Blue Java!!!
 

I got a Blue Java corn from PR Giant on May 13, 2019. This was my first experience with a corn and was careful to make a good draining potting mix and not water too much but ended up watering a bit too much anyway.

The corn did very little except push out a pathetic small white pencil of a cigar that proceeded to choke and turn black. I was worried after seeing so many posts where PRGiant's corns bust out leaves within a couple days! After about two weeks or so I decided to remove the top layer of the corn and the next day a nice looking leaf emerged! Then it was off to the races with nice daily improvement and growth!:woohoonaner:

I will put this one in my new patch at the end of June after it gets a couple more leaves. Can't wait to see those blue bananas in late 2020!!:goteam:

May 13, 2019:



June 4, 2019:



June 10, 2019:



June 10, 2019 Close Up:

Re: Blue Java!!!
 

all right looks good, it will grow quick now. congratulations on the new arrival. yes its very easy to over water at that stage, almost better to not water at all until it puts out a leaf.

Re: Blue Java!!!
 

:lurk: Awesome man! Gonna be a fun one to watch.

Re: Blue Java!!!
 

Glad to see it came back! Best of luck to you!

Re: Blue Java!!!
 

Planted this guy into my new patch two days ago. I expected him to be a bit larger by this point but we have had some extreme heat for an extended period of time and I think it has effected the growth of my plants somewhat.

Mowed the lawn yesterday and mulched with the grass clippings. Usually takes about two days for clippings to brown. Mulch really helps contain moisture in the soil.

Re: Blue Java!!!
 

Your stuff always looks so together......I just want to water it.

Re: Blue Java!!!
 

Yeah, this little guy is suffering a bit although plenty of water in the soil. Pic was taken near high noon. The little dudes in my new patch have been getting full sun since about 8 am. Hopefully it motivates them to get the lead out and develop a canopy.

Re: Blue Java!!!
 

My Blue Java made it through the winter with two leaves and looks like it is putting out a flag/flower. Very exciting! Wish it had waited a couple months to add leaves before throwing out the flower but I've got two leaves and all summer for the bunch to mature. The flower looks very small compared to my Namwa flowers.

This is the original plant I received from PR Giants last Spring who advised it would fruit at a shorter height the first year and then taller in coming years.

Blue Java March 15, 2020

Re: Blue Java!!!
 

Come on blue bananas!!!

The flower has emerged and is beginning to angle down. Should start to open soon. Its a small flower. Maybe 1/4 or 1/5 the size of my big namwa flowers. Lucky to get maybe two or three hands but I only have two leaves so no much power to develop the bananas anyway.

Re: Blue Java!!!
 

Very exciting. The plant has grown very fast for you with your Florida heat.

Bill

Re: Blue Java!!!
 

Can you tell it is blue Java by looking at a picture of the mature plant?

Re: Blue Java!!!
 

Akula, I am just down the road from you in Ft Walton Beach. Im inspired by your success growing bananas! I cleared a section of my yard this winter, removed 2 feet of sand and hardwood roots,backfilled with a few tons of mushroom compost and aged manure and planted 10 blue Java plants.. My first 6 went in the ground about a month ago, and they are about 3 feet tall. I ordered 4 more to interplant, with the thinking that a tight patch may block wind in the cold months. Ibe been fertilizing with banana fuel from wellspring gardens, and triple 13. Ive got a few tons of manure aging, and a truckload of woodchips on the way. Any tips you can give me to get these going right their first year?

Re: Blue Java!!!
 

Hello Neighbor!

You prepared the soil for the plants well. I think your plants will be very happy. I know removing all the roots from the nearby trees is a major effort but it has a big payoff. Good job!

Be careful about overcrowding the plants. I have found that spacing them out a bit and reducing the competition between the plants helps to speed growth during the growing season and helps produce big bunches. I adjusted my spacing earlier this year to provide a bit more space between my big Namwah's (removed two plants).

