 |
|
|||
|
||||
Home
Search
Forum 
Register
Login
Recent
Posts| Viewing User Profile for: Vallejo Ca | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| About | Contact | ||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
| Post Statistics | |||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Vallejo Ca has contributed to 22 posts out of 2610 total posts
(0.84%) in 833 days (0.03 posts per day).
20 Most recent posts:
Banana Growing tips- How to grow banana. »
Cold Hardy Banana Test. Sep 21, 2008 11:58 PM
(Total replies: 24)
The Raji Puri now has a bunch of bananas.The measurement from the base to the top of the bunches curved stem is 6'8" Its hands are spaced further apart than the Dwarf Brazilian and is a little shorter of a plant.It seems the Raji Puri grows faster than the D.Orinoco or D.Brazilian. All three have ladyfinger sized fruit...or perhaps a little larger but not by much....so far. The remaining Mona Lisa may be sending up a flag leaf.It's the same age as the Raji Puri. The Orinoco's are starting to turn lighter.Two of its bananas are joined together.Strange. Gettn' cool again here.They'll be slown' down now.Still hope to get to try some if they fatten up enough before the first frost. Dang jungle back there.Now I'm thinkn' of ditching the cat for a dwarf tiger and finding a pet monkey to swing around on the things.
Banana Growing tips- How to grow banana. »
Cold Hardy Banana Test. Aug 17, 2008 10:03 PM
(Total replies: 24)
The Dwarf Orinocos with their twin flowering stalks are not as productive as their single Dwarf Brazilian cousin.The first Orinoco to bloom only let the bananas get the size of a finger while its twin....on the same corm,put out regular size...6 inch fat ones...except 18 each....or one regular hand with a six finger hand below it.I cut down the original to get more energy to the flowering pup.To late I suspect. The Dwarf brazilians bunch looks like what you see in pictures with 8 full hands with 14 fingers each.A whole lot of nanars except they are only about 6 inches long so far.Like those tiny ladyfinger you see at the store.Still early though. I boiled the Orinoco bud after peeling it back to the pale layers and ate it like an artichoke heart.Not bad.Without the mayo it was a little bitter. I read one can eat the center stem,I easily cut some out but it turned black before I could try it.It's like a 8 foot long white carrot or something.Food for a week if one can prepare it right. Anyhow,one plant per corm is true.More and the nanars are small or few.
Banana Growing tips- How to grow banana. »
Cold Hardy Banana Test. Jul 10, 2008 02:04 PM
(Total replies: 24)
Looking good here. The main Orinoco has numerous hands with 14 fingers each and still unfolding and its large pup is now sending out a bud too.It's weird though as I has waited 4 months to let a pup start to grow there.It caught up somehow.With two batches on the same corm,I'm wondering if it will stunt the naners growth so I'm adding fertilizer and steer poo tea as water....that's just manure and water in an old garbage can and poured on a bucket a day....or so along with other organic junk. Also the Dwarf Brazilian had its flag leaf emerge.It was hidden in the corner by leaves and suspected it was chocking so I stuck my head in there and saw the tip of the bud.Nice surprise too! The Raja Puri and Mona Lisa are still sending large leaves out but are younger. The first batch from the Orinoco should ripen but being July,the others are at the mercy of the weather.It'll be close.With a late winter like last year they may get pick able. The Brazilians bud is 8 foot high.The Dwarf Orinoco's is 9'6"....to the top of the bunches stalks downward bend.Not sure what that is in metric. The nectar really does taste like honey of some sort.It drips all over my strawberries.
Banana Growing tips- How to grow banana. »
Cold Hardy Banana Test. Jun 18, 2008 12:16 AM
(Total replies: 24)
The Ventricosa was the second to die like that right there.The year before I had another large rooted cutting...2' long,make it through the winter all green and just dry up when it warmed.Perhaps a micro organism,insect or other root eating thing.The Copelandii made it though.All brown but one little leaf,now it's thriving. They are on the retainer wall,under two dwarf orange trees,deep sphagnum moss with misters that go on several times a day through a dechlorination filter. Except for the coldest days,they thrive there.I have the Balmy Koto,Ventricosa red,Copelandii,two Hamatas,Maxima and several more that I picked up from Peter at California Carnivores or had mailed in from Wistuba in Germany. Distilled water is best but my water is low in salts and gets filtered good.Nepenthes are the few carnivores plants that can handle tap water of mild sodium content. In my little greenhouse where the temps and humidity are in the 80's,cool at night,the things really do grow like weeds.Clippings take every time.Even a half dead Home Depot orphan is now putting out giant orange pitchers of some sort. Had a Raja but it died. The greenhouse houses several tree frogs,a little pond with newts,fire bellied toads,minows and a Goliath Bird eating tarantula.3 levels.Plants and everything eat crickets...except the tarantula,she gets whatever it catches.
