Three months usually. I know the feeling, - I call that amazing sight a " flag leaf. " Good luck !

Thanks, jofus! I'm so excited! I've grown bananas for years and never had one bloom -- well, that's a lie. I had one bloom down in your neck of the woods, but the stalk just rotted away as soon as it set fruit.

I just hope we don't have an early freeze that kills the bloom stalk. It may take longer than 3 months up here, since it's already getting cooler, and we do have freezing temps in the winter.

You are right DG, could be 4 months till your stalk is fully ripe. What is the name of your bananas ? The 4 stalks I have coming out ( feel like a one-eyed dog in a sausage factory ! ) are all goldfingers, a slower-than-normal banana to ripen. But the good news is where I live, - should not be a problem weather-wise to get 'em all !!! ( salivating smile )

The latest sprout ( 1st saw 3 days ago ) is a plump flag leaf shown above,...just like yours, which will transform into a red flower maybe later today or tomorrow. Will try to include a photo of the three other stalks.

The large 10 hand guy in foreground is about 7 weeks old, one at left rear , about 2 1/2 weeks old and middle rear guy is barely 1 week old. And now, with the new flower leaf guy,...am going bananas, literally ! lol

That's great I hope you get to eat them.

DG, I would be super excited too!

What kind of banana plant is that? How long did it take for this bloom to appear?

I have a couple of bananas that I planted last year in June and I am still waiting for them to flower.

D, I hope that you get to eat your bananas, it takes about 3 months from flower to fruit for me in my area, I pick them before they are yellow but fully mature because I like to use them green, when ripe I like them dehydrated or in plain pancakes just egg and banana.

I usually have 2 stalks going at the same time but for now I only have 1. If you get a cooler weather were you are, I would loosely wrap them with a pillowcase, I am sure you have those around, I saw them covered like that in St Lucia, I don't remember why but it would work for you and the cold, they use some special blue bags that covered the whole bunch.

My bananas today and I am waiting to pick them soon.....

Silvia

A great looking stalk Silvia, - what kind are they ?

I have no idea what kind this is, because it was here when I moved in and nobody knew. I would hazard a guess based on its cold hardiness and height that it's probably an ice cream banana. They're very popular up here, along with Orinoco, but it's not tall enough to be Orinoco, I don't think. I guess I'll find out. It's too tall for a Basjoo.

I'm going to have to find a way to brace it, because the hurricane has it leaning badly. I have some wood, so I'm going to try to get my maintenance guy to build me a brace for it.

Silvia are both the banana plants in your pic above the same variety? The leaves look different.

Also, can you share the recipe for your "most delicious banana chocolate bread ", if it is not a family/trade secret :-)!!

Silvia, that is a lot of bananas! I love banana chips and fried bananas and banana bread and especially banana splits, so I'll find a use for them. I've started making smoothies for my diet, so I'm sure I'll be glad if they do get ripe and I get to use them. Thanks for the tip about the pillowcases. I actually have a huge box full of old sheets, blankets and whatnot just for covering things in the winter.

Ohh how exciting, I hope it flowers and fruits before the cold, with how warm summer has been I think you have a good chance of eating some bananas this year!

Two of our taller bananas have fruit and 2 of the dwarfs have fruit. I am really hoping they mature before it freezes here. I am thinking this might be a cold winter and that it might freeze early. I have no clue how to get the hands off the really tall nanners lol. I dont know if I can reach them with our small ladder. Might have to just chop down the trees.

Congrats!!! How old does a bana have to be to bear fruit?

I think it depends a lot on the variety. Some will bear earlier than others. There is one called Viente Cohol, that is supposed to bear fairly young. Some take up to 15 mos of continuous growing. If the plant freezes back, it kinda has to start over again. Years that we have a warm winter like last winter, mine will flower earlier in the spring because the plants didnt die back, so they have a good chance to have the bananas mature in time.

My taller bananas (they were supposed to be Ice Cream bananas but I think they are really Namwahs) are situated so that a live oak gives them some cover for frosts but the sun slants in enough that they get enough sun to fruit. I wasn't smart enough to plan it that way, it just luckily happened lol. It does work out though.

Raja Puri is also a quick fruiter. There used to be a GW poster in KS that grew them.

