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My name is Tim Hauber and I am a farmer in Nassau, The Bahamas. I have been growing vegetables for the past 5 years and have just put in one acre of bananas and plantain and I am eager to learn. Our country has the capacity to grow all the bananas we need and yet we import the majority of our bananas. I am trying to help the farmers associations to learn about new varieties and cropping techniques. I appreciate the discussions and information that is shared on this forum. Looking forward to participating!

Tim

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welcome from California

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Well Hello & Welcome Tim from the Sportsman's Paradise :^)

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Welcome from Croatia
:woohoonaner:

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Welcome Tim to bananas dot org, from your neighbor in the Sunshine State! The Bahamas is very much like Florida, just slightly warmer. Rain travels quickly through your limestone "soils" or rock there, so raising bananas in raised beds well supplemented with compost materials high in organics is important to hold in nutrients and moisture. A top layer of mulch is very important also.

Due to soil porosity there rain is quickly gone and semi-arid conditions are common. Near cave entrances and sinkholes have been good areas to grow Bananas in the Bahamas historically. The raised mounds of compost that are mulched have proven to be more productive.

Good weather and good growing to you Tim! :2239:

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Welcome Tim, I'm sure you'll find a lot of intelligent help and advice here. I've loved the Bahamas since I first visited Freeport in 1966.

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You have a fantastic climate for growing all sorts for tropicals including bananas. They should really thrive!
WELCOME TO THE FORUM!!!!!

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Welcome to the site! This place is full of great information and I'm sure you're bound to learn a lot here. Hit us up with questions if you have any!

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Welcome to the group!

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Welcome, Tim, hope you'll enjoy reading the posts here!

Tell me about it. We too could produce much more than we can consume, yet we buy !more expensive! food from the EU (Spain and France mostly)

Good info, didn't know about the soil properties in Bahamas.

But the climate is classified as wet tropical, right? Not tropical arid?

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Welcome Tim,
I have a couple of questions about Nassau.
Is it true they are tearing down Arawack Cay? Is the Belgium Brassiere still down town.
Thanks

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The model for classification of "wet tropical" is misleading. Due to soil conditions described in previous post the conditions that exist are more semi-arid tropical. That is why Bananas only grow around cave entrances and in sink holes (dolines) in the Bahamas. I have seen this first hand during a Course in Tropical Biology taught on San Salvador Island, Bahamas.

Most areas at that latitude around the world are deserts, with the exception of Vietnam, and the mountainous regions of Northern Mexico, and Florida. Florida is Semi-arid 8 months out of the year. We "catch up" on rain 4 months out of the year usually. The Bahamas have two "wet" seasons and annual rainfall is less in the Bahamas than in Florida on an average. :2239:

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Thanks for your comments on the soil and climate of the Bahamas. I have been looking at varieties with high B genetics because water is so scarce in many of our islands. In some of the islands there is a good fresh water lens not far below the surface but that is not the norm. Without a doubt we would all gain by doing more mulching!

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Welcome to this forum! I joined a couple of years ago, but don't post a lot on here. Just catching up and thought I'd say hello and that you'll find this place so helpful! you'll find me usually on the Palms North site.

Heidi :02: