The Tropical Fruit Forum

If the flush is relatively new still and soft you can break it off and the stem has a chance to flower from one of the other buds.

This was last year on my pickering, this stem started to do a vegetative flush in December. I broke the flush off while still new and fresh and it bloomed from the side buds. The branches I didn't do this to never bloomed.

Again this was a vegetative flush that I broke off while still soft. The remaining buds flowered at the appropriate time.

Thanks so much Frank.

Fruit rats aka roof rats.

Variegation is a genetic mutation that can be inherited maternally. Which means the female variegated flower/fruit can pass down variegation to its offspring. However when one grows seeds out they almost always come up albino with some full green. But no variegated offspring. The problem is the mutation is getting doubled causing it to be dominant which creates Albinoism. If one can pass the mutation down recessively the offspring can have a higher percentage of variegation and almost no albinos. To do this pollen(male) from a non variegated plant must be introduced to the stigma(female) of a variegated plant. The offspring from this will come out mostly green or variegated with a very low percentage of albinos. Also the green plants will still carry a bit of variegated genetics so their offspring have a higher chance for variegation as well.

If anyone has either variety or both please let me know. I would really like to add these varieties to my tree.

Thanks.
-Matt

There go my money lol D:

Like spaugh said Blue java does not have wine spotting at any stages of growth. A couple varieties have wine spotting but it's very particular to the canvendish varieties. By how short the petioles look I would say dwarf canvendish.once it fruits you'll know for sure. Where are you located, if you really want one I'll get you one and you can just pay for the shipping.

Some of those bananas on the first rack look plump enough to ripen  just fine. You can leave it on and see if the rest plump up more and cut off when you see some signs of yellow.

The plant is too short, the leaf and petiole size, the shape and the looks of the fruit tell me it's not blue java. I see you live in St Pete. Do you want the real blue java?

Namwah tall or dwarf Namwah? Your "blue java" looks a little short, how tall is it? What do you feed your bananas and how do you water them?

Never tried wire but I have used rope before.  Branches that still have some green on them or branches around 1-2in thick are easy to manipulate. You can stake the rope to the ground or tie it off to the trunk. You can also use weights to bend branches like fruit would. Feel the branch out when bending and start slow. After a month or so of growing you can add more pressure and bend more. The best thing to do though is bend the branch while it's green and young, which can be done by hand. When bending young branches you can slightly fracture them to change position and they'll heal fine. Pay attention while it's growing as the rope can girdle the branches as the wood thickens. I can post some pics later for reference.

2nding Jene's in St. Pete for trees and such. Parking is at a premium, not a huge space, but they pack-in the fruit trees when they can.

I've always found parallel parking along the brick road (Westwood terrace) to be easier than parking in the front.

This photo says it shows the difference between Nam Wah and Blue Java. Does everyone agree this is accurate?
 

Yes. But there are ways to tell before it fruits as well. Blue javas do not grow straight, they always lean. Blue java have a longer petiole giving it a slightly droopy look. Namwah on the other hand has a shorter petiole. The bananas emerge blue, they don't get blue. When namwah bananas emerge they are green and have red on the flower side and peduncle side that will fade as they mature. You can see in my picture the difference. Blue java is in the middle, only reason it's not leaning is it was just planted. Namwah is the better fruit.

Definitely not a lost cause as you've got a year in the ground already. Also at this point I wouldn't have any supports on it. You'd be surprised how flexible and strong it is. A trunk is thickened by the weight of the canopy/limbs and added stress from movement of the tree. Grab the tree and shake it a little, see how strong it actually is. If those branches are coming out of the same spot on the trunk and not staggered then that would be the future weak point of the tree. Do you have a closer picture of the branches coming off the trunk?