I don’t trust any of my edible bananas to be what they’re labeled, even those from a source that has a very good overall reputation.
Also, Richard, it’s nice to see that I’m not the only one who hopes their bananas wait until winter passes to flower.
First i want to congratulate you for your banana trees! Dif you succede on growing the cali gold and do you think it’s diferent from dwarf orinoco? Thank you very much! 
I have fruiting dwarf orinoco inground here in NorCal as well. Plus (not fruiting yet) Namwah, Goldfinger. There are several others that do well here as well.
Yes, California Gold fruited. I wasn’t a big fan of the fruit so I dug them out. I haven’t tasted dwarf orinoco to compare.
Thank you very much for your reply!
The real Goldfinger or the Namwah sold under that name by LaVerne to Home Depot etc.?
The real one. I bought a pup from a member on bananas org.
The real Goldfinger fruit I’ve tasted here in San Diego had a bit more sweetness and chalk flavor compared to Namwah.
My greenhouse environment is similar to interior low elevations of northern CA but with zero freezes. Which varieties should I plant next winter and where should I buy them? I have about 15ft max height but 10-12 would be better. I like sweet tasting banana.
Dwarf Namwa and Dwarf Brazilian for variety.
Make a post here and folks will likely contact you: Banana Plants Wanted - Bananas.org
Thank you Richard. You’re the man…!!
if you can find “senorita” banana pups for sale in usa, that should fit the bill perfectly for conditions you mentioned. It is hands down the sweetest of bananas have eaten when lived in southeast asia. The flesh probably approaches carrots in carotene content, being a deep yellow-orange. The fruit does not get soggy even when fully ripe(it is actually the skin which gets too thin and practically disintegrates as the fruit loses all green coloration with ripening–i often get lazy and eat the skin as well for that reason) Also seems to be a cold-tolerant variety, as it is actually more commonly grown in higher elevations with cool daytime temps and even cooler nights. An earlier bearer than dwarf cavendish and not much taller than dwarf cavendish.
only issue is availability, perhaps not looking hard enough, but have not seen pictures of usa-grown senorita bananas, and those have seen in some fruit forums are definitely not senorita
even mega-fruit company dole got it wrong, posting a wrong picture:
https://www.doleasia.com/our-product/fresh-products/cn-emperor-banana
In my opinion the sweetest fruit is not the best – flavor is an important factor too.
that makes the two of us.
btw, it actually has excellent flavor too. Extremely fragrant and flavorful, in fact.
i actually like it better half-ripe, when it is not too sweet and the flavor not that intense.
Have you grown it here in the states, or tasted some that have?
i wish! First things first, though, as availability and positive identification of pups is dubious. I have seen folks proudly posting pics and offering exchanges of pups in banana forum threads but didn’t want to rain on their parades. For as long as they are happy with their bananas, the name won’t matter. Banana nomenclature is so messed up that it is futile telling folks their ‘babies’ are impostors. Worse is that they’d have the notion their expertise is being slighted.
Almost certain there have been folks who’ve surreptitiously brought in(tiny rooted tissue cultures are hard to detect)senorita planting material from the tropics considering the cold-hardiness, early fruiting, and the quality. Europeans who visit the south pacific do it all the time, am sure some of them get caught, but quite likely many will be successful. Many even try to smuggle actual pups, which are considerably large. Really amazed by those blitzkrieg germans attacking the senorita fruits in full-ripeness, which to me is overwhelmingly sweet and perfumy.
if you’re curious about the taste, some grocery stores(depending on season) offer the mini-banana posted below. It is the closest thing to the senorita, but not as intensely sweet nor as fragrant.
I have grown the real Senorita in zone 9b and tasted the fruits – along with Senorita fruits grown elsewhere in 9b-10a. Namwa, Dwarf Brazilian, and Pisang Ceylon produce better tasting fruits in these climates. It might be a different story when grown in a tropical climate where 60°F is a record low temperature.
would you have pictures of the senorita fruits?
I’ll have to go through camera-numbered photos from 2010.
