Banana Crazy

[Tracy]

So my one Banana plant had gone pretty crazy with offsets over the course of a few years.  The footprint of the clump had expanded, I had taken another offset and planted it to provide some shade in another spot in the garden, so it was time to reclaim some real estate.  Plus I had something else I wanted to try in the spot.  The banana was planted originally to provide temporary shade for a young palm, and that purpose was growing less valuable.  So, I dug up the clump, leaving one temporary stalk which has bananas still on it waiting to ripen when the weather warms and days are longer.  I did take down another stalk in the group which had bananas on it which I would like to try to get to ripen.  That is the "trick" I'm looking for.  How to get green bananas which were removed from the plant to ripen?  It's not a huge bunch to lose if they don't ripen, but I thought I would toss out the question to see if anyone has any suggestions.

[Bennz]

When I was involved in family banana farm in Australia it was interesting to see that even the immature fruit that was bunch pruned still turned yellow with time and was (technically) edible. But eating quality was not great. 

Looking at your fruit it appears the bananas are not too far off full developed, the ridges on the lower hand are almost filled out. That second hand down from the top looks much more immature than the top hand, which I have never seen before. If you left the fruit in a paper bag with an over ripe banana I would expect at least half the bunch would ripen up to be edible, but only the lower hands would be anything like good.

In Aus there was an ethylene-based product that could be added to a bucket of water and then the fruit submerged for a few minutes. This made the fruit ripen up perfectly. This was 25 years ago and I don't recall the name of the product, and also it was an off-label useage. Maybe something like that might work for you. But personally I'm a chemophobe and would go with the overripe banana in a bag trick. 

[dalmatiansoap]

Yup, just hang them somewhere indoors. If u place them in the bag, you can put an apple or two inside to faster ripening.

[Funkthulhu]

I second the hand in a paper bag with an apple.  It actually works on Pineapples too!

[Tracy]

On 1/16/2018, 11:14:43, Bennz said:

If you left the fruit in a paper bag with an over ripe banana I would expect at least half the bunch would ripen up to be edible, but only the lower hands would be anything like good.

It worked.  Thank you.

[Chris Chance]

So awesome to get fruit from the garden. I have bananas called Rajapuri that have flowered several times but the fruit never forms. They get about 3 inches and stop. Not sure why but hopefully I can get some nanas from my garden on day too. Let us know how they taste!

[Cikas]

1 hour ago, Chris Chance said:

So awesome to get fruit from the garden. I have bananas called Rajapuri that have flowered several times but the fruit never forms. They get about 3 inches and stop. Not sure why but hopefully I can get some nanas from my garden on day too. Let us know how they taste!

Try some other type. I have Musa Fen Ba Jiao. It grow great, I had fruits last year. Pisang Ceylon, Dwarf Namwah, Ice cream, Mazano ect. should work for you. 

[Chris Chance]

8 minutes ago, Cikas said:

Try some other type. I have Musa Fen Ba Jiao. It grow great, I had fruits last year. Pisang Ceylon, Dwarf Namwah, Ice cream, Mazano ect. should work for you. 

What I like about Rajapuri is they don't get tall and handle wind better than others. I read the fruit is delicious. Maybe I just need to invest in some good banana fertilizer. I thought about trying some others but I'm limited on space. 

[Tracy]

On 1/26/2018, 10:00:19, Chris Chance said:

I thought about trying some others but I'm limited on space. 

If I recall correctly the ones shown are Musa acuminata × balbisiana (AAAB Group) 'FHIA-01 Goldfinger' .  They are quite tasty, and while the ones I bagged are all consumed now, another bunch from a different place in the yard that were left on the plant are now ripening.  With likely record temps in my neighborhood the last couple of days, some of the fatter ones are splitting open before I harvest them.  You probably wouldn't want this if you want short, as these are about 12'-14' high before they fruit.  They get pretty beat up here in the wind, and I know you get a lot stronger Santa Ana winds there than when they finally make there way down to me on the coast.  Last year I took some starts off a shorter variety I was growing in my previous home and put them in the ground.  They haven't flowered yet, but it will be interesting to compare their productivity in the same conditions as the Goldfinger.  This one has maxed just under 6' in Carlsbad, but seems to be a tad bit taller already here without fruiting yet.