Surprise, Surprise Bud!
 

Tonight while watering the small Nana patch, I found this!



I didn't see the flag leaf yesterday so this was a surprise tonight. The pstem is about 7 1/2 to 8 ft. This was one of the Orinoco(s) that I planted last September. It was a pup about 4 ft tall when dug. ... I think there may still be a chance for one more of the Orinoco(s) to flower in a few days.

The bud is long and slender vs the short fat buds on my old Orinoco nanas that flower at about 10 to 12 ft.

I'm back in the NANA business after the Power Company killed the old patch of 38 + plants last year!

....:birthdaynana: ...:woohoonaner:

Re: Surprise, Surprise Bud!
 

:08: careful youll have nanas coming out your ears. that hurts I guess.

Re: Surprise, Surprise Bud!
 

I replanted with 64 nanna plants in two separate patches. With all the new pups, I now have 200 to 250 plants. ... They're not coming out my ears ...yet.

MY banana inventory includes: Dwarf Brazilian; Pisang Ceylon; Dwarf Namwah; Raja Puri; Blue Java; FHIA-1 (aka: Goldfinger); FHIA-18; Williams; Hua Moa; Dwarf Red;
Orinoco; Dwarf Orinoco; Dwarf Red; Blue Java; Calli Gold; 1000 Finger; Gross Mich; Williams; Gran Nain; Truly Tiny; Dwarf Cavendish; Gross Mich.

Re: Surprise, Surprise Bud!
 

Congrats Ed!......

Re: Surprise, Surprise Bud!
 

200-250 plants? Wow, and I thought I was going crazy on bananas....
Congratulations, nice inflorescence.

Re: Surprise, Surprise Bud!
 

Yea ... there are 4 to 6 pups with each plant (64). ... I'm not cutting a single one until next year and then I'll likely replant those into new rows or another patch. ... My NEW Banana Plantation is off to a good start. I just need to convince everyone that I haven't really 'gone bananas'.

I think, I'll be able to see the first hand tomorrow. The first petal was starting to open tonight. Pics coming ...

Re: Surprise, Surprise Bud!
 

I must have missed something, the power company tore out your bananas?

Re: Surprise, Surprise Bud!
 

yep ... where have you been? In OZ?? (haha)... on or about July 19th last year the Power Company crew sprayed my Nana patch with herbicide without my knowledge. It took me 3 weeks to realize what had happened. They claimed; they thought the plants were wild. ... I told them there IS NOT a damn Banana plant in Georgia that is wild; if it is growing, someone planted it! I did collect a few $$ from their insurance Company to replant. I gave them a price and the Insurance Company cut me a check within 3 days. Damn, I could have gotten a lot more! ... Anyway you can read about it in my first posts & pics to the forum last year.

Re: Surprise, Surprise Bud!
 

A peak at the first hand. The petal is not fully open, but ...



Close up:



May be I can get these filled out enough before the first frost. .... :drum:

Re: Surprise, Surprise Bud!
 

Congratulations.

Re: Surprise, Surprise Bud!
 

On my late Orinoco bunches I feed pure murate of potash every 2 week and most importantly I prune the bunch. Orinoco usually take 4-5 months to totally fill. If you prune the bunch the remaining ones will fill much faster and make it!! I do this every single year! I fill them in 2 months or less. PM me and I can show you exactly what I do.

Re: Surprise, Surprise Bud!
 

Thanks, I have about 90 days to first frost. So in about 3 weeks I'll need to trim the bunch.

Re: Surprise, Surprise Bud!
 

This morning 4 hands are open.

Re: Surprise, Surprise Bud!
 

This morning 5 hands are open & I can see the impression of the 6th hand under its petal. The fingers have separated showing a double row in each hand with 12 fingers to a hand.





Another thing that I notice is the color of the flower at the finger tip. Mine are a very light lavender with more visible yellow. While comparing to ygator's pics (below) in the thread http://www.bananas.org/f12/please-he...ana-47530.html, the flower are darker lavender.

Re: Surprise, Surprise Bud!
 

Monday, I'll get some potassium sulfate soak a pound or two in water and pour around the base of the nana plant. Then rig the hand sprayer to folar feed the plant with potassium sulfate, Epson salt, and some fertilizer until I can get these nanas fatten up.