Banana Growing tips- How to grow banana. »
Cold Hardy Banana Test. Jun 14, 2008 11:16 PM
(Total replies: 24)
Update, The unknown could not recover and only new pups started a few weeks ago.It did the same last year. The Gran Nains from inside only grew small leaves less than a foot long.There are now pineapple tops growing in their fancy pots. The D.Orinoco has its flag leaf and bud starting on its main stem.Its big pup seems to of grown thicker than the original.My first batch of naners.It should have enough time to ripen here. The D.Brazilian,Raja Puri and Mona Lisa are doing great now.Clipping pups off regularly. Top coated the ground with steer poo and old leaves and chopped up pups.The Brazilian should flag leaf soon also. The nepenthes Ventricosa died suddenly.It warmed up and then it died deader than a door nail seemingly over night and the Copelandii is now alive after turning 90% brown from winter.Ventricosa survived the winter all green and just died one week. Cephalotus all are great with flower stalks now.
Banana Growing tips- How to grow banana. »
Cold Hardy Banana Test. Mar 6, 2008 06:32 PM
(Total replies: 24)
Prev Next Normal view To: oowie@webtv.net From: lil oowie Date: Thursday, March 6, 2008 3:26 PM ? Spring like weather here.Highs are in the high 60's and low 70's.Lows are still in the 30's and 40's at night. All nanners except the unknown are pushing a new leaf.The Oronoco seemed like the first to take off with a whole leaf already.I'm fertilizing them with fresh mulch and a 15-15-15 fertilizer dissolved in rainwater. The unknown is trimmed back with no more crispy leaves and only a light...almost white leaf is starting to show.Its pup rotted. The Gran Nains I put outside had its leaves fried by the sun.It shot up beautiful leaves once a week inside till the mites hit them.The leaves were not acclimated to the sun and scorched right away.They are just leafless stalks with a new green leaf emerging from the top. The outside hardy ones look way better now than the ones brought in for winter.The first two large D.Brazilian,Mona Lisa or Raja Puri pups will be replacing them in their fancy pots as soon as possible.They are better looking than the Orinoco and have really wide leaves.Good for shade and are hardier here.No more battling mites for me and the sun fries them anyhow once outside again. Cephalotus does fine here outside.The highland Nepenthes did fine but the Copelandii could not take frost at all and is all brown except for a little new growth at the tip. Summary...Cavendish breeds and Gran Nains are not good here.40's and below fry them. The other 4 appear equal in hardiness to me and in fact survived brief frosts and temps in the 20's for a few hours a night although it should be noted that the sun was out most of the mornings to warm them quickly. Hopefully my next thread will be titled....Banana Split Taste Test.
Banana Growing tips- How to grow banana. »
Cold Hardy Banana Test. Feb 13, 2008 02:07 AM
(Total replies: 24)
Freyja Melbourne seems to have similar weather to the San Francisco Bay Area.0 degrees Celsius = 32 degrees Fahrenheit.Counting in tens and figuring temperature from a water freezing zero seems so sensible to me.Guess us yanks need to learn everything the hard way. Anyhow,Melbourne gets occasional freezes just like my city and this winter we saw many.Seems the banana killing weather is when it stays below freezing for longer than a few hours followed by a sunny day.You know,the water pipe bursting weather.Then the whole stalk freezes and the cells burst and then it's back to square one come spring. The small things add up too.Having them where the morning sun warms 'em is better than where it stays frosty till noon.Against a dark fence and elevated where cold air drains away.Stuff like that helps too it seems.On frosty days my naners are in sun early whereas by noon there is still frost in shaded areas. Last year I lost some by trying to cover them.Where the covers touched,the leaves froze.This year I let them fend on their own and they did fine....considering. Where we live it's up to luck.A warm winter and fine,that freak snow followed by a cloudy week and it's stump city for our little jungle. That's what I've learned.
