Saba NOT Saba
 

Back in late 2005 I got 2 saba plants from BananaPlantation.biz. I have been waiting for them to get big enough to fruit but they never seemed to get very large. About a month ago, one threw out a flower. Here is a picture of my "SABA" bananas.

I'm glad I never sold anyone one of the pups.

Do I hear any votes for Praying Hands???

Terry

Re: Saba NOT Saba
 

Praying Hands they are! ! ! Congratulations!

Re: Saba NOT Saba
 

Very nice praying hands as well!!!! Did you ever want praying hands? Hope so!

Re: Saba NOT Saba
 

In the Philippines, they are considered the same plant, although the Praying Hands is referred to as the "inconvenient" form. When they are green, they are hard to peel, without injuring the pulp. But the pulp of both plants taste the same, as is the texture.

Re: Saba NOT Saba
 

Thanks for the great information Chong!

Re: Saba NOT Saba
 

Interesting, I never knew that.

Re: Saba NOT Saba
 

It is called "Sabang-dikit". We had three mats of these, plus 2 mats of regular Saba in our backyard at Fort McKinley (Fort Bonifacio) next to Forbes Park.

If you use Praying Hands in any recipe that calls for Saba, you will not know the difference. Banana chips, Pochero, Turon, BananaQue, Maruya, Inarnibal (sliced saba in brown sugar syrup - used in Halo-Halo[sort of a Smoothie Jamboree]), or just plain fried (Referred to as platano verde or platano maduro in Cuban Restaurants in South FL), etc. I mention the Cuban reference because I've had them when I was there for the four hurricanes in '04-'05. While they were great, I think the Saba version is still better.

They were served as a side dish in Cuban Restaurants. Only places that had great Lechon Asado were the Little Havana Restaurant chain. Havana Restaurant in West Palm Beach was good, too. But the Little Havana chain was a tad better and had a more festive atmosphere, esp. at night when they have a live band. Besides, they're the only ones that served "Hatuey" beer! Cuban beer made in Puerto Rico.

Re: Saba NOT Saba
 

Thats correct, as Chong mentioned, a 'Praying Hands' is basically a dwarf 'Saba' with differently shaped fruit, they are in the same subgroup of cultivars and very closely related.

Re: Saba NOT Saba
 

Terry,

I would gladly trade you one of my Saba Pups for a praying had pup. Remember when life give you bananas make banana trades.

Re: Saba NOT Saba
 

Yes, Saba and Praying Hands are almost identical. You probably won't be able to taste a difference, and the Praying Hands looks far more interesting. PH will sometimes have individual fingers like Saba, rather than fused together. Saba is generally larger in trunk diamater and maybe a tad taller. Neither should need propping, unless they are really horizontal.

Re: Saba NOT Saba
 

I like the bananas soo much of this plant, I hope that i can ever eat them:d
do they also grow with lower temperaturs?

Re: Saba NOT Saba
 

Interesting that they are about the same - never heard that before. I always thought Praying Hands was a desert or eating type banana and not a Plantain type. I'm not much into Plantain types because I don't like frying things. I mainly wanted the SABA for the visual appeal and planted these pups in a place where a HUGE banana clump would look impressive. This praying hands is no where near as big, The trunk is about 10-12" in diameter and the flower bud is hanging at about my head. Other problem is I got a great Praying Hands from Greenie about a year ago so NOW I have two different clumps. Anyone in S FL want a free Praying Hands with about 7 ft of trunk? You gotta come get it though.

It worries me that I bought a certain variety of banana from a reputable supplier and got something different - how do we really know what we end up with?

Terry

Re: Saba NOT Saba
 

Hey Terry, do you have any pups or just the 7 footer?

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AWWWW MAN Terry, you're killin me here. I just looked up and you're around 140 miles from me... but I couldn't afford driving that far for a nana.... would cost me over $100 in gas in my truck! Now topping it off to about Six feet, I could fit it in my H. Civic LOL.

Re: Saba NOT Saba
 

Praying hands def. do not get as big as Saba...but successive generations can get fairly large....

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Re: Saba NOT Saba
 

Hey, I have a classmate who lived there. His name is Warren Capitan. :)

I love saba! They're really good!!!

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Chris,

Your Bananas are rediculous, I definately need to move.:0519:

Re: Saba NOT Saba
 

Heh, heh, heh...I resemble that remark...:03:

Just wrap the leaves real good to protect from the wind or cut them off completely except the emerger, and shove it in trunk. It'll hang out a bit, but just put a red rag on the end, and tie the trunk down. Wrap a bath towel around the p-stem where the edge of the trunklid hits it and it rests on the edge of the trunk. The corm weight will keep it weighted to the front... no fear of losing it out the back. If you are worried, just tie it to the inside of the trunk. It's even easier if your back seats fold down like my DW's Toyota Corrolla with some of the corm up into the backseat area. Once on the freeway, travel a little slower. It'll give you time to think about all the possible places to put it when you get it home!

:0519:



I have transported many banana plants on my motorcycle! Sure, they weren't 7 feet tall, but they did ride ok and bounced right back when I got them home. I made an 85 mile trip with my CA Gold and several trips home from home depot. I also got my Manzano and Zebrina from JoeReal and brought them home that way. I got the strangest looks, but I have a beautiful Manzano for my troubles!

Worst case senario...hack the top few feet off of it...

Re: Saba NOT Saba
 

Yep - with all leaves trimmed back to the top of the pseudostem, it would be a little over 6 ft including the corm.

Terry

Re: Saba NOT Saba
 

Nice pics, Rmplmnz, Chris, aklfjasdkljf, whatever your name is!!!