6 hands (or more ??) is 72 fingers.

Re: Surprise, Surprise Bud!
 

Update: It has been 8 days seen the Bud appeared and 9 hands are open. But hand 8 & 9 are very small fingers (about 1" long & thin) which opened yesterday. I expect these to fall off, but haven't yet. ... Hand 7 had thinner, full length fingers, but these started growing after 2 days. ... So after I get a little more length on the Rachis, I will cut the bud off and 7 hand off (if it is still slow growing). ... I have about 75 or 80 days to fatten the bunch, may be more hopefully.

Re: Surprise, Surprise Bud!
 

The first hand is fattening nicely. I believe it is about 1/2 way to mature size. The other hands appear to be coming along equally well as the first. ... Another picture in about a week for comparison will confirm this.

I did apply about 1 1/2 to 2 lb of potassium sulfate liquid around the base of the mother plant and her big pups this past Monday. I put 3 lbs in 1 1/2 gal of water, about 1/2 of that dissolved. (potassium sulfate will dissolve to a saturated concentration of 111g/L of cold ambient temp. water, ??) I will apply more in about 12 days. ... The Nana leaves are all nice & dark green and no signs of stress or lack of nutrients. I believe the fast growing fingers are due to the plants being well watered.


hummm .... well as in 'good'; not well as in water 'well' (a deep hole) ...

Max

Re: Surprise, Surprise Bud!
 

Congrats!

Re: Surprise, Surprise Bud!
 

oops ... I think there is another FLAG leaf on an adjacent Orinoco. I'll check it more tomorrow. May be the Bud will be showing a little. ... Darn this one is too late in the year. I was hoping everything would hold off until next spring.

Re: Surprise, Surprise Bud!
 

The second Bud finally showed its self this morning. ... The winds & rain of Hurricane Irma are picking up this morning too. The eye is over Key West now. So may be after Irma passes late Monday evening I'll still have some banana plants left.

pic of 2nd bud:

Re: Surprise, Surprise Bud!
 

Good luck Ed. Keep yourself and family safe! Nanners can be replaced! Hopefully it will start dying down fast! Hurricanes are crazy this year!!

Will be praying for you and your family!

Re: Surprise, Surprise Bud!
 

Well its been 2 weeks since the last picture of the first bunch. So for comparison, this is the bunch today. I cut the flower off before Irma arrived.

Pic of 1st Bunch.


The 2nd Bunch turned over yesterday, and the outer leaf/pedal is ready to open.

Pic of 2nd Bunch/Bud:



Ah ... Surprise! Again! ... This morning while watering the plants (oh, it did rain yesterday) I found a 3rd Bud way up in the top of a taller Orinoco peaking out.

Pic 1 of 3rd Bud:


another Pic 2 of 3rd Bud:


Now I really don't have hopes the 3rd bunch will ripen. Time is too short (60 days now). But I will try the fill out the first hand on the bunch. I hope to fill out the first & second hands on the 2nd bunch, if I can get the hands open.

Re: Surprise, Surprise Bud!
 

I'm with you Ed. Everything starting flowering here! There will be a lot of one handed bunches this year lol.

Tigua just flowered! Which I am very excited about. Still gonna prune but I'm hoping it fills.

Re: Surprise, Surprise Bud!
 

Darn ...Darn ... Darn ...

Just made a check on the large nana patch .... found 3 buds ... darn ... One bud on the Dwf Braillian and 2 on the FHIA18. These were trans planted 11 months ago.

I wanted these to hold off until net spring. Then I was going the push the hell out of them to flower.

Anyway, I got about 40 days until average frost date. ... May be frost will hold off until later December like 2015 (??). That would give about 60 day to fatten one or two hands on each.

I may push the hell out of ALL the nanas this winter. I got to make these bud sooner in the summer.

Dwf Brazillian:




FHIA-18


2nd FHIA-18 Bud

Re: Surprise, Surprise Bud!
 

Congrats!!
:woohoonaner:

Re: Surprise, Surprise Bud!
 

LOl...

I wish mine flowered...... period.....


If you can ....are you able to finish the plant under 800 bucks worth of light for some nasty inedible fruit in 5-8 months.