Banana Growing tips- How to grow banana. »
Cold Hardy Banana Test. Feb 12, 2008 10:05 PM
(Total replies: 24)
The temps are at mid 60's here and the lows in the high 30's or low 40's.Looks like they all made it.The unknown looks horrible but the rest are surprisingly good.Visible leaf burn on the tattered leaves. The biggest hit came with over a week of constant rain with no sun and highs of 40's.That low has passed and without a surprise hard frost some bananas may indeed sprout from the taller Orinoco or Brazilian. The indoor Gran Nains were attacked by mites.Kept the fireplace cookin' with temps in the 80's and humidity in the 30's or below.Misted when I could.Took them out and sprayed them.Thought about mixing a solution of sugar water and spraying 'em and letting the ants pick it clean but it's warm enough now that they are out shading my deck chair.Spiders will take care of the little critters.The hot dry air and mites took its toll inside but still look better than the outside ones though not by much. Nep Ventricosa and cephalotus survived the light frosts.Copelandii may of survived,not much green left.
Banana Growing tips- How to grow banana. »
Cold Hardy Banana Test. Jan 5, 2008 01:20 AM
(Total replies: 24)
The naners took the best this storm could dish out.From my deck,looking SW,one looks down hill to the bay where the wind comes from.Sustained 30 mph winds with plenty of 50+ mph gusts blew all night and up till noon with heavy rain to boot. Behind one mighty oak tree,the street was literally hidden by fallen oak leaves,green ones.Snapped a branch off my liquid amber tree the size of the naners psuedostem in lighter winds.They all seem fine although they look like they are having a bad hair day or something. Drove around while having to maneuver around large twigs,palm fragments and fully loaded garbage cans yet not a banana leaf was peeled off or snapped but it's still a long way from spring.
Banana Growing tips- How to grow banana. »
Cold Hardy Banana Test. Jan 3, 2008 08:55 PM
(Total replies: 24)
Well it's been about the same weather pattern since last time except with lower highs and more cloud cover.The unknown looks 45% brown.Poor thing.Hanging on though.The rest are dotted with brown spots and are starting to look tired.There seems no obviously hardier variety too me between the 4 of 'em,tough bunch of nanners though.Tonight we'll test their wind hardiness.A set of 3 storms are heading right for us with wind gusts to 50 mph...so the weather man says. The first set passed and the leaves are shredded but they still are holding on somehow.I'm impressed. The queen palms are whipping.The outside Copelandii Nepenthes has 50% brown leaves.It's not a true highlander.The Ventricosa is still all green and the Cephalotus is hunkered down but fine.
Banana Growing tips- How to grow banana. »
Cold Hardy Banana Test. Dec 21, 2007 01:27 PM
(Total replies: 24)
my last post seems to of registered but did not show up on my unit sooooo... Lows since the 4th are 49,48,47,37,28,29,28,32,29,27,25,30,44,44,46,40 and 34 last night. Highs in the 50's. All bananas seem the same except the unknown which has obvious brown upper leaves and spotty lower ones.The others are not bad considering the brief lows.Some minor browning of the leaf edges extending less than an inch on some uppers and noticeable spotting on the rest with random yellowing on top.Lowers look almost normal except for some tiny brown spots on some. From a distance they look normal except for wind torn leaves. Nepenthes look OK and Cephalotus is growing a new pitcher and a thin leaf.The greenhouse siblings are doing much better. On a side note my flytraps are sending flower stalks up.I think they are not adjusted yet as they are less than a year from the stores supplier.My cape sundews are flowering also. My Queen palms are OK too with some slight browning of the tips. Even the strawberries have a few straggling blooms starting. The nanners may be alive due to them being elevated 3 feet on a retainer wall and against a dark fence.The retainer wall is concrete with porcelain tile over it.It might absorb heat from the sunny days.
