Anyone from the Carolinas going bananas?

Figured I'd started most of my 'nanner posts in the tropical forum, but wanted to discuss it with the local crowd too. Lately I've become pretty obsessed with bananas, it's my latest craze.

What all types of banana's do you grow in the Carolinas?

Honestly I didn't even know you COULD grow bananas here until sometime early last year - and even then I figured I was pushing my luck. Boy was I wrong. I started with a single basjoo in 2007 and then got two DC's and a Velutina. This spring I went a little bananas (sorry, couldn't help it) and expanded 20 fold in the yard - but only with basjoo. Cause until the last few weeks I figured that was all that'd survive. Again, wrong.

So here's my list for next year -trying to get them from a similar zone (7 or 8) if I can: [Updated: 11/20/08]:
Basjoo [already have planted]
Bordelon [from zone 7b/8a]
Dwarf Cavendish [already have]
Dwarf Namwah [from zone 8a]
Dwarf Orinoco [from zone 10]
'Ice Cream' (Blue Java) [from zone 7b/8a]
Manzano (?) [from zone 11]
'Truly Tiny' [already have]
Orinoco [from zones 10 and 7b]
Pisang Ceylon [from zone 7b/8a]
'Praying Hands' [from zone 10]
Saba [from zone 7b/8a]
Siam Ruby [from zone 7b/8a]
'Rewnfrow' Hybrid [from zone 7b/8a]
Velutina [already have]


And I learned something new today. Apparently Musa 'Praying Hands is basically a dwarf Saba. Saba's are just incredible, and I had no idea they would survive in our zone. But they are so thick and massive they are one of the hardiest bananas. Glad I did my research on them, they are one impressive (and gigantic) banana. My neighbors are going to flip when they see that thing growing in the back yard, LOL - it'll be taller than my house.

So what 'nanners are you growing?

A basjoo I dug up today... 4' pup from a first year banana (over wintered the 1' parent in a pot last winter).

This message was edited Nov 20, 2008 9:21 AM

I have one don't know what it is but I got it in Georgia and the parent was huge, mine is small. I may not be putting fertlizer on it but don't know what to use. We are on the crystal coast, I think our zone is 7A but not sure.


Lavina

It getting a lot of water? I've heard when you have a banana in the ground it's about impossible to over fertilizer or over water it. And they like a interesting fertilizer mix: 6-2-12 or something similar w/minors. I would have never guessed that - I always thought they'd want a lot of nitrogen only. I think that may be what slowed mine down this year, I didn't feed them enough potassium.

Are you going to take another trip to FL this year? You need to visit this place called Going Bananas in Homestead. The guy that owns it is realy nice and you will flip over acres and acres of nothing but nanas.

We were thinking of going around Christmas since I have two weeks off with ETV. If Natasha can get some time off, we may take a drive down again. Thanks for the suggestion, I was wondering if there was anyone down there in Homestead growing nanners.

Going Bananas website: www.going-bananas.com

The nearby Fruit and Nut Park has plenty of bananas also and you can see and often taste the fruit. They also have a fruit that tastes like chocolate pudding. Yum.

Should have said Fruit and Spice Park:
http://fruitandspicepark.org/friends/


This message was edited Sep 20, 2008 2:45 PM

I've got a couple of bananna trees growing keonikale. This one is 3 yrs old. Don't know the name of it---got it from a catalog that billed it as the "most hardy edible bananna"(but I don't think it's a basjoo). Arrived as a single plant in a 6" pot, and I stuck it in a corner of my vegetable garden thinking it wouldn't take up much room Big mistake. Here's a picture of that little guy 3 years later.

...and here's one bunch of the fruit. I've got 3 bunches this year.

Here's an ornamental red leaf bananna I've got growing. The corner of the house is about 25 ft. off the ground, to give you some idea of size. This guy's 2 yrs old, and again don't remember the variety. We had a red bananna in the same spot for 3 years, but dug it out because it was getting too big. I wish I knew the name of this variety, because it's well behaved and seems more resistant to wind damage than any other bananna I've grown. That corner of the house faces an open mile of river and marsh, and gets hellacious winds all day long.

