Gros Michel - Page 12

GreenFin · 08-29-2012, 06:00 PM

I've got several ideas that I'm going to pursue for fruiting tall bananas in Kansas.

1) I'm going to build bigger greenhouses in the 12-15' range. The tall bananas won't be able to fruit in there, but the plan is to time things so that they're pushing the ceiling in April, then plant them outdoors. If they bloom before frost, I'll then be able to move them back into greenhouses and lay them almost horizontal (propped up a bit with supports, but with roots still in the nutrient water) until the fruit ripens.

2) I'd like to experiment with something similar to #1, but with the tunnel covering a pit that I dig to give it more height.

3) I'd like to experiment with growing a tall all the way to fruition inside a short tunnel by laying it sideways. I think I'll run into major 'bending toward the light' problems, though, unless I orient the tunnel along a NE/SW axis so that it can grow towards the southwest (i.e. the direction all my plants naturally lean/grow). I've seen pics and comments about bananas bending to extreme angles within just a couple of days, so unless I make a rotisserie contraption to continually rotate the plant, a NE/SW oriented greenhouse may be the easiest way to pull off this method.

4) I'll continue to experiment with chopping. For example, the Raja Puri and Double that are mostly hidden by the GM in my pic are plants that I chopped at ~4' of p-stem (down to 1'); they are now almost the height they were before the chop, but with vastly larger leaves and thicker p-stems than they had at that height before. The goal is to time things right so that they flower at about 3-4' with 10+ big healthy leaves (they have about 10 right now).

I'm hoping to cheat and build some monstrously big greenhouses next year (30' tall?) that'll provide a permanent home for the tall nanners. So even if I don't get satisfactory fruit via my short-term methods, I should at least have a lot of big healthy plants with enormous corms that I can use to stock the new greenhouses/botanical gardens.

sunfish · 08-29-2012, 06:06 PM

Bonsi

Darkman · 08-29-2012, 06:13 PM

I like the idea of a five foot pit with a tall green house over the top.

john_ny · 08-29-2012, 06:32 PM

Greenfin- Very ambitious project. Sounds like a lot of work. Good luck!

sunfish · 08-29-2012, 06:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Darkman

I like the idea of a five foot pit with a tall green house over the top.

Growing Praying Hands Bananas in Central California – Zone 9 – Walipini project

venturabananas · 08-30-2012, 01:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GreenFin

I've got several ideas that I'm going to pursue for fruiting tall bananas in Kansas.

Keep us posted on how it all works out.

Yug · 08-31-2012, 01:55 AM

Latest progress

Gros Michel

Largest of four pups

Jose263 · 09-06-2012, 12:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Darkman

I like the idea of a five foot pit with a tall green house over the top.

Sounds nice - unfortunately, I would have 3 feet of water in my pit

Darkman · 09-06-2012, 06:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jose263

Sounds nice - unfortunately, I would have 3 feet of water in my pit

AND why aren't you on the catfish forum?

Jose263 · 09-07-2012, 08:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Darkman

AND why aren't you on the catfish forum?

I offered to take my wife on a noodling trip for our anniversary but she not so politely declined

whats the url for the catfish forum?

Darkman · 09-07-2012, 03:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jose263

whats the url for the catfish forum?

Catfish farming forum - Yahoo! Search Results

kaczercat · 01-20-2013, 07:37 PM

an update on GM
june 21 2012

Jan 20 2013

Julian · 01-21-2013, 08:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yug

Latest progress

Gros Michel

Largest of four pups

What kind of sweet potato are you growing by the larger pup?

TommyMacLuckie · 01-21-2013, 10:33 PM

It's been a while.

The GMs I have left are still alive but looking awful. Hopefully they'll do better this spring and won't get smashed again.

kaczercat · 03-16-2013, 01:27 PM

March 16 2013
Looking better then it did in January!

wolfyhound · 03-16-2013, 02:11 PM

Wow!! Awesome looking!

sunfish · 03-16-2013, 04:04 PM

robguz24 · 03-31-2013, 05:16 PM

My third fruiting of Gros Michel. This one is the biggest bunch yet and bloomed about 2' taller than last year, maybe 10' or so. Though it is still not a very big bunch.

