Virupakshi/Indian Hill Banana
 

Does anyone have experience with this type?

After hearing that they taste quite nice I picked one up a couple months ago. It has become a really pretty plant, with the pseudostem and midribs already changing from completely green to a mix of beautiful pinks and orange-reds.





The only problem is that there's still precious little information to be found about this type - in fact I don't think I've ever even come across a photo of a mature plant - so I was wondering if anyone might have any knowledge or photos to share?

I'm especially curious about this type's mature height, cold tolerance, taste/flavor comparison to other bananas, and time from flower to ripe fruit.

Thanks in advance!

Re: Virupakshi/Indian Hill Banana
 

I got one from another member this spring. Mine is similiar in size to yours at this point. I planted it, and a praying hands TC at the same time. The praying hands is twice the size and much thicker than the virukpakshi. To be fair the praying hands does get more sun.. I am also looking forward to growing and fruiting this one.. I agree there isnt a ton of info out there on it. Good luck with yours and ill try to document mine as well as it continues to grow!

Re: Virupakshi/Indian Hill Banana
 

It is the weakest, most beta plant in my patch. I had to string a rope from a nearby tree to this plant to keep it from collapsing on itself. It was so thin and weak I thought the pstem would snap in half if propped up in the traditional way. I have a bunch hanging now and if the bananas are something special I will keep it around but I will be relocating from my "A" patch near my pool to my "C" patch which is out of sight behind my Satsuma.

The plant produced one really strong pup this year which I traded to Smeash for a VC (which is kicking A!). Kinda think Smeash will have better results with that pup. I have had other pups and they appeared very weak so I think you need to be selective in the follower more so than other varieties.

I will post up a taste report when I harvest which should be in a couple weeks to a month at most.

Maybe you will have better luck.

Re: Virupakshi/Indian Hill Banana
 

Wow, thanks for the info! I don't think mine is big enough to show any weakness yet, but I will say that it hasn't been the fastest grower in my yard, even amongst the smaller bananas. I'm glad at least that I have it in a spot where it's protected from wind on both sides by some more stout plants.

How tall is the pstem on yours?

Re: Virupakshi/Indian Hill Banana
 

I estimate it fruited near 8' of pstem but I didn't measure it. It gets plenty of sun but its a slow grower in my patch also.

Re: Virupakshi/Indian Hill Banana
 

Sorry that cracked me up :ha:
Now I know exactly what to call my weaker plants - verbatim

Re: Virupakshi/Indian Hill Banana
 

A couple of my Indian Hill fingers split before anybody turned yellow. The fingers are pretty fat but should I harvest it or wait till one or two turn yellow which is my usual SOP?It will have been hanging for three months September 7th. Thanks!

Re: Virupakshi/Indian Hill Banana
 

Wow, only 2.5 months...pretty quick cycle time!

I think if it were me I'd just cut them down at this point. They look nicely filled out and I'd be worried about critters getting to them with some already splitting. Then again, I'm not really sure what they're supposed to look like when ripe. Maybe they'd get really fat if you left them a couple more weeks?

Re: Virupakshi/Indian Hill Banana
 

Yeah, they are pretty fat with no hard corners but since I have a lot of good weather left and its my first bunch would like to give them as much time as needed to get the true flavor. One or two cracking is one thing but a significant number is something else.

I hope that someone with experience with this variety would advise on a course of action.

Re: Virupakshi/Indian Hill Banana
 

Harvested my first Virupakshi bunch. I harvested green after three or four fingers split. After hanging they began to turn yellow in a week.

I began to consume these bananas in earnest when they were all yellow and absolutely no green on the banana nor on the banana stem. Fingers were tasty, white and unbruised on the inside after the outside had blackened/browned quite a bit. Skin is paper thin at peak maturity. They were about 2/3 the size of a Namwa or slightly larger than a Manzano. On a sweetness scale with Namwa being a 10, I estimate these were an 8. Sweet was the dominate taste but not as sweet and syrupy as a Namwa. No apple or fruit taste was present. The flesh was dense and white/cream color.

My wife took some to her office and everybody enjoyed them after being instructed that the skin color was not indicative of the fruit maturity. Everyone is always, "I like to eat bananas when they have some green on them". Not this one! Haha.

Its a good banana but its nothing super special like a Mysore or Pisang Klotek. Its similar in taste to a Namwa but both the number of fingers and size of the fingers is substantially smaller. The plant itself is not as robust and attractive as a Namwa. I think for the collector of plants that has a lot of space it might be a good one to get just to add to your collection but if space is limited I would not recommend this plant. In my opinon it appears less cold hardy than Namwa, Orinoco, Blue Java, and Raja Puri too.

Note: the cavendish in the photo below is medium size for that variety.

Re: Virupakshi/Indian Hill Banana
 

Thanks Akula! As far as I can tell this is the first taste report of Virupakshi on this site. Was not expecting Namwah to be the closest comparison.

Re: Virupakshi/Indian Hill Banana
 

Good write up Donald! Ill grow mine through fruiting cycle and if i agree with your taste and growing profile, ill likely replace it with another variety. Appreciate the info!

Re: Virupakshi/Indian Hill Banana
 

Awesome! Thanks for the write up! Is this one the clone I imported? I can’t remember if I sent you one.

The ones I’ve eaten have been amazing! More Pome tasting only sweeter. How would you compare to like Brazilian? Just curious. Thanks for the write up! They look awesome!

Re: Virupakshi/Indian Hill Banana
 

Hi Ty.

Yeah, this is the one you sent me in trade for the Mystery Plant Smeash is trying to get identified on another thread. It took a couple years to get the timing down on the flower while dodging a couple a tropical storms/hurricanes to get a mature bunch.

I have not tried Dwarf Brazilian but I didn't detect any "apple" or other fruit flavor in my Virupakshi. I have had a Raja Puri and I would say the Virupakshi was in between RP and Namwa for sweetness but without any fruit taste. Flesh texture, density, and color was excellent. The plant itself is not very attractive being thin, weak and prone to collapse in my patch.