Re: 2019 Banana Patch: Pensacola, Florida
 

I have read of such dishes, but looks confusing to me...and a lot of work. I will be digging this plant and taking it in for winter very soon, so don't know about cutting the blossom off. Thinking of doing it now so in a week or two, when digging, some of the pruning will be done.....root pruning, cutting the leaves back, etc. Our forecast temps are getting very iffy now, night low of 50's* in about a week. We are in our Fall now and can turn cold very fast. Thanks for the information. The bloom here doesn't look like it will ever get done.

Re: 2019 Banana Patch: Pensacola, Florida
 

I got two new flowers that popped this week. These are from an Unidentified plant that I have in my patch. Photos quality is not very good. I will make some photos as it develops and submit them at one time for identifcation on a different thread. I wish the flowers had come earlier as this is a really tasty banana and wanted to see it fully developed. Oh, well, someday!

October 6, 2019

Re: 2019 Banana Patch: Pensacola, Florida
 

Could it be an Orinoco?[IMG][/IMG]

Re: 2019 Banana Patch: Pensacola, Florida
 

Thanks for taking a look Mari. I don't think so. I have tried Orinoco bananas (one time) and these don't taste like them. These have a great flavor when they are yellow and as I remember Orninoco needed to have lots of brown on the peel.

Couple other points. Just measured both plants and the pstems are 14'. There is a lot of sap on the newly opened female flowers and its very sweet. I can only compare to Namwa sap which is less in volume with a slight bitter flavor.

Again I will collect photos over the next month or so and then post them up in one thread for identification purposes.

Re: 2019 Banana Patch: Pensacola, Florida
 

Temps are ranging from mid 50's to high 70's now. Bagged all my bunches to protect them from the cold. I expect to harvest my first big bunch of Namwas the first week of November which would be exactly 4 months since flowering.

I used large clear trash bags I bought at HD. I leave them open at the bottom to minimize the risk of condensation/moisture on the bunches. Look like ghosts hanging from the bananan trees for Halloween.

Re: 2019 Banana Patch: Pensacola, Florida
 

looking well tended. wish I could get mine to grow in a straight line like that. :ha:

Re: 2019 Banana Patch: Pensacola, Florida
 

Do you have pics of the bunches before they were bagged? Especially Son of Monster namwa?

Re: 2019 Banana Patch: Pensacola, Florida
 

Unfortunately not BBJ. Son of Monster Namwa is pretty much filled out and I'm just waiting for one of the bananas to turn yelllow. November 5th will be 4 months from the flower appearing. The bananas at the top of the bunch (about five inches long) are twice as large as the bananas at the bottom of the bunch (about three inches long) but they are filled out/rounded too.

I'll take a pic of the bunch and post it when harvested.

Re: 2019 Banana Patch: Pensacola, Florida
 

Just harvested my first big bunch from Son of Monster Namwa this morning. I was a bit worried about crashing onto the pool deck but I got it down under control. Sorry no video of that! This was a one man operation! Chopped the upper third of the pstem and then sorta eased it down while removing the support. Very heavy and confirmed by the scale at 78 lbs!!

I let the whole bunch mature. No pruning on this one. Took a total of four months in Pensacola, Florida. The top fingers are huge and twice as big as the bottom fingers in both length and thickness. Invividual fingers are all pretty plump but not nearly as plump as the small bunch I harvested earlier this year from a plant at my Mother's house which are shown above.

Today is cloudy with rain so not the best pics unfortunately.

Re: 2019 Banana Patch: Pensacola, Florida
 

Again, CONGRATS!!!!!!!!!!!!

Re: 2019 Banana Patch: Pensacola, Florida
 

Maybe next time. Looking forward to it :D:D:D:D:ukkibannana::ukkibannana::D:):):D:cool::cool::cool: that pole supporting the bunch is bent! Lmao!!!!!!

Re: 2019 Banana Patch: Pensacola, Florida
 

Super exciting and very impressive for us people in the North.

Re: 2019 Banana Patch: Pensacola, Florida
 

Donald,





Congratulations!...…..Awesome harvest!.....Good job buddy!.....







:2723::bananarow::2723:

Re: 2019 Banana Patch: Pensacola, Florida
 

very nice work there showoff. :ha:

making me wish mine would make it thru the winter. shows you what just a couple of degrees difference makes with bananas!!!! if I was just few miles closer the big waters I might be of a little competition.. :ha: this year I have been fertilizing harder. maybe next year. :choochoo:

Re: 2019 Banana Patch: Pensacola, Florida
 

:08::08::08:

This year has been my best year so far and last year's warm winter helped tremendously. Unfortunately I had a pretty big water bill during the late August to early October draught to get these bad boys to the finish line. No guts, no glory!

Thanks Beam!
:bananas_b

Re: 2019 Banana Patch: Pensacola, Florida
 

Making my tiny namwa bunches look bad! Hahaha. Amazing bunch congrats man!

Re: 2019 Banana Patch: Pensacola, Florida
 

The big bunch from Godzilla Namwa came in at 60 lbs. The individual fingers were on average smaller than my previous bunches this year. The leaves on the plant were completely fried from overnight temps of 29F a week or so back so decided to go ahead and cut the bunch as I am not expecting much filling between now and the next freeze without leaves. My sister and her husband are coming for Thanksgiving and I want some bananas to give to them too!

Godzilla Namwa Bunch



Squirrel damage on a couple of top hands. Gonna have to keep a better eye on the tree rats next year!

Re: 2019 Banana Patch: Pensacola, Florida
 

Having some minor tree rat damage as well!!!!!

Re: 2019 Banana Patch: Pensacola, Florida
 

Akula, wow, was that really only 2 months between those 2 pictures of the stand you have on the west side of your property? I started some of my TC plants back in 11/17 and in approx 2 years mine have grown to about the size of what yours did in 2 months.

I see you said you fertilize monthly and for example when the plants were smaller in July, how much nitrogen and potassium were you putting down per plant? I am guessing I am not fertilizing enough.

Also how did you get rid of the green grass in those 2 months? My backyard had weeds growing out of control from July to Sept. due to rains and the fertilizing of the banana plants. I have them staggered in an area of the backyard that similar houses to mine would normally have a pool cage. I was mainly growing these for privacy and I would have loved to have gotten a thick stand like on your pool side, in the 2 years I've been growing them. Thanks for your response in advance.

Re: 2019 Banana Patch: Pensacola, Florida
 

Hey Kanana!

Yeah, that was two months of growth but I started with pups and not TC plants. I prepared the patch by digging it out and removing any competition i.e. roots from nearby trees, weeds, etc. and then backfilling the trench mixing in about 2,000 lbs. of black cow! This is a hobby not a commercial operation! Haha. I fertilized with Espoma Organic Citrus-tone during these two months applying 1-2 red solo cups per plant per month. I switched to synthetic fertilizer in September. Fertilizer is incredibly important to banana trees. I gave a four foot namwa pup to my neighbor in April/May and he didn't fertilize it and pups that popped up in my patch in June had eclipsed his plant by the end of August.

The green grass in the patch is actually St. Augustine grass clippings bagged when I mow my yard. I mulch with the grass clipppings to supress the weeds and provide organic material in the top layer of the patch. Works great. The fresh green mulch turns brown after a few days in the sun. Runners from the yard grass do get into the patch and I have to trim/remove the runners a couple times during the summer.