DaveE

My wife (BJ) knew I had placed a few bids on the Ca Gold that Rick had up for auction. During the last 30 minutes of the auction she was following the bids on my computer and bidding for me as I cooked dinner. She ended up winning the auction, (Sorry Migael) and getting the Gold for my birthday gift.

The package arrived today as I was mowing the yard. When the Mail Carrier handed the package to me I thought it felt a little heavy for one small bare root banana. When I open the box I found it filled with plants!

The first plant I unpacked was a large Musa valery pup. Then I pulled out a big stocky Dwarf Jamaican Red pup with a bunch of roots . And a two foot Manzano pup. The CA Gold was next and it looked awesome. You can't even tell it was shipped, it looks like he dug it up and handed to me!

Rick also include a bunch of plants for me to use in my landscaping like Black Taro, Giant Elephant Ear, Ginger, Cannas and Heliconia. He even included a rooted Vanilla plant cutting which will be perfect for my Wife's greenhouse when I build it later this summer.

I spent the afternoon planting the CA Gold and potting the rest. We had a light rain most of the afternoon, so I didn't get a chance to take any photos. I will try and get a few tomorrow if the weather cooperates.

Rick did a great job packing the plants. He even shipped the very next day with out us asking him to. Every thing was labeled professionally and he even included a personalized thank you card. Awesome service and awesome plants!

Thanks BJ and Rick for a great afternoon.

DaveE

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Richard

Can anyone tell the difference between a California Gold and a Dwarf Orinoco?

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DaveE

I have read much of the info out there on the CA Gold / Texas Star history and controversy.

Since I have a bunch of Dwarf Orinoco I thought doing a side by side comparison would be a fun experiment. Dwarf Orinoco does very well here and I have a chance to get fruit where I live if we have a good winter. I plan on removing a same size pup from each, making sure they are as close as possible in corm size and root growth and planting them about 6-8 feet apart in the same circumstances. My Dwarf Orinoco are from TC so they are the same as most out there.

I understand that growing a few comparison pairs will not be of any scientific value, but like I said; it is for fun and my enjoyment.

DaveE

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natej740

About a hundred and thirty bucks....lol

AV1611Corbin777

Hey congrats on the plant(s)
Nothing like opening up a banana box and finding some freebies!

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The first law of thermodynamics, an expression of the principle of conservation of energy, states that energy can be transformed (changed from one form to another), but cannot be created or destroyed.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermod...thermodynamics

Dalmatiansoap

Dont mind me, Im just jealous

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Patty in Wisc

What a nice surprise!! And....HAPPY BIRTHDAY

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Patty




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Patty in Wisc has sadly passed away 9/05/11. We will miss you Patty.

Dean W.

Way To go Dave! Happy Birthday too!

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DaveE

LOL, I know i will get some up soon.

Thanks Patty!

Thanks Dean.

Can you share your personal experience with these two and how you came to the conclusion they are the same?

Dave

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Abnshrek

Well Happy Birthday Dave!!! If I had known you were getting it for your BD I coulda let you get for alot less. I see from the contents of the package you got all your moneys worth thanks to Rick. I think that's show's the true nature of many of our members. You get more than you bargain for. Congrats :^)

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I'm a Nannerhead :^)

natej740

I have no experience with either but i have read the discussions on the forums about them.

I just stated the most notable difference the huge price of the Cali Gold compared to a Dwarf Orinoco.

Awesome Plant man i wasnt trying to say "they are the same".

DaveE

Thanks Migael.

Your right many super people on this site. Rick did hook me up with all the extras. Hopefully we will get a few pups to share this summer.

Dave

No worries, I thought you had some inside info or came across some DNA test that I hadn't heard about.

Dave

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Abnshrek

No doubt about that.. I have them coming up all over the place :^)

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Gabe15

Morphologically, it is very easy to tell that 'California Gold' is a dwarf type of Bluggoe, as is the common 'Dwarf Orinoco'. Just by looking at them at any stage you are not likely to be able to tell them apart. However, the claim of 'California Gold' and what makes it different has nothing to do with morphology, it is it's growth habit, which you cannot tell from morphology. It is my belief that if the two are different at all, it is just in cold tolerance and/or speed of growth and that 'California Gold' is a hardier/faster sport off the common 'Dwarf Orinoco'.

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Growing bananas in Colorado, Washington, Hawaii since 2004. Commercial banana farmer, 200+ varieties.

chong

Thanks for the comment, Gabe. That to me is the best explanantion that I've read to date as to the distinction between the two.

Richard

I'd like to see some independent trials of several Dwarf Orinoco and CA Gold grown side-by-side year-round in USDA cold-hardiness zone 9a and 9b. Myself and others have done so in zone 10a and find zero difference in hardiness, growth rate, and fruit.

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breakintheweb

If in 9B and already taking weekly notes on four varieties i'm growing by each other. These varieties are red dwarf, ice cream, fhia-17 and manzano.

If you can provide some orinco and ca gold suckers i'll pay shipping and provide weekly notes and pictures.

cherokee_greg

I have a California Gold and a dwarf orinoco side by side they were the same size when I planted them.

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Greg zone 9 Fresno,CA
http://gardenjot.com/garden/view/1980/Gregs-Banana-Farm

Richard

If someone who is familiar with agricultural field trials has the resources to carry out a study, then I'd be happy to provide plants and materials. One plant of each does not make a study.

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DaveE

I did this last year and unfortunately we had another crazy weather event last winter with 56 straight hours of below freezing temps. I have 5 pups on my CG now so I will add a second and third pair to the experiment.

Dave

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