Cracker Red

Cant remember where I bought these, probably at a box store or local nursery. Been in the same spot 2 years now, past winter the stem made it through. What was one plant is now 6 with 2 more small pups. The three larger stems all have flowers/fruit. Problem is....I have no idea WHAT it is.

I've read some are inedible....does this mean they are dangerous to people or simply taste bad? I have 3 small children who are super curious....

Mark Dragt

From what I have read, inedible means it has large teeth-breaking seeds. I have also read that the fruit around the seeds is good on some varieties, but there isn't enough fruit to make it worth the effort. Myself, I would try it. Why not. You can also use the leaves for wrapping different foods for cooking. You can even eat the flowers.

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Mark's Banana Forest Paradise

crazy banana

Could well be an edible variety in your area maybe Orinoco. . Just keep in mind that it takes about 6 month for a banana fruit to fill in and ripen. Do not try before it has fattened up and shows some color change.

Kat2

Odds are if you purchased it locally, it's an edible banana and, to this untrained eye, looks like it is which means your little ones should be quite safe if they happen to pluck and taste one before its ripe (though they may never want another banana ever again). In FL the main plant offered is Dwarf Cavendish; if your plant had mottled leaves when it was young, that's probably what you have. That said, sometimes there's a variety of musas even in Walmart so who knows? How tall is your plant? Specifically how tall before the fruiting stalk? Pictures of your plant from a distance would help the experts here identify it. Oh, and congratulations! I have about 9 different edible banana plants of various ages but have yet to achieve a flower. Enjoy.

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siege2050

Inedible just means some are seeded with very large seeds, only reason I can think of that any banana might be dangerous is if you have a latex allergy. My Orinoco blossoms smell like an old latex Halloween mask.

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venturabananas

Probably Dwarf Cavendish, based on what it looks like, where you live, and how you obtained it (big box store), though it could be a taller Cavendish variety too.

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