Re: Musa 'Pahari Kela' (Hill banana)
 

The two I mentioned aren't plantains goldfinger is a finger banana and the other the GM imitation. Both are highly touted . I'll know when I get fruit.

Re: Musa 'Pahari Kela' (Hill banana)
 

I believe that any homegrown banana will test exquisitelly. :D But in general this is what most of the people from tropical market say. Except Hundurans of course. ;)

Re: Musa 'Pahari Kela' (Hill banana)
 

*bump*

Picture Update ?! :bunchonanas:

:-D

Re: Musa 'Pahari Kela' (Hill banana)
 

OK, update there, sorry guys, I don't have much time these days. :(

Re: Musa 'Pahari Kela' (Hill banana)
 

I know youre Very busy so Thanx for the update :) !! That's some great growth for one summer! Didnt see PK-3 though. Is it still alive? Although, shouldn't matter much with 2 plants as big & healthy as PK-1 & PK-2 are. You've done an outstanding job :) !!
You seemed concerned with growth stopping. A similar thing happens with Gingko Biloba trees. It's normal for them to put on a lot of new growth, one year, then no growth the next year - even under identical growing conditions. Nobody has found an explanation for that, either. Gingkos have been around since the Jurassic period. Strange how some plants act.
I'd say good luck But what you got was more from skill & experience. Super job, hope the weather & stuff works out great for you!!

Re: Musa 'Pahari Kela' (Hill banana)
 

Thanks Eric, I hope so too, but nights are getting chilly already, just like yours, so it's one race til I get enough pots. It owuld be maybe foolish to try and overwinter them like this, what is your opinion? PK3 rotted and died, I pulled it out to save the baby, but the rot was there already and removing infected tissue didn't help. :(

Re: Musa 'Pahari Kela' (Hill banana)
 

Well, at least that's 2 super healthy ones out of 3 :) !! I'd say "out of 4" but PK-4 didnt stand a chance without roots & about no corm.
If those 2 healthy PKs were mine, I'd probably over-react - I'd pot them up, bring them in, & put them under bright lights in a sunny, warm window. As far as cutting off leaves & over-wintering dormant, I wouldn't be willing to take that chance. I've noticed, from experience, that even in a cool room (10-20 degrees C), potted dormant bananas may lose leaves by spring but seem to have a better chance at re-starting as the weather warms up. Also, unless, the leaves start looking bad, I dont water them cause they're growing slow and I dont wanna risk corm-rot.
I'm no expert but I would (if they were mine) pot them, give them as much light as I possibly could, keep them warm, and give them Very Little water or food till spring. I never risk "dormant" with plants that small.
Btw, I know all about that "Race" :(. Been running my a*s off too :eek: !! Saved my Australian Fern tree, last night, but it had already lost 2 fronds - still has 4 huge healthy ones, though, yay! Will have to rush to save Diefenbachias, nanners, elephant ears, etc.... Got some colder weather moving in :(. Good thing i've got lots of plastic pots!

Re: Musa 'Pahari Kela' (Hill banana)
 

BUMP Jack!
:lurk:
any updates, new pics?

Re: Musa 'Pahari Kela' (Hill banana)
 

Soon. :D THey're breaking the dormancy outside. So far, 0°C has been the lowest low but I dare for more this year. Without any significant problems of course...

Re: Musa 'Pahari Kela' (Hill banana)
 

So, breaking the dormancy... well, time for the update, ay?

First of all, let me apologize to all who have been PMing me and anxiously awaiting any and all progress. I've been a busy bee these past months and had only little time to work in the garden... thus fell ashamed of showing the "progress" my plants've achieved.

