In my experience Dwarf Cavendish are very cold sensitive. I can't tell you how many bunches I have lost over the years, even to light frosts. I almost never get ripe bananas from mine. On the other hand, Orinoco and apple banana fruit dependably. I have added Ice Cream and Raja Puri but don't have much experience with them yet. Last winter, I lost my first bunch of Raja Puri to a frost - not a freeze. The Ice Cream that I planted at the same time just gave us our first bunch.

This post was edited by shuffles on Fri, Dec 27, 13 at 16:23

oh, thanks so much, I will write these down.
Shuffles, it seems you are in the same zone I am in.

Could you please let me know if you left the successful banana plants in the ground for the winter or are yours in pots ?
I'll try to get the others you recommended.
thanks

carol,

I grow them in the ground. Here, it rarely goes to 27 degrees. We usually have at least one freeze every winter, not last winter, though.

Dwarf Cavendish are not cold tolerant at all. It will be very difficult to grow this particular banana, protect it during the winter and expect fruit in the summer. There are better choices for the Gulf Coast area. A previous post mentioned Orinoco, Raja Puri. I agree with these choices. Dwarf Orinoco, California Gold, which might be a sport of Dwarf Orinoco, Dwarf Brazilian are also choices. On the Gulf Coast, we should expect to see fruit 18 to 20 months after planting a pup. This means a banana needs to be able to survive at least one winter by whatever means the grower can provide. In mild winters, a grower needs to do nothing, In cold winters, the grower needs to protect the pseudostem. A banana plant needs to flower by May generally for the fruit to mature and ripen by the first frost of the fall. If the fruit is not ripe and experiences a frost, that fruit most likely is history.

Steve