Posted on 09/08/2021 11:49:52 AM PDT by Olog-hai
I hate taxonomists. They’re the same ones who once said that the giant panda is a raccoon and not a bear, until genetic analysis proved that wrong.
I’d call the banana a non-woody tree.
“Smart advice, but I had no idea banana trees grew that quickly. I’d guess one Florida winter will take care of the problem because if banana trees grew that far north, they would be growing them that far north.”
I don’t know how far north banana plants will grow, but we have them in south Alabama as a decorative plant. They grow like weeds. They will die in the winter and then in the summer you can just about see them grow. I have seen several bear fruit but not regularly. The bananas are very small but edible if allowed to ripen just right. The bananas you buy in the store have little relation to the ones grown in people’s back yards.
I call them banana plants. Have a few in the yard. They definitely thrive with attention.
Your Alabama bananas are cold hardy, and generally not considered edible. All of our banana varieties are edible, and more yummy than store bought varieties. Avocados too.
Where I grew up, the co-eds would don swimsuits to enjoy the sun when the temperature got above freezing in March or April.
When I faced that problem, I just filled in the hole with Sac-Crete.
The store bought ones are in deep trouble. Possible extinction. It is one gene line. Cavendish. All those bananas are genetically identical. The problem is there is a disease that is whipping them out. I actually look forward to their mealy tasteless demise because the bananas that replace them may actually have flavor. Cavendish are better suited for painting rather than eating. Good looking cover on a tasteless lump.
damned spell check... wiping
Dont google whipping bananas. Trust me. ;-)
LOL—I knew what you mean. Panama Disease, fusarium wilt. Mold spores survive in the soil for a very long time.
There should be a worldwide contest of the genetically diverse backyard and wild bananas to come up with a dozen or so to replace Cavendish which are immune/resistant. If their banana survives the fed ex shipping, look descent and tastes great it goes to next round. Yields in wilt fields. It is not like a banana take 10 years to yield fruit. 100K prize and naming rights for the winners. (I would call my banana variety “Big Johnson”) ;-)
You go to the grocery and there are dozens of varieties of apples which have different taste, textures and uses. Right now there is row on row on row of just unripe Cavendish with a half dozen plantains and a small bunch of non-Cavendish for $10 a lb. Cavendish have exceeded their shelf life from when transport was slow and bananas were exotic and they needed to last close to a month from stalk to table. The industry deserves the wilt. They were stupid and lazy.
The Avo industry is just as lazy and stupid. Those Haas are an all your eggs in one basket thing. Avos take a while to yield so when their wilt comes they are screwed.
Yaaah, tell them to Go suck on a tomato fruit.
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