Let me however start by some observations:
In April, when the soil was still kinda cold (it wasn't warm at all, bad winter of 2010 in Europe), I was sort of willing to conduct a first test. Hoping for and seeing some low temps in the morning (-3°C ~ 25°F) and highs of 4-6°C or 38-42°F I decided to plant the smaller, weaker, more stunned PK.
Unfortunatelly, during planting, I found out that it's roots were dried up from maybe 65%. Regardless of that I planted the naner in theground and let it grow. Following warm week forced the pup into putting out a new leaf.
However than the horror came. Cold front literally tore the leaf apart and the rest was finished by 2 consecutive days below 0°C or 32°F. I was let the pup be and it came back 1 month later. The P-stem was somewhat mushy, but it wan't rotting (to my surprise). However the plant was so stunned by what I exposed it to, that it grows at snail's pace even today. Still not having sufficient root structure.

Then there are other veggies growing all over the place now, taking necessary nutrients.

Pix will follow, when I clean up the place a lil bit.

And then about the other pup:
It grew strongly in April (kept it inside for nights and during the cold streak even the days) and in May it was planted in front of a south-north wall, facing the south side, along with raspberries.

It's grown nicely up until the heat wave of July came (95+°F). These temps caused PK to stop growing at all and restart the growth once the temps have been cooler.

This leads me to believing, that it's not very suitable to hot summer and cold winter climates.


Pic: (its height can be estimated from those blue things hanging on the wall at 180cm~70in).






No pups. Neither plant has brought any pup, so this limits my experiments a lot. :(

Re: Musa 'Pahari Kela' (Hill banana)
 

Thanks for the update!

Re: Musa 'Pahari Kela' (Hill banana)
 

Yeah, thanks for the update and nice too.:0519:

Re: Musa 'Pahari Kela' (Hill banana)
 

BUUUUMP!!!
let us know whats with it Jack

Re: Musa 'Pahari Kela' (Hill banana)
 

Yeah!.............and what do you want in trade?:ha:

Re: Musa 'Pahari Kela' (Hill banana)
 

Your Excellent photographs and detailed observations really impressed me!!! Have the banana started fruiting?

Re: Musa 'Pahari Kela' (Hill banana)
 

:woohoonaner:

Re: Musa 'Pahari Kela' (Hill banana)
 

Yo Cowboy: If those temple nanners, will grow in zone 7a, I would love to get some seed, or a corm to try out. Thanks so much Stay Sfe, Pray for our members on the east coast, they are gonna catch hell!

Tom Portland, OR.

Re: Musa 'Pahari Kela' (Hill banana)
 

How did this banana work out for u jack?

Re: Musa 'Pahari Kela' (Hill banana)
 

Yes, have they fruited yet?

Re: Musa 'Pahari Kela' (Hill banana)
 

I wonder if perhaps the pseudo stem can survive a (US) zone 5 winter. If the banana is really grown in areas where the temperature can become so low, maybe the banana is like Basjoo and will survive a hard freeze if mulched. That would mean that we would have an edible version of basjoo for the north!:woohoonaner:

Re: Musa 'Pahari Kela' (Hill banana)
 

Wouldn't that be awesome. One could possibly find a micro climate like against a house foundation or something. :woohoonaner:

Re: Musa 'Pahari Kela' (Hill banana)
 

bump

Re: Musa 'Pahari Kela' (Hill banana)
 

Ok, here i go:

BUMP!!!!

I really want to know what's up! HOws it doin for ya?

Re: Musa 'Pahari Kela' (Hill banana)
 

PLEASE GIVE US AN UPDATE. I am interested in the natural, edible, cold hardy bananas; as is everyone from up North in the States. This is an amazing cultivar.:bananajoy:

Re: Musa 'Pahari Kela' (Hill banana)
 

Jack hasn't visited the org since Octrober 2012 and his last post was August 2012 so I don't believe bumping this thread will get his attention. I imagine if he had good news to report he would have posted about that a long time ago.

Re: Musa 'Pahari Kela' (Hill banana)
 

Nice thread................:08:

Re: Musa 'Pahari Kela' (Hill banana)
 

Wierd. I wanted to know what's up.

Re: Musa 'Pahari Kela' (Hill banana)
 

I would love to hybridize this hill banana with a veinte cohol or a gold finger let me know if you have any pups for sale next year ill definitely be cross breeding it!

Re: Musa 'Pahari Kela' (Hill banana)
 

In Idaho??? Good luck with that...