It will give you something to post about...:08:


Just kidding....

Re: Surprise, Surprise Bud!
 

Shirley, ... You must be jesting. Dig up a 3 nana plants with a base the size of 5 gal buckets and transplant 75 gal pots. Then build a greenhouse with a 14 ft ceiling to keep 'em warm.

... hummm ... a Teepee type green house might work, but I don't know about heat. I don't think the Power Company will be happy if I hook jumper cables to the near by power lines for heater.

Re: Surprise, Surprise Bud!
 

Congrats Ed!...

Re: Surprise, Surprise Bud!
 

Lol.....I wish I would get flower in February instead of October then I might have a chance. Nice looking buds

Re: Surprise, Surprise Bud!
 

UPDATE!!!

Orinoco Bunch 1: I might get to taste these.


Orinoco Bunch 2: Need more warm weather; night time temps dropping to 40 deg tomorrow night (Saturday).


Orinoco Bunch 3: don't have real hope for these, but trying any way.



In the big Patch: Don't have hope for these to mature before frost, but may be.

Dwf Brazillian


FHIA-18 Bunch 1:


FHIA-18 Bunch 2:


BAM! ... FHIA-18 Bunch 3: Flower ... The Flower on the lower left in the back is Bunch 2.


Double BAM! ... FHIA-1: Flag Leaf ??? That is a 2 ft leaf among the 6 ft ones.

Re: Surprise, Surprise Bud!
 

My Large Nana Patch

I made reference several time to the Large Nana Patch. This patch is across the field my house. All the starter Plants (42) came from Nicolas Naranja and were planted last November. The only variety that I lost were the 3 Gros Mich. I may replace those with pups from a Gros Mich that I got from Louisiana. .... As pictured above, 3 of the plants have bunches hanging; a 4th has Bud-ed; and a 5th is showing a flag. .... Thanks Nicolas!

What I've done: ... the patch layout is two rows (or 2 double rows) spaced 14 ft apart. The plants were planted in 'mats' to keep the same variety together. The plants were space 3 ft apart within the mat and the mats have 8 to 10 ft separation. Next week I will layout a 3rd double row 14 ft to the north and start moving some of the larger pups. Also, I plan to extend the two existings rows by 3 or 4 mats to the west. There is a bunch of pups here and this patch has more than quadrupled.

Pictures below ... The first picture is from the road looking East. The 2nd picture, is looking down between the double rows to the East. You might see some of the small white pvc stakes at each mat. These are the variety name stakes so I know where the 'real deals' are.

Pic 1 from the road:


Pic2, Looking between the rows:

Re: Surprise, Surprise Bud!
 

Amazing job Max!! Very healthy and nicely grown plants! Sounds like a great layout! Wow lots of bunches! Congrats man!

Re: Surprise, Surprise Bud!
 

Thanks TY ...

This part of the field is in a low area with 40 acres draining to it. This section is usually too wet in the spring to plow & plant. A thick layer of sand is about 12" below the surface which water drains though during the year. ... I just have to watch out for really long droughts. I do have water near by and I plan to put in a sprinkler system hopefully next year. ... This area seems to me to be near perfect for banana plants to grow or at least the best for me. My old patch for 18 years did well for itself without tending here.

I planted the nanas closer together than most of the forum members recommend. This was because it appears to me the plant loves being crowded which is the nature of pups being so close to Mama. The bigger plants shade the younger pup & each other from the strong hot sun. As the sun moves during the day a different plant takes over shading duty for a short while. ... Man, it is cool under these plants on a hot day.

As for as work, after planting, I just kept the area mowed and fertilized the plants. I didn't expect to have any bunched this year on these plants so I didn't fertilize heavy. My mistake, I should have. .... I'm thinking to fertilize again in November and then again in January. The pstems may be dead from the winter cold but the corm is still growing under ground and the fertilizer will be immediately available to the plant next spring when it breaks ground. ... Also, next year I plan to triple the normal dose of fertilizer to force budding sooner.

Anyway, this is how I'm doing it ... at least until I learn better.

Re: Surprise, Surprise Bud!
 