Yug · 03-31-2013, 07:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by robguz24

My third fruiting of Gros Michel. This one is the biggest bunch yet and bloomed about 2' taller than last year, maybe 10' or so. Though it is still not a very big bunch.

What variety of GM, Highgate, Lowgate, Cocos?

robguz24 · 03-31-2013, 09:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yug

What variety of GM, Highgate, Lowgate, Cocos?

"Raja Puri", lol! That's what I bought it as and 2 of the local sellers here are still selling it as that. No idea what variety but it probably isn't a dwarf type. Gabe was able to ID it via photos. It may be just the one that's always been called Bluefields locally, which the guy I bought it from also sells.

08-29-2012, 06:00 PM	#221 (permalink)
GreenFin Location: Kansas Zone: 6a Join Date: Jan 2012 Posts: 595 BananaBucks : 105,949 Feedback: 0 / 0% Said "Thanks" 1,396 Times Was Thanked 939 Times in 334 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 44 Times	Re: Gros Michel I've got several ideas that I'm going to pursue for fruiting tall bananas in Kansas. 1) I'm going to build bigger greenhouses in the 12-15' range. The tall bananas won't be able to fruit in there, but the plan is to time things so that they're pushing the ceiling in April, then plant them outdoors. If they bloom before frost, I'll then be able to move them back into greenhouses and lay them almost horizontal (propped up a bit with supports, but with roots still in the nutrient water) until the fruit ripens. 2) I'd like to experiment with something similar to #1, but with the tunnel covering a pit that I dig to give it more height. 3) I'd like to experiment with growing a tall all the way to fruition inside a short tunnel by laying it sideways. I think I'll run into major 'bending toward the light' problems, though, unless I orient the tunnel along a NE/SW axis so that it can grow towards the southwest (i.e. the direction all my plants naturally lean/grow). I've seen pics and comments about bananas bending to extreme angles within just a couple of days, so unless I make a rotisserie contraption to continually rotate the plant, a NE/SW oriented greenhouse may be the easiest way to pull off this method. 4) I'll continue to experiment with chopping. For example, the Raja Puri and Double that are mostly hidden by the GM in my pic are plants that I chopped at ~4' of p-stem (down to 1'); they are now almost the height they were before the chop, but with vastly larger leaves and thicker p-stems than they had at that height before. The goal is to time things right so that they flower at about 3-4' with 10+ big healthy leaves (they have about 10 right now). I'm hoping to cheat and build some monstrously big greenhouses next year (30' tall?) that'll provide a permanent home for the tall nanners. So even if I don't get satisfactory fruit via my short-term methods, I should at least have a lot of big healthy plants with enormous corms that I can use to stock the new greenhouses/botanical gardens. __________________ Set out runnin', but I'll take my time; a friend of bananas is a friend of mine. www.GreenFinGardens.com

08-29-2012, 06:06 PM	#222 (permalink)
sunfish Banned sunfish's Photo Gallery Location: San Diego Find me on the map! Zone: 9-11 Name: Tony Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 18,429 BananaBucks : 1,626,108 Feedback: 8 / 100% Said "Thanks" 3,210 Times Was Thanked 20,593 Times in 7,760 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 2,716 Times	Re: Gros Michel Bonsi

08-29-2012, 06:13 PM	#223 (permalink)
Darkman Dirt Master Darkman's Photo Gallery Location: Pensacola, FL South of I-10 Find me on the map! Zone: 8b/9a Name: Darkman Join Date: Jun 2010 Posts: 1,249 BananaBucks : 263,433 Feedback: 0 / 0% Said "Thanks" 9,263 Times Was Thanked 1,582 Times in 702 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 243 Times	Re: Gros Michel I like the idea of a five foot pit with a tall green house over the top. __________________ Darkman in Pensacola AS ALWAYS IMHO AND YOUR MILEAGE MAY DIFFER!!!!!!!! Life - Some assembly required, As is no warranty, Batteries not included, Instructions shipped separately and are frequently wrong! Kentucky Bourbon - It may not solve the problem but it helps to make it tolerable! Statistics - Data that analyst twist to support the insane opinions of those that pay them.

