Banana feast

[MPRC]

It's the same as store bought tomatoes versus home grown freshly picked. They are worlds apart.

I can't stand store bought tomatoes anymore. I've been ruined by my parent's garden.

 

[Redstrike]

Great colors on those torts!
It's probably like growing apples in the northeast, but I think growing your own banana varieties is pretty cool. How many varieties do you produce? Do you grow the little ones?

 

[ZEROPILOT]

I get those little stubby bananas from a fellow at work this time of year. They seem extra sweet to me. But the tortoises devour them.
Do you always remove the peel?

 

[CharlieM]

The small Brazilian or apple bananas are amazing. I have about 6-7 different varieties.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

The small Brazilian or apple bananas are amazing. I have about 6-7 different varieties.

That's cool.
I have true plantains, but I always cut them down before they grow fruit to keep them small.
The ones out by my patio/pond area.
Any issue with the wild parrots?

 

[CharlieM]

That's cool.
I have true plantains, but I always cut them down before they grow fruit to keep them small.
The ones out by my patio/pond area.
Any issue with the wild parrots?

No issue at all. I love when they visit. We have quite a variety of feral species.
I enjoy most birds and raise quite a few.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

No issue at all. I love when they visit. We have quite a variety of feral species.
I enjoy most birds and raise quite a few.

I remember your birds.

 

[cdmay]

We grew our own bananas for many years.
Back in the late 70s thru the 80s my tortoises got Williams Cavendish, apple bananas and one we called 'hog' bananas that was kind of a cross between a plantain and a banana.
I have a photo around here showing the size of some of our stalks....

 

[cdmay]

Here it is. From about 28 years ago with my son and Cavendish bananas. Tortoise pens are in the background.

 

[Gillian M]

Lovely torts @CharlieM ! Thanks a lot for sharing their pics.

Love their colours.

 

[allegraf]

That is a great photo! Is this the same house that you are in now? We can't seem to get our banana trees off to a good start. They are embarrassingly stunted.

 

[MPRC]

Bought an expensive banana tree here in OR. I planned on keeping it inside for the winter in a big pot with hopes of not killing it. Vern had other ideas. He bulldozed it and ate the whole plant down to the rootball in a matter of minutes. It's one of the few green things he's ever eaten without a fight.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Bought an expensive banana tree here in OR. I planned on keeping it inside for the winter in a big pot with hopes of not killing it. Vern had other ideas. He bulldozed it and ate the whole plant down to the rootball in a matter of minutes. It's one of the few green things he's ever eaten without a fight.

Do you still have it?
I'd bet a dollar it would grow back.
My plantains have been cut flush with the ground and have come right back.

 

[cdmay]

Do you still have it?
I'd bet a dollar it would grow back.
My plantains have been cut flush with the ground and have come right back.

Agree. Bananas cut flush with the ground will always come back

 

[MPRC]

Nothing ever popped back out of the pot unfortunately. I realize Oregon probably isn't the place to try to grow tropical plants until I can set up a greenhouse.

 

[jcaporaletti]

Stunners