For gardeners and landscaping enthusiasts in tropical and sub-tropical climates, banana trees make an attractive addition to the dooryard as well as provide a food source. Highlands County, Florida Master Gardener and 10-year banana grower Don Ingram shares his tips for choosing the right banana varieties for specific latitudes, sites and palates in a 2009 interview with Suite.
When choosing a banana variety, it’s important to think about more than just the fruit. Many varieties grow to be over 20 feet tall, which can be a problem if planted in the wrong place (i.e. if they begin to shade other plants or are planted too close to the house, interfering with eaves).
On the other hand, some of these very tall varieties produce delicious fruit and can create a very appealing tropical landscape when planted together or as part of a mixed collection of other tropicals. Tall banana plants can also be planted alongside medium-sized or small, dwarf varieties for a graduated look.
It should be noted that the term ‚”dwarf” refers to the size of the plant, not the size of the fruit produced. Also, when buying banana plants from a nursery, the height of the plant is measured not from the ground to the top of the highest leaf, but rather from the ground to the peduncle, or flower stalk.
In addition to height, some banana plants may be chosen for their specific look. Ingram’s favorite landscape banana is the dwarf red, a shorter plant with an attractive red stalk and fat, shiny leaves.
Banana plants generally need to be grown in Zones 9 or 10, but can be grown successfully further north in microclimates, pots (if brought indoors during freezing weather), and under other special conditions.
Banana enthusiasts in tropical areas can anticipate success with just about any banana variety, although Ingram warns that the rajapuri variety has been found to succumb to the Black Sigatoka fungus in South Florida and is not recommended for that area.
For sub-tropical areas such as Central Florida, the following varieties have demonstrated cold tolerance:
‚”In some places you can grow banana plants, but they won’t produce fruit even if you bring them indoors in the winter,” Ingram explains. ‚”There just are not enough warm days.”
Of course, taste is always subjective, but bananas tend to be classified as either sweet or tart. Most people are familiar with the Cavendish variety (and its several sub-varieties) which is the variety sold in most grocery stores. People who prefer to eat bananas when they have just turned yellow and still have green at the tips will likely prefer more tart banana varieties. Those who like their bananas with absolutely no green on them and plenty of black spots might be better suited to a sweeter banana variety.
Tart banana varieties include the ice cream (Ingram’s favorite) and misi luki. Sweet banana varieties include the red banana, rajapuri and dwarf Cavendish. The praying hands banana has a very sweet, slightly vanilla flavor. This variety is visually unique in that the fruits are fused together, giving the impression of hands folded in prayer. ‚”Some people don’t like the texture of the praying hands,” Ingram warns.
The Orinoco banana is actually half banana and half plantain, and is the preferred variety for making tostones, fried green bananas. When ripe, it is very sweet and can be used to make platanos maduros, a popular Latin side dish.
With hundreds of banana varieties to choose from, it is easy for the banana enthusiast in a tropical or sub-tropical zone to collect and experiment with different banana cultivars. More details on specific banana varieties are available to help gardeners make the best choice for their needs. Also, in additional Suite articles, Ingram shares his recommendations on caring for banana plants, and tips are given on growing other fruits and vegetables in Florida.
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