Banana Growing tips- How to grow banana. »
Cold Hardy Banana Test. Dec 21, 2007 12:56 PM
(Total replies: 24)
test
Banana Growing tips- How to grow banana. »
Cold Hardy Banana Test. Dec 4, 2007 08:46 PM
(Total replies: 24)
A new batch of numbers...and they were cold.As I approach the plants there's a feeling I might get swatted by a huge leaf upside my melon as if to demand I dig 'em up and ship 'em to Hawaii. Anyhow they are all still alive and I'm scratching my head. Low temps since the 26th are as follows...36,35,33,23,24 (brrrr),31,and thanks to the pineapple express...a balmy 52 degrees Fahrenheit last night.Highs 60's. The unknown looks the worst.I think it's a super dwarf Cavendish.It's leaves are so close.Anyhow it is the worst,about 25% yellow with brown spots starting. As for the rest,D.Brazilian has upper yellowing of around 15% with perfectly green lower leaves. Rajapuri and Mona Lisa appear not hurt by the cold...yet. D Orinoco has the same as the Brazilian with green lower leaves and lighter upper ones. Used a marker across the stem and new leaf emerging to measure growth.All managed about 2 inches growth for the week.My Gran Nains inside did a whole leaf each in that time. Outside Neps and cephalotus still fine but stalled.Nepenthes Copelandii has no new growth compared the the Copelandii in the greenhouse that added 2 new pitchers.Same with the cephs...outside slow/greenhouse growing. The lows were brief.Ice...not frost a few mornings on things.
Banana Growing tips- How to grow banana. »
Cold Hardy Banana Test. Nov 27, 2007 06:58 PM
(Total replies: 24)
Since Nov.22 the nightly low 28-32-26-37 and 34 degrees. The daytime highs have been in the 60's. Morning frost on shaded roof tops early in the morning a few days. One yellow streak on one D.Brazilian leaf.Slight yellowing on one D.Orinoco leaf around it's edge.The other 3 and the neps show no signs of stress and all are pushing leaves although at a slower pace.
Getting to know other members ... »
No fruit on the banana trees Nov 24, 2007 05:11 PM
(Total replies: 16)
The reason I asked was that i've seen where someone...including myself,mix up a Bird of Paradise plant with a banana.They both have dwarf and giant forms and have the paddle leaves. Heck,where you live you ought to be up to your eyeballs in banana fruit year round. No clue here,sorry.
Getting to know other members ... »
No fruit on the banana trees Nov 24, 2007 12:42 PM
(Total replies: 16)
Did you plant them yourself?
Banana Growing tips- How to grow banana. »
Cold Hardy Banana Test. Nov 23, 2007 11:44 PM
(Total replies: 24)
This year I have one each...d.Brazilian,Raja Puri,Mona Lisa,D.Orinoco and one unknown. They are planted behind my concrete retainer wall facing SW but reach above the fence for morning sun and full sun till sundown. So far in Vallejo (bay area) we had one morning slightly below 30 degrees and only some slight yellowing on a top leaf of the Brazilian.Delay reaction perhaps. Last year the unknown was knocked to the ground with rot but came back strong with the Orinoco and Brazilian keeping their stem but losing their leaves...for the most part. My money is on the D.Orinoco followed by the Raji Puri. I also am leaving a Nepenthes Copelandii and Ventricosa (sp?) out and one Cephalotus.The rest are in my little heated greenhouse.Last year my Nepenthes Balmy Koto survived but took all summer to put on 4 leaves and pitcher.The Cephalotus did fine but stopped growing till summer.
Banana Growing tips- How to grow banana. »
Drooping Banana Plant, and fruit Nov 21, 2007 05:32 PM
(Total replies: 2)
It seems like mine puts out a wrinkled,droopy leaf when I fertilize heavy with a water soluable fertilizer but the next seems fine.
Banana Growing tips- How to grow banana. »
Transplanting a LARGE banana tree Oct 11, 2007 04:43 PM
(Total replies: 1)
The root ball and pups are connected although if the pups are huge then the weight of one might cause it to snap off.If that happens then just plant it too.The corm(rootball) is like an octopus with its arms(pups) up.A giant bulb. I like to dig a big hole and toss in all sorts of food waste and other organic stuff and other fertilizer then mix it up with some perilite and soil then set the plant on it and fill.
Banana Growing tips- How to grow banana. »
Dwarfing Sep 24, 2007 01:23 PM
(Total replies: 0)
I have some banana plants (d.Brazilian,Raji Puri,Mona Lisa,D.orinoco,Grand Nain and one orphan...possibly a D.Cavindish and live in Vallejo...in the bay area right on the N.bay waterline. My question is about topping them to shorten them and still having them bloom next spring or summer. The d. Orinoco and D.Brazilian are now 7' tall (top of leaves) and should bloom soon.Would topping them to 3 feet high affect the blooming or in other words cause them to continue sending out big leaves and a flower at that short height? Those two made it last winter with the stalk intact. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||