The Tropical Fruit Forum

Tropical Fruit => Tropical Fruit Discussion => Topic started by: shpaz on May 30, 2020, 11:16:36 AM

Title: What is your favorite banana variety?
Post by: shpaz on May 30, 2020, 11:16:36 AM
I'm curious, what is everyone's favorite banana variety that they grow in terms of flavor. I have been watching videos of this guy tasting a bunch of different ones:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFNAd7Kl4Tk (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFNAd7Kl4Tk)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skpfnZEpWh4 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skpfnZEpWh4)

and this sorta got me thinking what everyone here is growing. So what is your favorite banana variety that you grow? and why?
Title: Re: What is your favorite banana variety?
Post by: TonyinCC on May 30, 2020, 06:42:23 PM
FHIA-03  AKA sweetheart is my favorite. Produces one or two pups at most, tolerates drought and poor soil better than other bananas, is one of the more attractive plants, relatively wind tolerant,highly disease resistant, does not lean to the point of needing support, and bears faster than most. Fruit quality is excellent but fruit are not large. Best overall variety in my yard so far.
Title: Re: What is your favorite banana variety?
Post by: shpaz on May 31, 2020, 03:41:05 AM
FHIA-03  AKA sweetheart is my favorite. Produces one or two pups at most, tolerates drought and poor soil better than other bananas, is one of the more attractive plants, relatively wind tolerant,highly disease resistant, does not lean to the point of needing support, and bears faster than most. Fruit quality is excellent but fruit are not large. Best overall variety in my yard so far.

I have heard that sweetheart does not taste much different than Cavendish. Is that true?
Title: Re: What is your favorite banana variety?
Post by: TonyinCC on May 31, 2020, 04:34:03 PM
Taste is much better than a store bought Cavendish. Darker flesh and richer flavor,sweeter too.
 Only disadvantage is they are about half the length. I wait until each hand of bananas starts to turn yellow and then cut off one hand at a time since the plant is not too tall.
Taste should appeal to most people,it is not a strange tasting banana.
Sweetheart is not the absolute best tasting banana but it is the best overall in my opinion.
I think the Mysore type bananas taste a little better but can't take the wind or the poor soil at my place.
Title: Re: What is your favorite banana variety?
Post by: lebmung on May 31, 2020, 06:03:24 PM
Lady fingers Musa (AA) 'Kluai Leb Mu Nang' ( not Sucrier) I think it's the best, small bananas, but the most fragrant I ever tasted.
Title: Re: What is your favorite banana variety?
Post by: barath on May 31, 2020, 06:39:43 PM
I've really liked Dwarf Brazilian.
Title: Re: What is your favorite banana variety?
Post by: shpaz on May 31, 2020, 11:31:43 PM
Has anyone tried the Ele'Ele (Hawaiian Black) Banana?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6U0C4j3ZiP0 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6U0C4j3ZiP0)
Title: Re: What is your favorite banana variety?
Post by: spaugh on May 31, 2020, 11:54:07 PM
Has anyone tried the Ele'Ele (Hawaiian Black) Banana?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6U0C4j3ZiP0 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6U0C4j3ZiP0)

No but its one of the ones Im really excited to be growing. 

Dwarf red, eli eli, ae ae, praying hands, a few others that are supposed to be good but havent tried them yet. 
Title: Re: What is your favorite banana variety?
Post by: AndrewAZ on June 01, 2020, 03:09:48 AM
Dwarf musa Orinoco.   Mostly because it is the only banana I can get to fruit.  But it is very good and actually getting fruit is more than half the battle, right?
Title: Re: What is your favorite banana variety?
Post by: shpaz on June 01, 2020, 10:00:27 AM
Dwarf musa Orinoco.   Mostly because it is the only banana I can get to fruit.  But it is very good and actually getting fruit is more than half the battle, right?

That's right  ;D

Is it the cold that causing you trouble with fruiting or the heat?
Title: Re: What is your favorite banana variety?
Post by: paulmctigue on June 01, 2020, 12:46:12 PM
I've really liked Dwarf Brazilian.

Is this dwarf Brazilian
(https://i.postimg.cc/1nBx9n3R/BANANA.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/1nBx9n3R)
Title: Re: What is your favorite banana variety?
Post by: TonyinCC on June 01, 2020, 06:04:37 PM
Praying hands is a close second for me, excellent growing plant and fruit.  Definitely a keeper.
Title: Re: What is your favorite banana variety?
Post by: AndrewAZ on June 02, 2020, 02:36:53 AM
I don't have any trouble with the heat or cold in Scottdale,  AZ.  It is more finding an area in our clay soil where the roots get good drainage.  I finally have an ice cream banana and a dwrf green banana with some size, just no fruit yet.  I tried and killed about 5 ice cream bananas before I found a spot it likes.
Title: Re: What is your favorite banana variety?
Post by: paulmctigue on June 02, 2020, 12:35:01 PM
Sweet Heart and Namwah have been great, but sweetheart got choked in the winter cool spells, but it will probably be ok. Any comments on Raja Puri, or Psing Raja would be appreciated i just planted both. Thanks
Title: Re: What is your favorite banana variety?
Post by: EnglewoodFlorida on June 02, 2020, 12:52:48 PM
Taste is much better than a store bought Cavendish. Darker flesh and richer flavor,sweeter too.
 Only disadvantage is they are about half the length. I wait until each hand of bananas starts to turn yellow and then cut off one hand at a time since the plant is not too tall.
Taste should appeal to most people,it is not a strange tasting banana.
Sweetheart is not the absolute best tasting banana but it is the best overall in my opinion.
I think the Mysore type bananas taste a little better but can't take the wind or the poor soil at my place.

