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["Robert Walton" <waltonrp AT gmail.com>]

> > How much land do you have in VA? At least there, you will

> probably have an easier time developing the property.

I have 35 acres, 12 or so open, the rest wooded. I like it, it's going to be
my life work to get this place in shape though :>)

> So, what advice do you have for growing bananas for me?

You want to get a cultivar that will grow and produce in the least amount of
time. Bananas pretty much shut down once the temp reaches 40s. They don't
die at that temp, just stop growing. The less time it takes for them to grow
the stalk and spit out the blossum, the better. I found that some of the
shorter varieties were good at that. It just takes less time to grow a 7
foot stalk than a 20 foot one. A lot of times the bananas were better and
bigger on the smaller stalked bananas.

Try

http://www.going-bananas.com/

and check out the FHIA-03 I found this plant to be really productive and
even though it is bred for Central America, it seemed to handle any cold
snaps we had pretty well. It grew a nice fat stalk that held up to wind and
made a huge mess of bananas. They are good to eat fresh or cook. Shame that
we did not connect last year, cause I left that at my house in the city. I
could have sent you some corms. I smuggled aome out to El Salvador and have
it growing on my place there, but no good way to smuggle it back in :>)

Rob