap load of bananas. The orinoco, brazzilian and Raja puri were the top 3 with the dwarf brazillian and dwarf orinoco slightly less cold hardy than the bigger versions. Myself my Raja Puri has proven more cold hardy than the other varieties I've had and I had it out with my new dwarf orinoco and it froze and they both reacted about the same so there isn't any huge difference. The orinoco might be slightly more hardy and then the Cal Gold and Texas Star might be an almost unnoticeable bit more hardy than the d. orinoco but its not anything major.

I do like the dwarf orinoco so far though. It's a pretty tree. Still a baby though. Of course in love with raja puri too.