I do the same with harvesting my sweethearts, last bunch had a couple weeks wait between the upper hands and the last 2 hands on the bunch.  Fhia-03 is tasty. my mother plant produced about 5 pups surprisingly.
Title: Re: What is your favorite banana variety?
Post by: TonyinCC on June 03, 2020, 01:20:05 PM
Raja Puri has more of a tendency to choke than most other bananas if the plant doesn't get enough water or stops growing for too long during cold weather. Under 10 feet total with about a 6 foot pseudostem. It is a fairly well anchored, sturdy plant, It might lean a little but hasn't needed support.  Fruit(bunch and individual fruit) was small for me and flavor is a lot like a Cavendish but 
  more intense. It is as if you packed the flavor of several large bananas into one half sized one.
It would probably perform better in richer soil with lots of water. I am supposed to get city water this year so I may keep this variety if I can get bigger bunches.
 I know of it fruiting occasionally as far north as Charleston,SC  when I lived in that area. Plant was buried with straw surrounded by wire fencing during freezes. A lot of work for a small bunch of bananas maybe once every few years in a place that can get to the mid teens in a bad Winter.
Pisang Raja folds over in half in winds under 40MPH in my yard.
Title: Re: What is your favorite banana variety?
Post by: mangomandan on June 03, 2020, 02:52:04 PM
Pisang raja.   It's not a strong grower, but the flesh color convinces me that the flavor is outstanding.
Title: Re: What is your favorite banana variety?
Post by: yoski on June 03, 2020, 04:11:56 PM
I had pretty good success with Praying Hands in terms of yield and flavor. Due to their relatively large size they don't care much for wind.
Title: Re: What is your favorite banana variety?
Post by: Eirlis on June 03, 2020, 05:37:25 PM
My manzano finally fruited. Really delicious with a nice acidity. Fruit is very small though. I recently got to taste Monthan and it was nice too - similar to manzano but 6x bigger!
Title: Re: What is your favorite banana variety?
Post by: Triphal on June 03, 2020, 05:49:37 PM
Ras baale grown mostly in Coorg and Canara districts of old Mysore, present Karnataka, India. Please note that the word 'baale' means banana. It is also the rarest and costliest banana in the Indian market and hard to find. Not cultivated as a commercial crop in farms due to higher chances of succumbing to fungal (wilt) disease. But is grown in few home gardens.
Title: Re: What is your favorite banana variety?
Post by: shpaz on June 04, 2020, 02:21:14 AM
Ras baale grown mostly in Coorg and Canara districts of old Mysore, present Karnataka, India. Please note that the word 'baale' means banana. It is also the rarest and costliest banana in the Indian market and hard to find. Not cultivated as a commercial crop in farms due to higher chances of succumbing to fungal (wilt) disease. But is grown in few home gardens.

What is the flavor like?
Title: Re: What is your favorite banana variety?
Post by: horseshoe_bayou on June 04, 2020, 08:13:12 AM
I have grown: blue java, raja puri, kandrian, saba, phillipine & jamaican lacatan, fhia 18, fhia 23, double mahoi, hua moa, williams, veinte cohol, pisang raja, dwarf orinoco, goldfinger, dwarf and tall namwah, dwarf cavendish, dwarf cuban red, dwarf brazillian, sh3640, manzano, njali poovan?! dwarf PR plantain, Fhia 21 and maybe 2 others whose name escapes me right now.

flavor wise for me: namwah

but overall, only two varieties that have been worth growing for me are : dwarf brazillian, and sh3640. 
I get big healthy mats from both and big bunches of fruit reliably. they are on oppossite ends of the property and I dont do anything extra to them. I have just set them on the ground and forgotten about them until it's time to trim leaves, or harvest fruit.
Title: Re: What is your favorite banana variety?
Post by: palingkecil on June 04, 2020, 06:34:27 PM
My all time favorite is pisang nangka. Pisang means 'banana' in Indonesian. Nangka means jackfruit. Yes, this banana actually has a very fruity aroma almost like jackfruit. It is not as popular as pisang raja (means king of banana), but it is the only banana in Asia that has a very unique flavor and aroma.
Pisang raja is very sweet and smells good if perfectly ripe, but it does not have the zing and fruity smell like pisang nangka.
The flesh is soft but chewy, fiberless, and it won't break even if you cook it for a while. If eaten fresh, it has a perfect balance of sweet and a little tartnes.
I want to try to grow it here, and ask another Indonesian member overseas to help me find one. Unfortunately even in Indonesia this species is very rare now.
Its skin stays green wnen it is ripe, but you can smell the aroma in the entire room.
(https://i.postimg.cc/4KMsws1f/images.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/4KMsws1f)
Title: Re: What is your favorite banana variety?
Post by: RodneyS on June 05, 2020, 12:16:38 PM
Dwarf Namwah checks all the boxes for me - great taste, doesn't require propping up, handles cold just fine.

Varieties I'm interested in trying - Pitogo, Praying Hands, Raja Puri, Monte Cristo
Title: Re: What is your favorite banana variety?
Post by: micah on June 05, 2020, 12:27:31 PM
Fehi is the best tasting banana ,when ripened proper
We grow a wholelotta naners
Perfectly harvested During high tide. perfectly ripe popuulu Are delicious with a gummy center
Tuu gia is another winner
Title: Re: What is your favorite banana variety?
Post by: Triphal on June 05, 2020, 12:42:26 PM
Sorry I can't explain exactly how it tastes as I haven't eaten it for at least 20 years or so. Will let you know next time I taste it. It was called 'The King Of The Bananas'.