08-29-2012, 06:32 PM	#224 (permalink)
john_ny Member john_ny's Photo Gallery Location: Staten Island, NY - southernmost county in NY State. Find me on the map! Zone: USDA7- Sunset34 Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 2,014 BananaBucks : 937,988 Feedback: 5 / 100% Said "Thanks" 1,057 Times Was Thanked 2,284 Times in 832 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 37 Times	Re: Gros Michel Greenfin- Very ambitious project. Sounds like a lot of work. Good luck! __________________ John

08-31-2012, 01:55 AM	#227 (permalink)
Yug Yug's Photo Gallery Location: Hawaii Find me on the map! Zone: 10-11 Name: Knobby D. Holme Join Date: Nov 2010 Posts: 1,464 BananaBucks : 78,269 Feedback: 0 / 0% Said "Thanks" 4,011 Times Was Thanked 1,749 Times in 814 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 463 Times	Re: Gros Michel Latest progress Gros Michel Largest of four pups

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01-20-2013, 07:37 PM	#232 (permalink)
kaczercat kaczercat's Photo Gallery Location: Southern ON Find me on the map! Zone: 5b 9b Name: Matt Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 1,874 BananaBucks : 282,711 Feedback: 3 / 100% Said "Thanks" 3,116 Times Was Thanked 2,111 Times in 750 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 11 Times	Re: Gros Michel an update on GM june 21 2012 Jan 20 2013 __________________ Matt

01-21-2013, 10:33 PM	#234 (permalink)
TommyMacLuckie Howboutcha! TommyMacLuckie's Photo Gallery Location: Mandeville, Louisiana Find me on the map! Zone: 8B Name: Tommy Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 427 BananaBucks : 253,561 Feedback: 0 / 0% Said "Thanks" 7 Times Was Thanked 375 Times in 202 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 1 Times	Re: Gros Michel It's been a while. The GMs I have left are still alive but looking awful. Hopefully they'll do better this spring and won't get smashed again.

03-16-2013, 01:27 PM	#235 (permalink)
kaczercat kaczercat's Photo Gallery Location: Southern ON Find me on the map! Zone: 5b 9b Name: Matt Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 1,874 BananaBucks : 282,711 Feedback: 3 / 100% Said "Thanks" 3,116 Times Was Thanked 2,111 Times in 750 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 11 Times	Re: Gros Michel March 16 2013 Looking better then it did in January! __________________ Matt

03-16-2013, 02:11 PM	#236 (permalink)
wolfyhound Location: NE Florida Find me on the map! Zone: 9 Name: Wolfyhound Join Date: Jan 2013 Posts: 406 BananaBucks : 73,936 Feedback: 1 / 100% Said "Thanks" 393 Times Was Thanked 423 Times in 195 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 67 Times	Re: Gros Michel Wow!! Awesome looking!

03-16-2013, 04:04 PM	#237 (permalink)
sunfish Banned sunfish's Photo Gallery Location: San Diego Find me on the map! Zone: 9-11 Name: Tony Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 18,429 BananaBucks : 1,626,108 Feedback: 8 / 100% Said "Thanks" 3,210 Times Was Thanked 20,593 Times in 7,760 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 2,716 Times	Re: Gros Michel Wow

03-31-2013, 05:16 PM	#238 (permalink)
robguz24 Rob Location: Kalapana, Hawaii Find me on the map! Zone: 11 Name: Rob Join Date: Sep 2010 Posts: 1,506 BananaBucks : 305,782 Feedback: 0 / 0% Said "Thanks" 1,320 Times Was Thanked 4,961 Times in 1,080 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 204 Times	Re: Gros Michel My third fruiting of Gros Michel. This one is the biggest bunch yet and bloomed about 2' taller than last year, maybe 10' or so. Though it is still not a very big bunch. __________________ My micro-farm Stay on my Big Island banana farm cottage

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