Nice photos. Your fruiting banana could be Orinoco maybe? Though that banana in your photo has extremely wide leaves. Orinoco is one of the hardier bananas that fruits. Basjoo unfortunately doesn't have edible bananas due to seeds I believe.

This message was edited Sep 21, 2008 8:05 PM

That red one really is special. I love that it is well behaved and it doesn't seem to shred too much in the wind. My basjoos's always looked so raggedy.

The fruiting one is pretty cool too. Those leaves are so broad, I would love to know what that one is too. Enjoy those nanas.

the red one is ensete ventricosum, abyssinian banana. it doesn't put up pups

Bingo, 1c3n4g! The minute I saw the name, I recognized it. And you're right, it doesn't put up pups (another reason we love it!). It's most manageable, and seems quite hardy here---I didn't protect it in any way last winter and it doubled in size this year.

yeah those things are really vigorous. they just get too big for my yard

I like that one stono, thinking I'll put it on the maybe list for next year. The one at the corner of the house.

Ardesia nice link for going bananas they might be useful to me.

These "home grown" banannas taste quite different to me than the Chiquita Bananna's I'm used to Ardesia, and I don't like them as much. But (as usual), I'm out dangling in the breeze alone on this perception. Almost ALL of our many "health nut" friends, and even more normal people reportetdly "love them". I don't dislike them---they're just a whole different taste than what I'm used to in a bananna. In fact if given one to eat in a blind taste test, I'd never even associate it with "bananna"...
They don't all reliably ripen in this climate before the first frost, so I have to cut the bunches off before the first frost and ripen them in the house. Apparently it doesn't adversely affect the flavor (such as it is)... If you're up this way in the next few months, stop by and try some. I'd be real curious as to your reaction.

Might want to check out RAJA PURI Bananas for a cold hardy fruiting banana.

Chiquita Bananna's are a mild banana, yours would probably be better off fried. Plantain chips are good. You can also fry them when they are green. Your right about them ripening off the tree, they do some times over a month on there way to the US. Plantains are a real pain to try and buy ripe.

http://latinfood.about.com/od/beginnerrecipes/r/tostones.htm

I may have hung out in a few places these are served.

i'm sure y'all have seen the iconic curved coconut palms of the carribbean and hawaii in postcards paintings, and real life. well, i got to thinking.... would a banana do that too? any thoughts or ideas? i might try laying one on its side or putting it at an angle. anyone else want to try this?

Interesting idea, if the leaves can get around the bend... might work.

My abyssinian never really took off this year, but I didn't get it until July. I potted it back up and will put it out again in the spring. I figured it'd grow faster than it did - but maybe it's just bc of the size. My question is, if it doesn't pup - how do you propagate it? Division of the corm or doing a TC?

seeds I think, since it's a species

Does it fruit like a normal banana? After seeing how Brian's had such success with them, I thought I'd try them in the background. Though I'll admit with my new interest in all things bananas, I'm probably going to use the space I do have for fruiting varieties I've mentioned. Unfortunately there's only so much yard to ago around. I'm gonna have to talk to my folks and see if I can rent some of their property (fields) to grow hardy varieties on. Certainly would be easier than doing it all here in the neighborhood.

I was told the Chiquita bananas were generally in the Orinoco or Cavendish families. The exact cultivars are probably proprietary.

Stono, I noticed in the Going Bananas catalog where some are listed as having a "sub-acid" flavor. What the heck does sub-acid mean? Perhaps that is how your bananas taste. If I get up your way again soon I'll give you a d-mail.

I have been doing some checking up on that Abyssinian. As several have mentioned, it does not pup, but it does die after blooming. That could be a problem; thankfully it is a fast grower and the dying plant provides a fertile ground for the seed to sprout. Interesting! The flower is supposed to be striking but I wonder if it could be removed, preventing an early demise?

I live in 8a region in SC. So how do you winterize your bananas. I am getting tired of digging up my banana tress up every year. Read about put up a wire mesh around the trunk and filling it with mulch. But I havent come across anything significant yet. I have multiple varieties and have lost track of all the different names. Anyone with any good ideas.