Another ONE!!!:08:

About 3:30pm I was checking the large Nana patch, I found this little guy, a 2nd bud, on the Dwf Brazilian. The Flag leaf was about 18".



And just an update with a better picture of the 3rd FHIA18 Bud, not much change in 5 days:



So the count is:
Large Patch: 3 Bunches hanging; 2 Buds showing; and a Flag leaf showing

Small Patch: 3 Orinoco Bunches hanging.


TY; How do you STOP these things? I want to save some for next spring. ... I guess when MAMA got to go, she goes. ... Anyway time to mark the oldest & biggest Pups as these will be the ones to Bud next year.

Re: Surprise, Surprise Bud!
 

Nice Max! Only one way to stop them that I know! MACHETE! haha. Great job man. It shows your fertilizing correctly. And keepin the energy to the momma!

On DO I try to keep summer pups to get them to fill before winter next year. The braz/f18 which is the exact same cross as a goldfinger are a little trickier to get through winter. Kinda hit and miss here with no protection.

Hope we get a mild winter. I already have some frost damage! How crazy is that. I picked some of the VC and my blue java bunch. My big AEAE and all the floridas are zapped! Solid brown leaves. They didn’t enjoy the minor frost! The 33f and early frost broke records here! Hope it’s not a sign for this winter!

On VC, Patupi, and Tigua I just sit back with a glass of tea! No work and so easy. How are those I sent doing?

Re: Surprise, Surprise Bud!
 

I didn't see any frost and the temps got down to 36° Oct 30th. I'm looking at the nana plants some are showing darker leaves (Williams, Pisang Ceylon). So those don't like mid 30s and will drop their leave at frost.

I put white garbage bags over 2 of the Orinoco bunches. I'll take those off later today.

The VC haven't shown any change. I bought them inside when the night temps dropped into the 40s. I'll set the VC outside later today. The temps should be in the 80s, days, & upper 50s at nights though next week. The paggi is inside.

The little plant in the red pot (??), I think died. The stem has dried and the leaf dropped. It had a bad trip. I'm looking to see if it will re-grow. ... The potato mint died back. It should come back out.

Re: Surprise, Surprise Bud!
 

doing great there edwmax. now we have to shun you like hmelendez. :0519:

Re: Surprise, Surprise Bud!
 

Then I'll just send the frost bit bananas to you. ...ha ha ...

Just like a Well Driller: Start at the top, then no place to go but DOWN.

♩ ♪
On the Third Day of _______

♩ ♫
3 Bunches a Hanging

♪ ♩
2 Buds a Showing

♩ ♩
And a Flag in A Nana Treeeeee


Ha Ha
:nanadrink: Beer for you & Me

Re: Surprise, Surprise Bud!
 

walkinbeam,


hahahaha!......LMAO!....That is a good one!.....

Unfortunately, I got hit hard during very bad girl Irma, but I will come back stronger!....'Nanas recovered very well as nothing happened to them!....It is incredible, amazing!....Ask my bro Ty!....






Edmax,


As Ty explained, FHIA-18, TARS FHIA-1 Goldfinger and SH-3640 High Noon, one of their cross parent is the Brazilian 'Nana!.....

You are doing a awesome job with your 'Nanas!....It is showing off!.....

Re: Surprise, Surprise Bud!
 

thanks. I figured when you weren't posting pics. glad you are ok. but I have faith in your determination and knowledge that soon you will be making us drool again.

Re: Surprise, Surprise Bud!
 

I don't have a SH-3640 (yet), but do have the other 3. And, thanks to TY, I have added a 3 VC's to my collection.

Thanks for the compliment!

Re: Surprise, Surprise Bud!
 

Thank you walkinbeam!....I appreciated your kindly words!......As I mentioned, 'Nanas recovered very well!....I might have even some of them flowering/blooming soon!....

Re: Surprise, Surprise Bud!
 

Edmax,


Your welcome!.....Just a good advice, make sure you get the SH-3640 High Noon from a reputable, verified source!....

Re: Surprise, Surprise Bud!
 

Update, this morning I cut the 1st hand off, 54 days after bud showing. I know the hand could get little fatter & ripen on the stalk, but I believe it was plump enough to ripen in the kitchen. This would help the lower hands to fill quicker before a freeze. The 2nd hand is near the same size as the 1st; and I may cut it next week.

