I have what I know to be a Manzano. Does anyone have one that has flowered? or close to? I would like to see pics of a more mature plant if possible. The newest leaf you see coming out will probably be 3.5-4 feet long.
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if it is the exact type have grown in the tropics(banana names and nicknames could be misleading sometimes, if not often), it typically reaches 8-10 ft tall at the ‘vertex’, or where the curvature of the downward inflorescense meets the trunk.
it will also have a very long gestation period before the hands mature, and waiting is a must-do because immature manzano’s are the astringent hachiya simmons of the banana world. Picking too soon is no bueno. Will test one’s patience, as the fruits seem to take a long time to be ready despite their relatively small sizes, and is probably reason why it is more expensive as fresh fruit. The much larger cavendish bananas we are all familiar with actually mature quicker and come in bigger bunches.
hoping to find some pics from long time ago.
btw, the growth habit indicates a good chance of it being a manzano, at least to my eyes.
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Nice greenhouse. I have grown and fruited Manzano in zone 9b. Typical gestation period in that climate was 14 months – and if the inflorescence occurred in spring-summer then another 3-4 months to harvest. Very good tasting fruit, although I prefer Namwa and Pisang Ceylon a bit more. If I had more room at my present location I would grow it. Typical pseudostem height at emergence of rachis is around 6 feet when grown in a 16" box planter, and 9 feet when grown year-round outdoors in soil. Of course the latter case is not a possibility for you in zone 5b.
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Thanks! that’s good to know. I saw a bloom and it was really attractive so that made me get it LOL. it was a small corm half the size of a light bulb from Amazon 3 years ago. The current pot size would be one of those half wine barrels. so is there is a good chance this could shoot a flower this spring? it currently has 5 feet of p-stem
That depends heavily on inputs, primarily light in the 6500 Kelvin range, about 1200 gross Watts per projected square meter, 12 hours per day.
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Because this plant is in a container - will the leaves be smaller when mature? then say a plant in the ground?
plenty of light, constricted roots, and low humidity with drying in between watering have a dwarfing effect on many plants/plant parts, bananas included.
you specimen actually looks close to sending out an inflorescence in my opinion. Once the leaf stalks get bunchy like that-- forming the typical banana canopy and ceased adding much height to the pseudostem, it is getting close to blooming.
Perhaps. Again, it depends on inputs. When I grew Manzanos simultaneously in 25 gallon pots and one in a luxurious planter, the leaves were about the same size but in the pots the pstems were shorter and the crop size was smaller: about 1/2 as many fruits with average finger length about 1" shorter.
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overcast today -This newest leaf is about the same size as the last. I was expecting a little bigger. The p-stem has been increasing in size over the past 2 weeks.I was thinking it could be possibly be between 5-6 leaves away from a flower. hoping for it to wait till spring! I’ll keep this updated with a few pics. I plan on digging it deeper to give the leaves more head room.
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Thanks Richard, I’ll have to put in some raised beds- my next project! I’ll do it California style and use cinder blocks! it looks really nice!
leaves immediately preceding the inflorescence actually get smaller(but with thicker sheath-like petioles), especially the last green leaf borne before the first purple bract of inflorescence , so don’t feel bad about the size of that latest leaf. You may also notice that this latest leaf seems to have a short petiole relative to the others which preceded it, which is another tell-tale sign it may be “crowning” soon.
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@jujubemulberry, I’d love to see pictures of bananas you’ve grown from pup to fruit either indoors or outdoors in the continental U.S.
Thanks! Notice in that picture in the nearest portion of the planter there is a 3" diameter pipe stand. That leads down to a “sweep” (broad 90-deg turn) running under the entire planter bed and eventually out to the street near the top of the photo. That pipe - underneath the bananas is a standard perforated drain pipe with a “sock” over it. In the event of heavy rains (they do happen) and/or cold temperatures, moisture in the bed drains out. This is a protection against one horror of growing bananas outside the tropic zone: root rot.
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i grew them in the tropics.