Zone Pushing in the Tropics
 

Well, folks, it pained me to do it, but I have moved again. I now live in the highland city of Ambato, which is a high-altitude desert (big change from the edge of the Amazon!)

Ecuador falls within the USDA's zones 13 and 15, which basically tells you that it's a tropical country, and Koppen-Geiger zones great swaths of the country as Am (Amazon) - with the exception of the tiny pocket where I currently live, which is zoned BSh (arid high-altitude). However, Ecuador also has a local zoning system based on altitude. Zone 1 is true paramo (3,000m and above), which is only considered to be good for potatoes and cold-weather crops, since snow can fall and frost is common.

According to this system, I'm currently in zone 2 (above 2,500m), where it is theoretically impossible to grow edible bananas. I have soils that are nearly 100% volcanic ash, courtesy of nearby Volcan Tungurahua, and my bedrock (if you can call it that) is sandstone.

I am going to attempt to zone-push a few different cultivars, because the neighbourhood where I live (at 2,750m or 9,022 feet) has a slightly warmer microclimate than generally recorded for the rest of this zone. If it helps to envision it, I have similar general temperatures to Pauly's summers (Damaclese) in Nevada, at an elevation about twice that of Boulder, Colorado. I certainly have enough heat to grow bananas, but it appears that nobody has ever challenged this altitude range before with edible cultivars.

I'll be testing the altitude tolerances of:
'Gros Michel' original
'Super Dwarf Orito'
'Chunchi Huasi' jumbo sweet plantains
'Lakatan' (Cuban Red).

These cultivars have been selected on the basis that they're my favourites. I'll actually have to source out the SDOritos, since they're not a cultivar that I currently grow. I'll report back to this thread with the challenges and successes.

Re: Zone Pushing in the Tropics
 

Wow, Aunty
I think that ist enough challange to just live in such high altitude, but even more
:pics:
:ha:
Joke a side it would be realy nice to see few pix. That must be a quite shoch to move in area like that. I mean in cultural and health and every other way ;)
:woohoonaner:

Re: Zone Pushing in the Tropics
 

What was the record cold in your area?

Re: Zone Pushing in the Tropics
 

You mean the Ambato area? That would be in 1964, -5 Centigrade. Where I was living before had a record low of 12 C. However, Ambato regularly gets frost during the "rainy" season.

Ante - I will be posting pics as this whole thing develops. I actually have to break beds into the yard first.

Re: Zone Pushing in the Tropics
 

WOW!
She sleeps in the yard ;)
:woohoonaner:

Re: Zone Pushing in the Tropics
 

Guess you'll have to remember some of your cold weather gardening tecnhiques.(hahahahaha) Let us know if you need some cold weather protection advice:ha::ha::ha: Don't forget to stock up on plastic and remay.
If anyone can do it you can!
This will be very cool to see how you do. This should prove to be very interesting to see your successes and failures. :woohoonaner:

Re: Zone Pushing in the Tropics
 

Wishing you success lorax!!
Looking forward to seeing the data AND the plants grow!!! :D ~Cheryl

Re: Zone Pushing in the Tropics
 

Except for the mosquito problem, it's quite healthy Ante. :)
Lorax, I don't know what got into you, but please, for the love of Banana, return to some rainforest... Deserts suck! :0517:

Re: Zone Pushing in the Tropics
 

Filthy lucre. I got a job here, and I didn't like the idea of a 5-hour daily commute.

Re: Zone Pushing in the Tropics
 

Wow, what a change! I also smell the hint of a fascinating BQ article. All the best!

Re: Zone Pushing in the Tropics
 

Oh, and there are no skeeters at this altitude, Jack.

Re: Zone Pushing in the Tropics
 

What do you do for living? Time to change your job. I suggest becoming a programmer. ;) You can sit anywhere you want as long as you actually create something. Ay? :ha:

Re: Zone Pushing in the Tropics
 

Well, Jack, I was working as a barista and restaurant manager, but the University of Ambato offered me about a triple pay raise to come and teach theatre design and historical costuming and architecture. The latter is actually within the scope of one of my own degrees, which made it far more attractive. As did the diurnal schedule - I was turning into a vampire over at the bar - sleep all day, get up when the sun sets, and work all night. Yick. I lost my tan and everything.