Orinoco bunch 1 & 2 are covered with plastic bags for the past week. This was to warm the bunches during the low 70° days. ... A freeze is not in the forecast for the 14 days. But, this coming Monday night the low is expected to be about 36° ; then temp will be back to low 50° at night until the end of the month.

Pictures:

Orinoco Bunch 1:


Orinoco Bunch 2:


Orinoco Bunch 1:


Orinoco 1st Hand: The 7 finger hand weighs 2lb 6oz. The fingers measure 1 3/4" to 2" across the flats (not the ridges). They are as big as I've ever seen or eaten Orinoco nana.

Re: Surprise, Surprise Bud!
 

kind a sorta look like the bananas I had at the old place. I can taste em already.

we'll keep our fingers crossed for ya.

Re: Surprise, Surprise Bud!
 

AGAIN !!! ...

This evening I found my Blue Java has pushed a bud out. Now in the Large Banana patch, there is 5 bunches hanging and 2 buds showing.

Re: Surprise, Surprise Bud!
 

Wow. A lot of activity in the banana patch!

Edmax, can you provide some stats and background on your Blue Java? How much time from pup emergence to flowering? If planted as a pup how tall was the pup at time of planting? Pstem height and circumference at time of flowering?

Thank you!

Re: Surprise, Surprise Bud!
 

I planted 5 large Blue Java pups the first week of November last year. They froze to the ground during the winter and only 3 came back breaking ground in May. So I lost 2 corms (???). But I now have a number of this years pups some 4 ft to 6 ft tall. ... i don't remember how tall the 5 were when they were dug, but they may have been cut to about 4 ft for transport. ... I moved & planted 42 plants of 8 different varieties last November from South Florida.

The re-grow time of the Blue Java for this year is about 6 or 6 1/2 months to Bud. ... I think the plants being slow to breaking this spring was due to the corms need to establish/grow more roots. The plants didn't have a lot of time after being transplanted to establish a new root system before freezing to the ground.

Re: Surprise, Surprise Bud!
 

Congrats Max! You are an example of the success that can be had with correct fertilizing. Hope we have a mild winter. I predict lots of fruit for you next year!!

For me blue java wasn’t that fast. It took mine around 380 days for my 2’ pup to flower! That’s including winter! Then it filled for right at 80 days. It could have filled for another 2-3 weeks. Mine was exactly 13’ feet. It leaned very very bad! Propping is highly recommended. Taste was amazing! Way sweeter than namwa with an excellent flavor. I didn’t taste any vanilla flavor but it was excellent. Very very creamy banana! In my top 5 for sure. They are MORE cold hardy than namwa for me. Must have for Zone 8b-9a.

I am talking about the Real Blue Java! Not Tall Namwa!

Click below and you can dig through my pictures of it. I plan to organize my pictures by variety one day!

Re: Surprise, Surprise Bud!
 

Thanks Ed and Ty.

I ordered three ice cream from Just Fruit and Exotics in Wakulla County, Florida. At that time I didn't know there were multiple cultivars and just wanted a banana that was tall and cold tolerant for my area. Later I find out there are two cultivars using this brand/marketing name. JFE confirmed to me that they are Blue Java by email but I have my doubts and consider them Namwa until proven otherwise based on the prevalence of Namwa on this site. One is very different than the other two based on the colors of the ribs so don't know what's going on there. I posted photos in my gallery of the midribs. Maybe I have two Blue Java and one Namwa. Who knows.

All three of the main plants are 12'+ of pstem and no flower so far after growing from about 2' pup planted in late March of this year. I guess best case is that if they throw a flower over the next month I will be able to identify them even if I don't get any bananas. I have a ton of pups with some around 7' so should be in good position to get bananas next year. First year to establish and second year to get fruit was what I planned but one does get their hopes up as the year progresses and the plants get bigger! Haha.

Amazing how much EdwMax's plants grew during the year. Really incredible. I guess even though they died back they were able to establish a pretty good corn and roots mass and with proper fertilization took off big time. There was a ton of rain this year in our area probably a lot in Georgia also which helped a lot too.

Thanks for the info!