Holy Toledo! I've got a fourth nanner tree putting up a flag leaf! This tree is almost as big as the first one that bloomed...but with the excess heat and drought, I doubt if it will put out many hands. The last bloom only put out a hand and a half. My grove is not that large....after I lose these four trees, I will have ten trees of varying age...and 14-16 pups under four feet. I can't believe that I have four trees blooming in one year! I reckon I'm doing something right....
FOURTH Nanner Bloom??????
BB:
CONGRATS!!!
Are your nanners all the same type, or different? I got a Musa acuminata cavendishii 'Super Dwarf' from a nursery late last fall for $2.00!!! After repotting into an 18" diameter pot, it's tripled its size and just recently pupped. I tried (carefully) to remove the pup (has/"had" three leaves) and am hoping it will survive...it's sulking :( right now...
According to what I've read this nanner only grows 2-4', but mine is outside for the summer in full sun and lotsa watering and it's bigger!!!
Jan
Not sure what these are...they came with the house. We have vaccilated between ladyfingers, orinoco, and maybe plantains...although I don't think that they are plantains because they are too short and fat. I'm back to thinking lady fingers.
I need to find someone locally who knows nanners...but taht is easier said than done. Heck, I've had Master gardeners in this area not know what a variegated hydrangea or Peruvian Daffodil were. How can I expect them to be able to distinguish between types of nanners?????
This early?
I'm like an unripe banana, green with envy!
Ah Dave....if that makes you green with envy let me tell you about our growing season here. Having lived in KC and Decatur, IL, I know a little bit about the seasons in your neck of the woods. Now let me tell you about my native soil. Spring arrives in early March...True Spring...not just a hiatus in the snow before the big fat flakes start falling...and no tornado season, either! While you are blowing snow off your walk (or worse yet, shoveling it!) it is 80 degrees here. Most summers it does not get above 98-99 degrees here. This summer has been an exception...it has been as high as 102. However, I can rememebr summers in Decatur where it got up to 102...and summers in KC where it got up to 108. The humidity here is really not any higher than it is up there...it is just that it is that high all summer long....where you guys only get the high humidity for a few weeks most summers...we have it from May through early September. Although summer lasts till sometime in Septemebr or early October, it usually starts cooling down some by late September...and October is a little cooler with low humidity so you get that crisp feeling....but most times Halloween is warm enough for kids to trick or treat in skimpy costumes without wearing sweats under them or coats over them.
Winter meanders in sometime between Christmas and January. We usually have a week or two where it gets down to freezing at night and then gets back up to the low 40s or 50s in the day time. My scarlet oaks usually turned around Thanksgiving. Prior to movng down here, I used to 'drag' my Midwestern DH down this way during February when I got to the point that I could not look at another Albino Brain Chigger (snow) without going stark raving mad. We would check into a hotel and have to turn the AC on because it was in the 70s. I never saw an ice storm till I moved to the Midwest.
Now, are you as green as my ripening nanners yet? No? Well, let me tell you about the cost of living. My house is about 1750 sq ft. We have central heat and air, with electric heat.... my electric bill ran around $125 this past winter and it was 'cozy'. I know this because all my family had to come see the house this winter and they all said it was 'cozy'. That compared to our heating bill in KC (just the heat...not electricity) for a comparable sized home ran $500 a month. I understand from my DH's mom that her heating bill for her 1500 sq ft home in Decatur ran over $400 a month this year.
Still not ready to plan your retirement? OK, how is this? As I said, the house is 1750 square feet. It has 1/3 of an acre and is in a crime free neighborhood. I paid less than $55k for it. Comparable value in your area would be between $175k and $260k. Granted, I got a good deal on the house...but real estate prices are still quite reasonable down here. Ofr waht most areas pay for a large house, you can literally buy a mansion/plantation home. I've seen HUGE historic plantation homes for $350-$500k.
Real estate taxes for my home run about $230 a year. Disability income and teacher retirements are tax exempt and disbaled persons do not pay real estate taxes, either. Oh, and my car insurance rates dropped by 30% when I moved here.
The produce is to DIE for. Peaches so juicy that when you bite into them, they dribble down your chin. The absolute best tomatoes on the face of the earth. The sweetest watermelons you have ever bitten into on a hot 4th of July. And if you fish, the bream (aka Blue Gills) and bass will practically jump into your boat. Seriously.
We are far enough inland to be safe from just about any hurricane that Mother Nature can throw at us...but we are only 90 miles from some of the prettiest beaches in the US. It is temperate enough that I can grow most tropicals without bringing them inside during the winter. The only things I can't grow are things that require subfreezing winters and/or that are not heat tolerant.
There is one draw back, though....the pace is here really slow. There is no sense of urgency for anything except to get the crops in before they die in the field. Other than that, life has a sort of slow, steady pace to it around here. The particular accent native to the Wiregrass region is a soft, dulcet drawl without the nasal twang or harsh edges that you find in some southern areas.
Come on down....There is a nice piece of property for sale just up the road....It has your name on it.
(evil ain't I?)
OOOHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
BamaBelle, U B evil LOL!!!
8 more years to RETIREMENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Til then, I guess I should get back to reality...and work...............WAHHHHHHHHHHH!
Jan who doesn't like albino brain chiggers either and in 8 years..........
Woo hoo! Eight more years...it will fly by!...except for the winters...which drag by unless you do the snowbird thing and spend you winters down here. Of course, you can get more tropicals to grow down in Flrirda...but then you have a much higher cost of living and have to deal with hurricanes.
You are indeed evil Belle!
I'd be in the tropics but for my DW. She is one of these people whose favorite season is the next one. And here in the midsection of the continent, we get it all. Springfield is really a nice place to live too. Cost of living is also cheap here.
And I have my greenhouse to grow all kinds of tropical things. Humidity here is personally more manageable though, and while we have some very hot summer days (103 here on Thursday ugh!) usually we have frequent summer nights in the mid 60's and nice breezes. A good example, after the 103 on Thursday the forecast for tonite's low is 61 degrees. Yeah!
I had had two bananas, a full-size cavendish and a Musa acuminate ssp. Zebrine (Blood Banana), in tubs overwinter in the garage and I'm watching carefully for signs of blooms. The cavendish is a good 12-14 feet already so I've got my fingers crossed. They're just a bit too big to leave in the greenhouse and I never have near enough room come November.
Yes JanLynn, retirement is the best. I got my freedom last December and my garden and greenhouse have never looked better.
i've got another nana pup growing in the pot by mama nana! i had just found the 1st one two wks ago and now i have another baby nana!!! the first one that i "detached" from mama was a bit sulky but now it's growing...now i'll have THREE NANA plants!!!!!!!! is this normal?...or am i just (very) lucky?! i haven't even fertilized just water deeply and thoroughly when i feel it's been too dry :)
jan
This message was edited Jul 24, 2006 3:50 PM
MIne are in the ground, vs pot grown...but they usually put up anywhere between two and six pups per tree. Nanners are normally fairly heavy feeders. I give mine Miracle Grow. They also need a lot of water. IN the ground that menas 3.25-3.5 inches of water per week. Not sure what that translates into with potted trees since the drainage would change things...
Before removing the pups, make sure they have adequate root systems. If they don't have roots when you separate them from momma, they won't grow roots. Some folks cut all but the last couple of leaves off of the pup...taht way it is putting its energy into getting established and doesn't have to worry about leaves wilting so much.