johninbaltimore

I'm trying to find a fast-fruiting cultivar of banana. I've read that Dwarf Cavendish fruits after 12 months, but other types seem to need 18 months or even 3 years, so this sounds unusually fast.

I'm not sure how long it takes for the super dwarf to fruit.

Planning to time this with production of pups, see if I can't mess around with the numbers a little. Bananas can't grow outdoors here but…given the way they reproduce, I've got a few ideas I want to try. Claims that they flower in 9 months and need 2-3 more months to fruit…at the very outside that's like, harvest pups in November, more likely harvest in September and plant back outside in March (hit November 14 months after harvesting pups, hopefully with a banana harvest).

Any suggestions on cultivars?

cincinnana

Choose any varieties that are dwarf which are easier to manage and move around once they mature. There is a good chance you'll want to overwinter under grow lights so plan for that.

Container growing could be an option considering your short growing season of 180-200 days because you won't have to dig up and replant each year which usually disrupts the growth cycle somewhat.


Expect the plant to flower in 3-5 years in your grow zone.

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CarolinaShoreFruits

Short Cycles were also what I was looking for. Look into Veinte Cohol and Kokopo.

PR-Giants

Yeah Short Cycles are great if you get the right size, if you get a size that's small or a TC you'll have to overwinter it which wastes a lot of time and adversely affects yield. I had a client that received their pup about 5 months ago and they harvested their bunch a couple days ago. If you can't get a size that's close to fruiting then getting a rhizome that has already fruited which has a pup is another option. For the most part TC plants aren't ideal for many hobbyists but buying a Kokopo is good for me

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PR-Giants

Bananas fruit when they have a sufficient amount of stored energy (rhizome size) so starting size is going to have a major influence on timing. Maximizing water uptake will shorten the vegetative phase but will have little to no affect on the fruiting phase.

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CarolinaShoreFruits

Curious. Still a beginner in all this. How can I tell if a banana I've bought is a TC? Can you please elaborate on being the "right size" or being "small"?

I just bought these 2 suckers that were sold as Veinte Cohol.

Do you think they're too small? Wasn't expecting them to fruit this year but hopefully next.

PR-Giants

This is a photo of a vegetative offshoot that was sent to a member growing in northern Indiana that produced fruit in about 3 to 4 months, because they grew it during the summer months it wouldn't matter if they grew it in northern Maine. This is a good example of why short cycles are desirable among many hobbyists.

You purchased small plants and the main advantage of that is cheap shipping, the shipping costs for the plant in the photo below was about $12 to $15. If you're willing to pay a few dollars more for shipping you'd probably save a few years of growing time.

There are a lot of great members here that share bananas for free or close to it, shipping is normally the most expensive part.

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CarolinaShoreFruits

Thank you for the clarification! These were all I could find for Veinte Cohol and I believe the Kokopo I bought from Larry will be the same size as these VC. I'll keep checking the forum for people selling.

PR-Giants

Posting a thread in the Bananas Wanted section might work better.

Another short cycle is the variegated Florida and it's cycle time is about half that of the Veinte Cohol. A couple weeks ago I saw a TC Florida listing on eBay for $20 with free shipping.

If the goals are fruiting, short cycles are almost always a bad choice if you're planning on overwintering them in poor conditions because they're a diploid acuminata and cold temperatures have a long lasting negative impact on these plants. If the growing plans are multi-year a cold hardy triploid ABB like a dwarf Orinoco or dwarf Namwa is an easier to grow choice.

Hopefully this gives someone a more complete understanding.

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