Ok,

I called going banas and it looks like the following:

grand nain (Large Plantains)
giant plantain (The ones in Grocery Stores_
double (Makes two fruits of banana at once)

http://www.going-bananas.com

Looks like I will go with those? Any one have those? how do the fare down here?

1) Valencia should do fine in Miami. Red Navel or Navel are also both very good oranges and seem to do well in South Florida. What exactly do you mean by disease resistance?

2)If Pine Island isn't selling any you can call them and ask who might be selling it in the area. If not, check your local Home Depot or Lowes. You should be able to find all different kinds of citrus at those stores.

3) There is really no alternative to a grafted tree if you are going to plant it in the ground. A seedling will not bear true to type. If you were going to keep it in a pot you might be able to grow one from a cutting. The reason I would not recommend growing a tree from a cutting in the ground is that it will not be on a good rootstock for Florida soil. Also it will not grow into tree form but it would stay as a bush. A grafted tree should bear fruit at very young but the larger the tree is the more fruit it will hold as with most other grafted fruit trees.

If going bananas recommended a variety it should be good. I have had very good experience buying bananas from them. One suggestion though, you might ask them about what they think the best tasting banana and try to grow one of those also. Many times the closest variety to the commercial varieties is not the best tasting. A great example of this can be seen with mangoes where 'Tommy Atkins' is usually the most common commercial variety yet in many peoples opinion is it not very good compared to other varieties.

thanks!