Ugh yes that totally makes sense. I’m saying ugh since this means I need to think about a good spot in the ground :))
What do you think about putting a banana into the ground right near a lemon tree. The lemon tree is doing really well and is some sort of mixture of myer lemon (most likely) and some other lemon that might or might not have been a rootstock. I can’t tell at this point but it literally peels like an orange when fully ripe and is huge - bigger than some tangelos I get from my tree. Anyway - there a possible spot right behind its canopy close to the fence where I could plant a banana. I’ll try to post a pic. It would get almost all day sun.
The banana I have is - I think - dwarf Brazilian but need to double check. It might have lost its tag.
Wow this is 1000% the thing I’ve been thinking through. There are so many amazing varieties that I’m sort of hesitating to give any yard space (which is at a premium) to the dwarf Brazilian.
@kingwood any suggestions for when to get true growing varieties like the ones you have? Would you consider selling a pup and shipping it over? I’m worried that some of the varieties folks are growing and selling online might not grow true to the varieties they claim they are.
No experience with the brazilian. I actually prefer the small finger type bananas. Sweeter and more flavorful than most of the regular sized ones but no one else in family likes them. Says the seeds are too large. No one else will eat american persimmons also because of the seeds. I no longer grow anything in kingwood after vortex other than one pear tree that survived. Small city lot and pool takes up third of back yard and HOA discourages front yard gardening. My bananas and tropicals are at my vacation home and all are in containers. Citrus and tropicals will be killed there inground. Pluots, pears, etc are OK in ground. Apricots bloom too early. Inground bananas killed to ground every year. Just discovered my 4 years inground loquat not true to type. First year some fruit made it through the winter. My pisang raja is a very good full size banana. Can eat as plantain or fresh eating. Its my fave. Been growing it 40 yrs. Lots of vendors online selling very good bananas but stay away from the tissue cultures. They may make it in Cali, but sudden death most other climates.
Looks like they sell two cultivars under the “Baby” name: “Lady Finger” and “Orito”. As between those, yours look more like Orito to me, but I’m not sure.
The Mini brand is trademarked by Chiquita; you’ll find similar fruit sold by Dole under the Baby name. Because they’re half the size of a standard Cavendish, they’re generally sold as a snack product for kids. More than one cultivar makes up the Baby/Mini category. Chiquita’s product is the Pisang Mas variety, originally from Malaysia; Dole’s Minis include two types: Lady Finger and Orito. The Lady Fingers are the sweetest and best tasting of them all, but since there’s no reliable way to determine which kind you’re getting, you’ll have to undertake some delicious trial and error.
@Richard My last couple of bunches I’ve been having some issues with the fruit splitting before harvest. Some of the fruit were starting to turn yellow while others were still green.
Is this a watering issue? Too much? Inconsistent watering? (Which I’m having an issue with.)
@JCT
It is our climate, not delivering consistent warmth day-and- night and day-to-day.
I harvest a bunch when at least one finger has turned true yellow, then hang it in the garage. We then consume the fingers as they ripen from the hanging bunch.
The biggest task though was removal of 3-4 years of dead corms clogging up the west end of the planter. It took a couple days and filled up an 80 gal greenery barrel.
Afterwards I installed a partition in the bed, added 15 gallons of soil, and installed a white pineapple that’s been biding its time in a pot for the last two years!
I’m pretty disappointed with these bananas. I’ve ripened three bunches now. They’ve all been the same. They go soft and mushy one day after being rock hard. The taste is inferior to store bought. I’d say they’re good for banana bread but not much else.
