BajaNomad

Did you know?

motoged - 10-15-2020 at 10:41 AM

Monkeys do:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8svUCSuMS4

pacificobob - 10-15-2020 at 11:07 AM

i was told the blossom end [the end not attached to the stalk]
is the end to open ..learned that in Thailand while on R&R
they referred to it as the "monkey end"

del mar - 10-15-2020 at 11:10 AM

how do know the monkey's haven't been doing it wrong all this time?;)

motoged - 10-15-2020 at 12:43 PM

Ask one :biggrin:

TMW - 10-15-2020 at 01:42 PM

What difference does it make which end to open. Cut it in have then you have two.

motoged - 10-15-2020 at 01:49 PM

Tom,
If you cut a banana in half and leave one-half aside, it will brown .... if you can manage to split it in half by hand after creating a split in the peel (NOT lengthwise), the left over half takes much longer to brown .

YMMV :coolup:

pacificobob - 10-16-2020 at 06:04 AM

bananas found in NOB supermarkets are usually a variety called Cavendish.
i have over a dozen varieties growing here and they al peal a bit differently.
the best quality of the Cavendish is they ship well and ripen predictably.
there are >400 varieties of bananas worldwide.

David K - 10-16-2020 at 07:45 AM

Quote: Originally posted by pacificobob  
bananas found in NOB supermarkets are usually a variety called Cavendish.
i have over a dozen varieties growing here and they al peal a bit differently.
the best quality of the Cavendish is they ship well and ripen predictably.
there are >400 varieties of bananas worldwide.


I would enjoy seeing your plants! Where is 'here'?

I was a banana growing hobbyist back in the 80s... A California Rare Fruit Growers member and I wrote articles on banana growing and on the many varieties. I had 30 varieties growing for a time in Vista, CA. There were over 300 edible (seedless) banana varieties at the time.

Growing bananas out of the tropics is possible but not easy. Cold weather retards growth making a plant that produces fruit in 9 months normally, take 18 months, here in Southern California. Freezing will kill the plant that is above ground... but the banana is like a potato and the underground corm, like a potato, is where new stems grow up from. A friend (Doug Richardson) up near Ventura/ Santa Barbara actually had a banana plantation along Hwy. 101 for a few years. He shipped exotic varieties of bananas all over the country, he and I traded some plants. He got a bit of fame in publications, including People magazine. Sadly, a rare frost at his Seaside Banana Garden, wiped out the trees on year and then a cliff collapse caused the land owner to terminate the lease to Doug.

Each stem (wrapped leaves) can produces one flower bud (which is where the fruit grows from). The fruit matures and that entire tree/stem is done. Other stems grow up from the corm and they become the next harvest. You remove excess stems to replant and create a banana plantation from!

The Cavendish varieties are dwarf trees growing to 6 feet as compared to 12 feet or more for other banana varieties. 'Valery', 'Grand Nain', and 'Williams' were some popular plantation banana varieties of the Cavendish type, in the 80s. Since then I am sure many more varieties to be disease resistant with larger fruit stocks have been created. Cloning is how new varieties are mass-produced for planting.

My Banana articles appeared in the magazines and yearbooks listed:
https://www.crfg.org/fg/1969-89/1988.html
https://www.crfg.org/fg/1969-89/1989.html