I have never used Banana Fuel but it has a good analysis although a bit expensive if you have a lot of plants in the patch vs. 13-13-13 plus potassium sulfate or urea plus potassium sulfate (preferred) or muriate of potash (secondary). Every other year I apply Southern Ag Minor Elements. I also bag my St. Augustin clippings and spread them on the patch not more than an inch or two thick. Lastly I chop down the old plants and return their bodies to the patch to compost.

This year I dug up and removed old corms from prior years. Those things were starting to hog up the patch. That was a job!

Good luck and post up a photo of your patch!

Re: Blue Java!!!
 

Thanks for the reply! I am currently waiting on a load of woodchips, so I can mulch them good before the summer. The banana fuel was just something from the nursery where I bought the plants.. I quickly realized it wont be feasible once these things get going, and with it being water soluble, it will likely leech quickly from the soil. I hope I don't have my plants too close together.. they are roughly 7 ft apart, planted in a U shape. My neighbor down from me has his planted in a tight clump, and has bananas on his.. I was thinking the tight spacing might protect them in winter? My thought was to compost kitchen waste in the culvert in the center of them.. now I'm thinking about pavers in the center, with an outdoor shower.. that way the bananas can benefit from the grey water runoff from the shower..
If you think I need to move a few to thin them, let me know! Thanks!

Im trying to upload photos, but having a bit of trouble so not sure if these will show up.
EDIT.. pics came through, but are sideways.. anyone know how to fix?

Re: Blue Java!!!
 

@Akula, will that banana produce more leaves once it flowers, or will it only produce leaves until flowering?

Re: Blue Java!!!
 

No more leaves after the flower emerges. Whatever leaves you have at that point is what is available to develop the fruit. That's why timing is critical in our area...flower early enough to develop the fruit but late enough so the plant has twelve leaves or so. Pups that emerge mid-May to mid-June have worked the best for me.

Re: Blue Java!!!
 

Oh wow.. that brings a whole new level to the game.. so in your opinion, on first year plants, should you focus on trying to mature them only half way the first year, adjusting fertilizer etc to keep them from growing too quickly? What would be the ideal size/maturation stage for plants in our area by say, November, so they can continue growth and fruit early the following spring?
Is there a certain milestone that triggers a flower? A certain number of leaves etc? Thanks!

Re: Blue Java!!!
 

You might get a flower at the end of this year but most likely it would come in November with little chance to develop the fruit but you would have a flower which is a major accomplishment. Its very difficult to predict the growth rate with new (initial) plants because they grow much slower without being able to leverage energy from the Mother plant as well as the power of an established corm and root system in place.

I recomend growing your first year plant as best you can with maximum resources to develop a strong and robust corm which can support a pup emerging in Spring 2021 for a flower in Summer 2022.

If you get a flower at the end of the this year or early Spring with one or two leaves consider it a surpise bonus.

Be patient. You'll get there!

Re: Blue Java!!!
 

Great Info! Thank you!
So in your patch, do you typically separate and relocate your pups, or rather choose a healthy one and let that one replace the mother plant? The bananas in the patch by your pool, that are enormous, those are pups that started in the spring? That's amazing if so! I can see now that there is much more strategy to growing bananas than merely planting a few and watch them grow. It seems that corm and root development are the name of the game in the first few years, and once that is established, replacement pups will grow much faster than relocated pups or new plants. A flower would be amazing to see this year, but if its poorly timed I would rather see that energy go into developing structure below ground.. I will just do as you say and continue to try to get as much growth as I can this year, so it can provide a good start to 2021! Thanks so much for answering my countless questions!

Re: Blue Java!!!
 

I select one pup that emerges between May 15-June 15th to replace the current year’s fruiting plant. I pick the strongest, tallest, biggest and remove all others. Any pups emerging during the rest of the season are removed as well. I have one fruiting plant and one follower. The emerging pup usually hits a height of about nine feet by the end of the first season and then continues to a height of about 13-15 feet the second season blooming sometime between July-September. That’s for Namwas which are the big one’s around my pool. Other varieties will have other growing habits and speed.