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[Bevanron <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net>]

Robert Walton wrote:

> I'll check out those varieties that you sent, but if they are smaller
>  plants, they should be OK as far as I know, you are probably going 
> to have to try out several to see what will work for you.

Ok, great,,,I'll wait to hear your thoughts on this before I buy anything.
> I know that Going Bananas has some that are tissue cultured plants 
> and others that they cut from the field. They have 5 acres of bananas
>  growing, so I think that you could request non-tirssue cultured 
> plants. I did, but only because I wanted larger starts.

That's good news, too.  I did not see that on their website.
>

> This is going to be your challenge. I would think in your climate, 
> you would neet to have an overwintered plant started and then 
> transplant it to rich soil as early as possible. Then you would neet 
> to provide lots of water and manue/compost/etc to make it grow fast.

The soil and nitrogen are not problems.  I originally had been thinking
that I should get them early next Spring, but now I am thinking that I
might need to get them this year and overwinter them in my greenhouse
just to get that jump on next year.

> The bananas I grew would flower X months after coming up. For 
> instance some varieties take 13 months or more of growth to flower. 
> You can set your calendar by it. You might want to ask the people at 
> Going Bananas what varieties they have that woul flower the earliest.
>  The FHIA-03 would flower for me in about 9 months. Remember you need
>  2-3 months to grow after flowering.

Yeah, time is of the essence.  Our last frost date is usually at the end
of March, and our first frost date is usually the first week of
November-that's about 7 1/2 months of frost free growing time and let's
say 4 1/2 months of time to get it to the flowering stage.  It's not
enough.  I have to overwinter it, at least that first year, I think.  If
I get it now, it might become dormant in the fall, but at least it will
get some decent growth in before it goes dormant, and then it would have
 jump if I can get it in the ground early with a lot of mulch and
protection and nitrogen next year to get it to flower by mid July.
Nine months will seem like an eternity, and if anything, I think it will
take longer here because it is not as warm.  You were in Miami for that
9 months, right?

> I always cut the bananas green when the tip of the individual banana 
> fattens up. The FHIA-03 is unique in that I could cut what I needed 
> and the rest would keep on the tree. It took forever for them to 
> ripen on the tree and they are really better cut green. Good news for
>  you with your climate.

No kidding!

> Are you wasting your time? Never! I'm not sure that you need a 
> windbreak, but you need the to provide rich highly organic warm soil 
> for the plants. The pallet thing might help a lot in that.

I would have a raised bed setup, and I could warm the bed with plastic,
too, especially early in the season.
> believe me, I'm no professional, but have grown bananas. They will 
> grow in just about any soil. They grow in hard, heavy clay on my 
> place in El Salvador. We don't water in the dry season. BUT, they 
> don't grow fast in that condition. If they have water and good rich 
> soil, they will grow really fast. That's what you need.

Got it.  I love bananas and I wouldn't mind babying them along.  It'll
be challenging, for sure.  And to me, Rob, you are the pro cuz you have
done it before, not just in one location, but in two, and you have done
it long enough to know what to expect and when.
> I read that a banana has all of the leaves that it will ever grow 
> inside the stalk when it comes up. So the faster you can get those 
> leaves out the faster you get bananas. It won't bloom until it has 
> done it's growing.

My grandfather died about 2 years ago and his place is in south Georgia.
 he had some banana trees there-I have no idea of what kind they were,
but they were huge in diameter, about 15 feet tall, and produced bananas
 there. I never tried one because they weren't ready when I was there,
but I did see one tree that he had cut back and the 'stem' just shot out
of the band of future leaves...it was very weird looking.

> All this talk is making me miss my bananas, mangos and avocados! Come
>  peach season, I'll feel better!

I have about 20 peaches on one of my trees this year.  I doubt they will
mature enough to eat as we have roaming deer in the yard, but maybe I
will get lucky.  Do you have a problem with brown rot up there?

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