Re: Zone Pushing in the Tropics
 

Hay jack Deserts dont suck that mostly Blow LOL windey at theas kinds of altitud its good to hear from you Elizabeth i think the Gros M is going to have a hard time of it there the ones that do the best for me so far have Been Blue Java good in the heat and the cold the Dwarf Brazilian dos well in the heat but dosint like the cold all that much but will servive Merellii if an ornametal is your thing vary well suted to theast typs of climeat so close to its native place of orgin the Siam dose well in the heat but not the cold dry winds chimichapa seems good but mine is small so ita a litil to early to say for sure Ae Ae takes the heat farly well but not the cold its hard to find virieatys that can take both heat and cold they ither like one or the other

Re: Zone Pushing in the Tropics
 

Pauly, if I had the range of cultivars available to me that you've got, I'd be set. However, because of Ecuador's restrictions on import of bananas, TC or otherwise, I have to work with the cultivars that are already here. GMs are my hands-down favourite cultivar, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to push them for the fruit.

Plus, I love a challenge. My yard site is relatively well sheltered from the wind (1-2 storey walls on all 4 sides) so I think I've got a better than average chance. At this altitude, and with no trees, the wind can get up to 50 kph here very easily.

I know already that E. ventricosum and E. Maurelii will grow here, as they're fixtures in the city's parks. I'm more interested to see if I can fruit an edible variety, since I haven't seen a single one in the area. I'm definitely using your thread on desert growing as a reference, though! Our daytime highs here are in the high 30s to low 40s Centigrade, and our overnights (in the yard at least) are between 5 and 10 C. I have plum trees in the front yard, which is so strange to me, since I haven't seen stonefruit growing since I moved from Canada.

Re: Zone Pushing in the Tropics
 

:ha: Oh, that's rich! When did you have one???

Love ya, Beth!

Re: Zone Pushing in the Tropics
 

I had a tan for the brief period at end of October, from being at the beach. Two weeks of work cured that.

Re: Zone Pushing in the Tropics
 

Well, if you became programmer, you would have your face nicely tanned by the screen, otherwise it's not that good either.
Working at university might be fine, don't know, I've never actually tried it, but that's one of those careers I might wanna try in the future. Well, I have my fiungers crossed for you.
:bananas_b



Paulie, it's just that I come from a region, where we literally swim on water, the biggest drinking water reservoirs are here, just 4 to 7m (13 - 23m) below our feet, it rains here more intensively than in England yet we have much more sunny days... :) That's what I love... My summers are usually made of 60% water (at least 14hours/day close to some water), 'cause it's a place of meetings and social activities.
I really can't imagine living in the desert. :ha: If only my summers where longer... But I maybe wouldn't appreciate them so much.
:nanadrink:

That night time waitressing starts to look very attractive at this point. Well, at least there aren't any floods, are there?

Re: Zone Pushing in the Tropics
 

Not in this area of Ecuador. The coast is usually prone to flooding, but we're in the middle of the worst drought in at least the last 40 if no the last 180 years so it's pretty dry.

With the breeze, Jack, it constantly feels like 25 C. But woe betide you if you forget and leave the house without a hat!

Re: Zone Pushing in the Tropics
 

That must be a hell of a tornado to make those temps look like 25°C, Beth. :ha:

Re: Zone Pushing in the Tropics
 

If I were to distill it down it sounds like I would have a couple of concerns -

Cold/Frost
Lower humidity level?
Average Daytime temperature

I think what's working for you is that sunset and sunrise are regular at your latitude.

Give it a shot! That's what I'm doing with nanas in San Jose, California, USA

Re: Zone Pushing in the Tropics
 

:pics: yeah we believe you.....really

Re: Zone Pushing in the Tropics
 

25-50 kph is normal, and 65-100 kph is about twice a week, Jack.

Re: Zone Pushing in the Tropics
 

As you've said, a breeze. :ha:
After 100kph electricians usually spend the next week trying to restore power to certain rural parts here.

Re: Zone Pushing in the Tropics
 

No mosquitoes...that's what I'm talking about! I wish you lots of success with bananas in your new climate. Please keep us posted on what grows well there.

Re: Zone Pushing in the Tropics
 

Man, U realy need to change these electicians:ha::ha::ha:
We are here born with wind in our wires ;)

:woohoonaner:

Re: Zone Pushing in the Tropics
 

I agree. Most of them are Italian "experts" from ENEL. Cancel them all.

Re: Zone Pushing in the Tropics
 

Beth, if you can find a way, I'll send you a California Gold! :D