raja puri growth
 

Hey ya'll,

I separated pups off of a raja puri corm. I thought the corm was good as gone. No roots. No pulse. No outward signs of life. Silly me. Put in the ground about a week ago. I just had to. Saw this today. So, I will be tracking growth for the rest of summer. Maybe I can get a few more pups of so.



These are the pups I removed. They seem to be doing well.


pups

This should be fun. Tally-ho me banana! :woohoonaner:

Re: raja puri growth
 

Be careful when you stand up, your feet are on the wrong legs.

Re: raja puri growth
 

I will post pics of the latest growth when I get home. I always wondered why my feet hurt.

Be cool.

Re: raja puri growth
 

Those nanners look great. I live a little south of you (Gulf Shores) and got my first Raja Puri last year. It's doing ok so far but usually my 2nd year stuff does well so I have my fingers crossed.

A friend of mine gave me an article on "growing Bananas" from the Mobile Press written by Bill Finch, it stated that the Orinoco and Raja Puri are the best to grow in our area for fruit. Anyway, hope this helps, thanks
hydroid

Re: raja puri growth
 

Sheesh, you're scaring me Scot!!! I was thinking the same thing! :P

Re: raja puri growth
 

Hey Hydroid,

Let me know if you ever want to trade plants. Just pm me. My collection has become a bit smaller since I moved. So far, I have gotten Orinoco and Goldfinger to fruit on this side of the bay. This was the Goldfinger.



There were about 80 some odd naners in the bunch.

Re: raja puri growth
 

Sounds great Kenzie, I try to add something new every year. I have some nice Sabas, Orinocos, Basjoos, and a very smallish Raja Puri. It's hard for me to find any local places that have much selection on different cultivars.
There is a nursery not far from me that said that they would have a shipment of different fruit bearing bananas this week including Ice Cream, so I am gonna check with him in a day or two. My stuff is about a month behind right now from all that cold weather we had. My yard looked like a bomb went off after all the cold spells. I'll stay in touch.
hydroid

Re: raja puri growth
 

LOL! Too funny!

Looks good, Kenzie! I'm always amazed what bananas will come back from. My first two plants were pups that grew off a corm of a 'dead' banana that was thrown in a compost pile. Let's just say there was some life left in the ol' gal after all!

PS...that picture of your goldfinger is BEAUTIFUL! Thanks for sharing!

Re: raja puri growth
 

Ditto:)

Re: raja puri growth
 

I doubt you will fruit an ice cream in alabama.

Re: raja puri growth
 

Sounds like a challenge! :D

Re: raja puri growth
 

In my dad's yard in florida he had Raja Puri, some wild varieties, Ice Cream, some commercial chiquita variety and I think some other one. I think they were neglected somewhat. The Raja Puri was the only one to have a lot of consistent yields, to multiply and thrive. It seemed to be the most cold hardy, the most drought tolerant, the quickest to fruit etc. and it was also the shortest though the commercial variety wasn't much taller. The wild ones came in second best as far as growth but their fruit quality was inferior to the raja puri and often times seeded.

The ice cream did the worst. It barely clung for life. It's cold tolerance was the weakest. It's drought tolerance the weakest. I guess it needed more fertilizer than the others as it didn't overall seem to do good with neglect. It surely is not going to be as cold hardy as the others. The only way you can fruit that so far north is to pot it and bring it inside during the winter. The only real advantage to the ice cream is the supposed superior taste of the fruit. I don't know I never had one.

If its actually cared for it might be a different story but I think it takes too long to fruit and is too cold sensitive to get anything on it north of south florida unless you bring it inside.

Re: raja puri growth
 

Ice Cream endured my past winter in zone 9 very well. Although we only got down to 28F-30F (I forget, but somewhere around there), we had about 30 days of frost. Along with some of my other hardier bananas, it continued it's growth from the top of the psuedostem fairly early. It is considered by many to be a fairly hardy variety. I don't care much about drought tolerance as I have an abundant water supply.

Re: raja puri growth
 

And they bear bananas after freezing and growing back? Maybe its different when you actually take care of them.

Re: raja puri growth
 

Hey 1rainman, you're probably right about the ice cream not fruiting, I am in zone 9, but we had a very tough winter here. I bought it anyway and planted it on the south side of the house.
I started with bananas about 3 yrs. ago only for their tropical looks, but ended up with 4 bunches last year. Never thought I would even get a flower, so anything is "icing on the cake" for me. I don't post alot because I work offshore and am gone alot, but I check this website atleast once a day when I'm home. I love to talk to folks about bananas, I guess I need a life, he he.
Kenzie_POM, sorry about hijacking the post, I also got a goldfinger along with the ice cream, that photo is beautiful. Thanks
Bo

Re: raja puri growth
 

I have not had mine fruit yet since my prior plant froze completely in January 2007 when we had a week of temperatures in the low 20s. Others have had occasional success with fruiting it in this climate, especially if they provide it a little protection. In general, shorter varieties have a better chance of fruiting here, though. Still, if I had replanted an Ice Cream in the spring of 2007 (instead of waiting until the summer of 2008), I would believe I'd probably be getting it to fruit for me this year since the past two winters have only got down to 28F-30F.

Sorry, Kenzie, for helping take this discussion off-topic.

Re: raja puri growth
 

In my zone 9, Louisiana Gulf Coast, Ice Cream is totally hardy. I planted a small pup in March of 2007. It survived a low of 24 twice that winter, numerous other nights in the upper 20's and low 30's. The leaves all froze and the pseudostem stopped growing but picked right back up as soon as the temperatures moderated. It grew nicely last summer, put out numerous pups; one of which is already 8 feet tall. It survived this past winter with a low of 27 once and numerous nights in the low 30's. It flowered last week at 12 feet but it hasn't opened yet so I'm unable to see any bananas. Is is equally as hardy as Raja Puri for me, and was the second to show new growth once the weather moderated right behind California Gold which fruited in early February.

Steve

Re: raja puri growth
 

My Raja Puri and Ice Cream both came through the winter great. As soon as the weather started warming just a bit they were both off like a shot. Hoping for blooms this year.

Re: raja puri growth
 

My Ice Cream also made it through winter zone 9-10 here on the west side of Florida. I didn't lose a single leaf from the cold but it slowed to a leaf or two per month. The pineapples also over-wintered, but they were badly damaged by the couple nights that fell into the low 30's. Pineapples are said to damage below 68F and start dying at 40F, mine made it in pots but I did bring them in when it fell into the 30's. The neighbor's plants did not go inside and they are also in fruit despite the prolonged winter we had this year.

BTW, everything is on the south side.

Re: raja puri growth
 

You have to understand anything in pots is going to be affected by the cold 10 times worse than if in the ground. In south florida we planted some pineapples on the side of the house and they started spreading like weeds. They weren't even bothered by any freezes. If you take them out of the pot and put them in the ground (especially next to a house or something) you wont have any problems. If you live in the north of florida all you have to do is put a black plastic bag over them at night when it freezes.

The pineapples fruited occasionally too with little care.