Backyard Poultry Forum

I'm home today - the weather is great for banana digging after a few days rain as the ground is soft. any takers? will happily swap for fertile eggs of just about any kind

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http://www.turkeyclub.org.uk

Barnevelders - Coronation/Light Sussex - Bronze Turkeys - Rhode Island Reds - Plymouth Rocks

Might depend what region you are in, our local nursury sells lady finger and a few others, and the local community farm grows cavendish. I have some growing here, no idea what they are, never seen fruit... but i dont cut the suckers, I am lazy and there are snakes around that area...

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MY WEBSITE http://shambhala-birds.webs.com

In Sanctuary Point my father got a hand of fruit last season! They are gross feeders and love water as well, so if they aren't doing very well might be an idea to overload them with manure. Mine doubled in size in 6 mths after doing nothing for a year when I put the compost bin/ pile in the middle of them.

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Donna
I'm 37, married with two young boys (5 & 2 yo), Cat 'Marley,2 Light Sussex 'Betty' & Flossie, 1 Champagne Sussex 'Bubbles' and 3 quails. We grow heirloom veggies in our west Brisbane suburban yard.

They are just south on the hill from the septic trenches so they should be getting plenty lol but its just suckers and leaves.

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MY WEBSITE http://shambhala-birds.webs.com

bummer - your bananas probably have bunchy-top. means you get precisely that - no fruit, but a whole lot of leaf growth.

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http://www.turkeyclub.org.uk

Barnevelders - Coronation/Light Sussex - Bronze Turkeys - Rhode Island Reds - Plymouth Rocks

Just curious... are sugar bananas cheaper or more xpensive than cavendish bananas in Brisbane / Sydney / Melbourne / Adelaide / Perth etc?
We pay more ($3/kg) for sugar bananas than we do for Cavendish ($2/kg) bananas. Our family much prefer the Cavendishes and most of our home grown sugar bananas (approx 25kg per tree, each tree fruits after 6-12 months, 8 stands of trees) end up with the chooks or being given away.

i'm not sure what you mean by sugar bananas... but lady finger and gold finger bananas are definately more expensive here. they have a sweeter taste, and are shorter, and thicker than cavendish.

the smaller ones last longer too - which is why cav's are better for cooking.. they turn quicker. but the gold/lady fingers are better for eating.

takes less time to bend 'em too

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http://www.turkeyclub.org.uk

Barnevelders - Coronation/Light Sussex - Bronze Turkeys - Rhode Island Reds - Plymouth Rocks

What is bunchy top? I was thinking simply too much nitrogen. The people at the farm said you have to remove suckers so the main plant grows big and fruits. Ours are all small.

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MY WEBSITE http://shambhala-birds.webs.com

I hope that it isn't bunchy top, it is a reportable disease. A quick google mentioned Coffs & SE Qld but wouldn't think it is that far down? It might just be because there are too many suckers that are taking nutrients from the mother plant.

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Donna
I'm 37, married with two young boys (5 & 2 yo), Cat 'Marley,2 Light Sussex 'Betty' & Flossie, 1 Champagne Sussex 'Bubbles' and 3 quails. We grow heirloom veggies in our west Brisbane suburban yard.

mine are fruiting like mad - and have suckers all over the place as well, but then they are always good do'ers. we cut down each adult plant after it has fruited, and the younger ones then grow up and fruit themselves. we get several hands of bananas on a stalk, and i don't believe they are a commercial variety - they have been in the family for generations.

if there's lots of leaf, but never fruit, then that sounds like bunchy top to me... sorry maybe some pics? you could send pics to the people at gardening australia - they would probably be able to give you a diagnosis.

i can take pics of my bananas if anyone wants to see - there are several with fruit on them (there always are) and plenty of suckers (again, there always are)

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http://www.turkeyclub.org.uk

Barnevelders - Coronation/Light Sussex - Bronze Turkeys - Rhode Island Reds - Plymouth Rocks

Here is good information on bunchy top banana disease, along with a photo. As you are in Vincentia I don't think that is going to be the issue - it is currently known in SE Qld and Nthn NSW only.

http://www.spc.int/PPS/PDF%20PALs/PAL%2 ... 202005.pdf
http://www.dpi.qld.gov.au/4790_8393.htm

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Donna
I'm 37, married with two young boys (5 & 2 yo), Cat 'Marley,2 Light Sussex 'Betty' & Flossie, 1 Champagne Sussex 'Bubbles' and 3 quails. We grow heirloom veggies in our west Brisbane suburban yard.

Do banana's fruit in a particular season?

I have four ducasse that have been in since June 2008 but didn't grow for almost a year because they were not fertilised or watered much and were in the grass. A concrete edge was put around them August 2009 and the middle made into a compost pile/ pit made a huge difference (they were just in the grass) and within a couple of months they quadrupled in size. Now they look fully grown and are throwing heaps of suckers - I am leaving them with only a 'family' mummy, teenager and baby...

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Donna
I'm 37, married with two young boys (5 & 2 yo), Cat 'Marley,2 Light Sussex 'Betty' & Flossie, 1 Champagne Sussex 'Bubbles' and 3 quails. We grow heirloom veggies in our west Brisbane suburban yard.

that's a really good question... i'm not sure if they are supposed to - maybe it depends on where you are, and how much water you get. I know ours almost always have fruit on them - as soon as the tree becomes adult size they flower, we cut the 'heart' off so all the nutrient goes into the fruit, then as soon as the fruit is ready to pick we fell the tree. (easiest way to get the fruit)

i think maybe we get more over the hot/wet season, but we still have bananas in winter (hubby loves banana bread) so they don't stop, only decrease? maybe climate change is making my bananas freakily productive?

mind you, the chooks get into the trees and dig and manure... so they get plenty of nutrients.

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http://www.turkeyclub.org.uk

Barnevelders - Coronation/Light Sussex - Bronze Turkeys - Rhode Island Reds - Plymouth Rocks

Not in the tropics.
However, they do require lots of water and decent amounts of fertilizer to fruit regularly.
I have friends that have some of our sugar bananas that still haven't fruited after 2 years - we get fruit every 6 months or so off each stand. They will usually only fruit when they are growing strongly so if yours hardly grow over winter, they are unlikey to fruit then.

Sugar bananas are short, fat and have very thin skin. In my experience they do not keep for as long as cavendish bananas.

it looks like a clump of bamboo... about head height. I don't go near them, too many snakes around there.

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MY WEBSITE http://shambhala-birds.webs.com