Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

homestead - Re: [Homestead] Bananas.... Old homestead friends

homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Homestead mailing list

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: Bevanron <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net>
  • To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [Homestead] Bananas.... Old homestead friends
  • Date: Sat, 17 Jun 2006 14:34:35 -0400

Hey Rob,


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 :>)

Of course it is! You've been there and done that and you know how long
it takes...it will never be "in shape". :)

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/

Great site...I think that's the one I was looking for a while back.
They seem to have quite a selection. But now I am confused over which
way to go....
It seems that quite a few places propagate using tissue culture (can't
ever say that without thinking of Tvo), but the site I had been looking
at before I found you again propagates in the field.
http://tytyga.com/bananas/index.html
Ty Ty went to great lengths to show how superior field grown bananas are
to tissue culture grown plants, but I don't know if I believe that since
it appears that banana cultivars are propagated worldwide by TC.
Also, the Ty Ty Nursery doesn't have the variety that Going Bananas has.
But, with TTN, I can get a larger plant to begin with, which might be
better considering that time is of the essence when attempting to grow
bananas outside of the tropics. So now I am confused.
Take a look at the Golden Rhino horn and Texas Star varieties on the Ty
Ty site and tell me what you think....

http://tytyga.com/bananas/pg20.htm Musa Texas Star
http://tytyga.com/bananas/pg8.htm Musa Golden Rhino Horn

Should I pay a bit more for a "mother bulb" or go with the TC corms from
Going Bananas? Do you think TTN gets their cultivars from someplace
like Going Bananas?


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.

Yesterday I spent a lot of time reading about FHIA-03, and it seems like
a good choice for this area, although I never found a site that listed
USDA zones for this cultivar. I realize that it is being grown and
shipped around the world now, so you would think it might work here, but
I just couldn't find anything definitive. Also, it seems to be grown
more for a cooking banana than an eating banana, but I'll take your word
for it that it is sweet enough to eat. I do like fried
bananas/plantains, so it is really not that big of an issue anyway. I
do like the fact that this variety seems to make a large bunch.

Rob, I do have some questions...I know you can answer them....LOL
Assuming I buy corms from GB, how long will it take to actually harvest
bananas? I read something about the plant producing blossoms after the
25th leaf. Will this take several years for the plant to mature enough
to produce fruit?
Also, can I harvest green and allow them to ripen if the season runs
short, or do I need to let them ripen on the tree-assuming FHIA-03 here.
What did you think of my plan to use the pallets for "mulch containers"
and windbreaks? Am I wasting my time? Is this necessary?
Your 'professional' opinion is highly valued here. :)


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 :>)

Dang it! I knew I should have looked harder for you! That would have
been nice. Thanks for the thought, anyway.

Bev


--
erthnsky AT bellsouth.net BevanRon of EarthNSky Farm NW Georgia USDA Zone 7
34.498N 85.076W







Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page