Also i have been trying to get them to bloom to no avail. Frustrated but not done.

these get no attention but come back fine. if you want to do some protection, the day after the first frost, or whenever they first start to show frost damage, just push the leaves down so they hang vertically and tie them around the stem

these are the ones i'm talking about that dont get any attention. these are up at my grandparents' house in lexington which is an 8a area
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=5557339

LOL, 1c3n4g! Weeds are funny critters---they change with the age of the viewer. At age 60, they're still viewed as intolerable invaders that must be destroyed at any cost. By age 65, a few weeds here and there are quite tolerable, and add native "interest" to a garden. By age 70, some of those weeds are actually becoming "attractive plants". Don't know what happens after that, but I expect I'll be cultivating the $%@^# things in the greenhouse by age 75!

Re: abyssinian propagation. Apparently one of the easiest ways is dividing an existing corm; spoke with a buddy about that today. Though I suspect many on the commercial market are done in labs via TC - at least from larger vendors.

Both of the big pups I split the other day are down to three leaves each now - guess they really didn't like being split off despite having a large corm each. The darn wind hasn't been helping. Oh well, they'll perk up in a few weeks - hopefully before I take them in for winter.

Here's a clump of my new nanners on the way from Louisiana (and the same zone as me). I also got the 'Praying Hands' today from Florida (very nice and large with a 3' p-stem). Can't wait to see all these in the ground next year.

From left to right. Mystery banana (suspected to be extremely large Orinoco hybrid), Ice cream, Siam Ruby, Orinoco, and two Saba .

so... its like a starfish? you cut it up and the pieces grow new plants? and i thought you didn't like red in plants.... did you finally give in? lol

stono: i already have started to view some particularly nasty weeds as attractive plants, and im only 17... uh oh thats not good!

This message was edited Sep 22, 2008 8:06 PM

I guess so, I think it's impossible to kill things like this. I've heard you can do pretty much the same thing with a banana corm, though I haven't tried it. Same for EE's. They do all the tissue cultures in that way though, but I prefer good old pups myself. Destructing or dissecting a corm would make me nervous. I watched a YouTube video from a Dole plantation and they were just chopping up the bananas with a machete. My wife says I was sitting there with a look of horror on my face, LMAO

The red one was a freebie, but my wife likes the red - so she's happy to get that one and she likes the abyssinian. I figure if I'm going to plant this many, a red one can't hurt here and there, lol

lol yeah its a nice plant... well both of them are!

you split the whole plant in two really? down the middle of the banana tree.

To divided it, just the corm. And you could probably make a dozen plants off a large enough corm with several "eyes." I would think as long as you've got a nice size piece of the corm and some roots, you'd be fine. I've been shocked how little of a sucker I need to grow a new plant - just throw the sucker in water for a few days and it usually starts to sprout roots and a small p-stem.

TC (Tissue Cultures) are what really amaze me. You go from one plant to dozens in a relatively short period of time. And they are all genetically the same plant. Course, you need a small science lab to do it, but it's fascinating still.

so I have a 10-12 foot banana tree. thats easily 100 + lbs in size. do I wait till fall or winter. what about the main plant? its at least 1 ft in diameter.

Areephanthu: You have a 12 ft banana tree that you dig up every winter?? Wow!
Stop doing that! :)
I'm zone 8a and I'm no expert, but I have a basjoo that stays in ground for winter, I do like Trent said and leave the dead leaves to protect it, I also mulch with pine straw and a little chicken wire round the bottom of the trunk. All it does is come back bigger each year.

Stono: Your weeds theory made me laugh. I'm way ahead of my age in the progression, too! LOL.
Deb

I second that. 100 lbs plant you dig up ever winter? Yikes. That should do alright outside.

I agree, if you have a Basjoo, unless you're hoping for a flower - leave that one in the ground. With that size p-stem, I doubt it'd even die back much with a little protection.

I'm only digging a few of mine up (six I think) because I do want flowers. But the rest of the smaller ones I'm leaving in the ground.

exactly and i have 8 of them. they are huge. they donot produce any pups. not sure what variety. they have red leaves. they might be the variety everyone has been talking about on this thread. I have been doing this for the past three years and didnt want to do it again, but was afraid to lose them. Yes I have been wanting them to flower and nothing yet. I will send some pics this weekend. I dont think I have a Pot big enought this year to move them too. will wrap them as you guys recommend. They are very thick.