Bugs
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Banananas | cab wrote: | | bagpuss wrote: |
Argubly the differences are what is interesting but you only have to realise that genetically you have 70% in common with a banana |
Humbling, isn't it?
Anyone tried growing bananas (other than Tahirs missus)? I keep seeing the picture of Bon Flowerdew in Kitchen Garden mag next to his banana plant, and I can't help thinking that having home grown bananas would be great (but very difficult). |
I've taken this out of its original thread...
Me! Me sir over here sir! We have Dwarf Cavendish which I understand is (a relative?) of the most frequently grown type and therefore, would be edible if it fruited (you can buy seed but most bananas grown from seed also have fruit with seeds in and are therefore not very practical to eat, apparently). It grows very happily but we don't really have the room, yet, to let it flower and fruit - and we also let it produce suckers to pot up for friends and spares (my brother has one in his conservatory now, for which I have high hopes  ) which would delay flowering.
There was I think a whole article in TKG by Sir Bob (as he should be!) about his fruiting bananas....we would need to plant ours in the greenhouse to stand the faintest chance of a crop and it would still be too tall - Wisley has them fruiting in its greenhouse...
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Will
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Practically everyone I met in Rwanda grows bananas, but then they are indigenous to Equatorial regions...
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cab
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How tall does it have to get before you've a chance of getting a crop then?
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Bugs
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I can't remember offhand but think it is something like 9 feet - I think that's about how tall the ones in Wisley are as well. I know it was just a bit too tall for our greenhouse.
Hmmm. I don't think Surrey counts as Equatorial, does it? 
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Treacodactyl
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About 2 meters but I don't think it will do that until we get a poly tunnel. I have seen them fruit in this country so it could be done.
What's the smallest poly tunnel you can buy/make?
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tahir
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(edible) Bananas are propogated asexually, Dwarf Cavendish is the main clone used for sweet bananas (not cooking ones), so yours isn't related it's actually part of the same plant 
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sean
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| tahir wrote: | | (edible) Bananas are propogated : |
propagated.
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tahir
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propergated?
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Bugs
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| tahir wrote: |
propergated? |
No, ours are not gated at all, bananas can't run away 
I thought the main one was Dwarf Cavendish but thought there were others too and new types were replacing them...whatever happened to that story about a disease/deficiency that was going to wipe out the world's bananas?
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tahir
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| Bugs wrote: | | whatever happened to that story about a disease/deficiency that was going to wipe out the world's bananas? |
Dunno, haven't heard anything about it for a couple of years now.
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