siege2050

I found an Asian/Mexican supermarket in Fayetteville Arkansas called the Asian Amigo lol. They had some really cool fruits and Veggies in there that you never see around here because I live in the middle of nowhere. They had Bananas called Thai banana, and I bought some. After Looking them up I am pretty sure they were Nam Wah. They were much more firm than the usual banana, had a very slight unidentifiable fruity flavor like strawberry or something. I liked them enough that I will go back to buy more. Not as sweet as I would have thought, but tasty anyway, I ate em all lol. Also picked up a Dragon Fruit for the seeds, verrrrrry bland fruit for the amazing appearance and not worth the high price, but interesting.

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Kat2

Someday I may get to taste Namwahs from my "tree". Dragon fruit is highly overrated IMO. My neighbors on both sides have them; one has them growing up a 30' oak and built a ladder (looks like a tree house without the floor) in order to harvest their bounty. The plant is pretty; I have a soft spot for the plants that look like cactus but have no desire to grow DF.

See if they have turmeric--it's easy to grow. Lemon grass stalks can be rooted. I love ethnic markets!

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siege2050

Yep, they have tumeric. I finally got just plain ginger to sprout. I have suspicions the grocery store suppliers spray them with some kind of anti sprouting chemical to make them sellable longer and they always rot. I soaked these roots in 3 changes of water, and sprouted them in pure sphagnum moss so now have ginger yay. I have a real big bunch of lemongrass, I tried overwintering one last year in my unheated greenhouse under frost cloth, and could not water on cold days so it died. This year I planted it directly in the floor of the greenhouse and have covered it with frost cloth and its still alive. It grew from a small pot to over six feet high and wide in there this last summer, and it was about 115/120 in there during the day. It reallllly loves the heat and grew much more than I expected.

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Kat2

I just plant ginger; it usually grows. I've never heard of soaking ginger; if i leave it out of the fridge, it often starts sprouting so rather than toss it I tuck it in some dirt then viola! I know it's vastly different here in the south. When I lived in MD, I never tried growing anything tropical other than the calamondin orange "tree" which produced faithfully until the ex killed it and the pineapple top I babied for 7 years that never bloomed or considered doing so. I did have snake plants bloom. PU! That is one sticky, overwhelmingly "perfumey" mess.

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Doc Froot Fly

Namwah is a great generic banana. Tastes good and very productive.

siege2050

My Dragon fruit seeds from the fruit I bought at the Asian Amigo lol, germinated in 3 days, so now I have no idea how or where to overwinter them next year lol

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Kat2

That you were impressed with the taste and texture of DF has me worried that I won't like my Namwah's fruits when she finally produces. But perhaps you're just a seedy like me so you put anything that looks viable in dirt. You should start a thread about your new babies in the other fruits section; it's buried here.

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siege2050

Lol, I was impressed with the Namwah, I didn't like the Dragon fruit, it tasted like watered down Kiwi. Yep I try to start seeds of everything, even got Holy seeds off the trees at Wal-mart the other day lol.

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Kat2

Watered down Kiwi is beyond kind IMO. I've had the chance to try a few pricey tropical fruits after moving to FL but few impress me. Very OT. Years after viewing a Green Acres episode about rutabagas being the crop to save the valley, I was finally able to find one of those waxed wonders at less than a king's ransom (quite small) and discovered that, roasted, they're quite tasty. Will I order seeds? Not sure; turnip seeds are easier to find. I do find Swedes infinitely tastier than DF. Sorry.

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siege2050

I recently tried to germinate Manihot Dulcis but they seem to be even harder to germinate than banana seeds so I finally bought some cuttings that work much better. I have read from several sites that you can overwinter cuttings each year in a box and bury it in the north, so I am going to give that a try and see how it works, very cool leaves.

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geosulcata

Kat, I guess you are referring to the tropical fruits in the grocery stores here in Florida. I agree. Most of the non-commercial tropical fruits at our grocery store are most often tasteless, spoiled, or picked too early (depending on what type of fruit it is). However, there are so many tropical fruits grown non-commercially in FL are amazing.

The dragon fruits we grow are very good. I have heard that the magenta flesh ones taste the best. I find dragon fruit tastes better to me than the kiwi I have had (which were grocery store kiwis). The DF at the grocery store looks nice on the outside though.