Here is an article

http://homeguides.sfgate.com/long-until-banana-trees-yield-fruit-58562.html

bea, this plant is probably about 18 months old. It was 3 ft. tall when I moved in here. Now it has pups that are almost as tall as it is. I'm hoping the larger one will bear next year. It's a pup that came out last summer, but got knocked back by the cold weather and reappeared this spring.

Sultry, the only way to tell if they're ice creams is to wait for fruit. If it's got a bluish tint, they're ice creams. I'll be happy with whatever I get, but I'd love to have an ice cream. They are so yummy!

I just braced it like somewhat on my permaculture forum told me to do. The storm made it lean and the bloom seems to be growing to the leaning side now, so I don't want it to fall over.

I have two hands so far with about 10 bananas on each one. I know some of these will drop off, but even if only one makes it, I'll be happy! I just hope they get pollinated. I don't have many pollinators around here.

From a banana site I just perused :

For a plant to be self-fruitful, it sets fruit from its own pollen rather than needing to be pollinated by a separate plant or different variety. For instance, many apples can't set fruit unless another compatible variety is nearby to pollinate it. Edible bananas (Musa spp.) do produce fruit without outside pollination, but here's the catch: The flowers don't need any pollination. The fruits develop without pollination at all (called parthenocarpy) from female flowers, and as a result, there are no seeds. So edible bananas are self-fruitful, they just don't need to be pollinated.

jofus, good to know! I'm gonna have 'nanners, then. Woo hoo!

How big to ice cream bananas have to get before they turn blue?

Update: It has 6 hands now, most have a dozen fruits. It takes me a week to eat 3 bananas. I have no idea what I'd do with 70 or more. My neighbors are going to love me.

Most of the bananas sold as Ice Cream (Blue Java) turn out to be Namwah. If it were Ice Cream, the bananas would already have a blue tint. Where did you purchase the banana. If the nursery bought tissue culture plants from Agristarts, then you have Namwah, but don't fret; Namwah tastes better than Ice Cream.

Steve

The plant was here when I got here, and they do sort of have a bluish tint, but not very noticeable, as they are still very small. Whatever it is will be fine.

ETA: I don't think it's a Namwah, because they evidently have pink flowers and this one definitely has white.

I see banana nut bread in your future!

LOL! Yep -- LOTS of it! And I guess I'd better finally buy a blender for banana smoothies.

Well, 5 hands it is. All the new ones are falling off. That's o.k. I didn't know what I was going to do with them all anyway. I don't know what you people with several trees do! If this banana's offspring are going to continue to bear, I'm going to have to invest in a dehydrator.

DG, sorry to hear that. Guess I am lucky, but bottom line is, I make sure these guys have a fertile planting zone,..18 " - 24 " deep, minimum. Plus, of course, lots of sun and I just fertilize the bums once a month with close to one lb. of 10 - 10 -10 for ea plant, and of course the watering, especially if dry for 3, 4 days in a row max. So easy IMHO. But Mother Nature has been sending down a deluge here almost every day ( today 3 x ), so maybe she has been the one responsible. All I know is, "what's seldom is wonderful " in my case. My 1st stalk has 10 hands, as I previlously mentioned,..just counted 2nd one, and looks like at least 9 hands so far. Third stalk, too early to count hands. ( big smile ). Just lucky am sure, - have been at this for years,..first bonanza harvest for me.

Again, sad to hear of your experience, was hoping you'd come up with at least 8 hands. Hey, maybe the next pup will be a winner ! ( smile )

Jofus, I'm not sad. This whole gardening thing has been an experiment in permaculture, and the soil has a long way to go before it is really fertile. I didn't fertilize it or anything, so 5 hands (about 60 bananas) is a bounty to me! I'm really happy with it, considering that I didn't expect it to ever have bananas.

whgille,do you sell any pups from the fhia23? John

John, I don't sell anything from the garden but many times I give it away to people that I know either from posting here or friends.

whgille thanks for answering, you are the only only I seen posting the Fhia 23,I have been looking for sometime.John

Is there an specific reason that you want this variety? where are you located?

Right now I am waiting for 3 banana bunches to ripen in the same plant, as you probably know once I harvest them, the stalk has to come down, that means 3 at almost the same time. After that I will see what is left....

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