The Tropical Fruit Forum
Tropical Fruit => Tropical Fruit Discussion => Topic started by: Flurrda on August 18, 2022, 07:38:50 AM
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In fall of 2020 I purchased a "Blue Java banana" pup from Wellspring Gardens. When friends, family, or neigh ors visit they eventually get a tour of the food forest and I have been telling them this is a blur java as well as describing the incredible hype that exists around them.
I became suspicious when it fruited and confirmed suspicions when I harvested. The bananas connect to a pad first which means this can't be a blue java.
A two years of telling people about this Blue Java I am upset. Wellspring Gardens refuses to do anything and just replies they have a 48hr refund window if the order is wrong. What they're really saying is they can mislabel plants with impunity. Blue Java pups have caught a nice premium over the past couple years which this company has used to their advantage.
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They are still selling them on eBay
https://www.ebay.com/itm/194887406655?hash=item2d6031d43f:g:1Z8AAOSw5uFiIM1s&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAAoBjMka9qTtC9Tc3A7H4BBYeiz0a6wm8I7waw1aGMyst%2Fz3pnMWiizr9VUPkbW1L9wswjdRyI45mFyt3tuSLfFeudCw9HZ9gMakqI2OVCTHc3jHlGkHw315wCQT0Lp07QTMj37j8eSoEUstbhsOnCWef0d3I5%2BgW7TMy%2FqwOBObSh%2F0W%2FmP8w%2BAJW005DJGcXIar1I3lEymuZvaW5R8eKhLY%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR_zgnZHWYA
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I've purchased a few things from them in the past with not much of a problem.
I don't like how small the plants are though.
Its a bummer that it turned out to be the wrong plant.
Unfortunately in this field mislabeling is not uncommon.
I'm pretty sure they get their bananas agristarts so who knows where the mislabeling actually occurred.
Hopefully, someone comes out with a cheap genetic test so we can all get what we pay for.
As for possible ID, there was a fiasco with people selling Namwah as Ice Cream.
It was discussed here and on the banana.org in the past.
My suggestion is http://www.bananapups.com/
I dealt with him before, hes an expert on bananas
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All the tissue culture blue javas come from agristarts and are not a blue java. You cant buy tissue culture bananas and expect to get what you ordered from anywhere period.
You need to buy banana clones from another grower that has already verified what they have.
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This photo says it shows the difference between Nam Wah and Blue Java. Does everyone agree this is accurate?
(https://i.postimg.cc/njFTcJ36/Nam-Wah-vs-Blue-Java.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/njFTcJ36)
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When ordering bananas from anywhere half the time it isn't the right variety but if you catch it right away they'll send another.
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This happened to me last year too. I even gave the banana plant pride of place in my yard, only to find that it was a Nam Wah. Lesson learnt, moving on. But I still like Wellspring's plant variety and the small size is convenient for shipping.
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This photo says it shows the difference between Nam Wah and Blue Java. Does everyone agree this is accurate?
(https://i.postimg.cc/njFTcJ36/Nam-Wah-vs-Blue-Java.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/njFTcJ36)
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.
(https://i.postimg.cc/XpMN6Ftb/IMG-20201004-190022571.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/XpMN6Ftb)
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Blue java slightly bigger banana also
(https://i.postimg.cc/4mx4wHdr/45-CBA868-3-A69-4328-B1-B8-440-A7-E68-E212.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/4mx4wHdr)
Namwah more tightly packed rack
(https://i.postimg.cc/QFVtNKZp/58-EF9653-88-B8-43-FD-BF2-F-6-BF83-EEE463-F.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/QFVtNKZp)
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Blue java is kind of worthless IMO. The fruit is inferior and the plant falls over. It really doesnt have a lot of redeaming quality. Just my opinion. Probably the most overhyped banana there is. Be glad you didnt get a real blue java.
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Lol
Good spin.
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Before I discovered this forum, I ordered a “Blue Java” banana from Wellspring. It turned out to be some small fruited banana like a manzano. Never again will I order from a nursery that can’t get their naners straight. Fool me once…
I got my real blue Java from Brad. It fruited as advertised. Despite his expressed dislike for the variety, I consider it a solid banana with nice texture and excellent sweetness. I suspect Brad does not want to get inundated with ‘the real blue Java’ requests like the guava that tastes like bubblegum ;)
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What are folks opinions here about Florida Hills Nursery's bananas?
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What are folks opinions here about Florida Hills Nursery's bananas?
Never what you ordered. Is the same with all the places selling tissue cultures.
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Before I discovered this forum, I ordered a “Blue Java” banana from Wellspring. It turned out to be some small fruited banana like a manzano. Never again will I order from a nursery that can’t get their naners straight. Fool me once…
I got my real blue Java from Brad. It fruited as advertised. Despite his expressed dislike for the variety, I consider it a solid banana with nice texture and excellent sweetness. I suspect Brad does not want to get inundated with ‘the real blue Java’ requests like the guava that tastes like bubblegum ;)
Tell me more about this guava that tastes like bubblegum
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They also list Babaco Papaya but have Vasconcellea pubescens as the photo. I've asked them about this and that their plants look like seedling V. pubescens. They said they are tissue cultured Babaco. Has anyone heard of Babaco being TC'd and distributed by anyone? Always wondered.
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I've ordered twice from Wellspring and the various items received were generally so small that they never did well for me. They were also overpriced for the size yet the photos on eBay seemed to imply much larger plants.
Twice burned, I will not be ordering from them again.
Paul M.
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Just confirmed with them that their Babaco is indeed Vasconcellea pubescens, Mountain Papaya. Asked them to change their listing, we'll see if that happens.
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I bought a couple of banana trees from a guy in Clearwater a few years ago. Nice potted bananas. One was sold as a NamWah Ice Cream, the other as a Blue Java. Turned out both of them were Dwarf NamWah and I'm a happy camper! Great little banana.
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Yeah I've had pretty mixed to not great experiences with Wellspring too. Never gotten one of their bananas but definitely ordered a couple of plants that showed up as a 4-inch twig with a single brown-tipped leaf hanging on for dear life, a couple of the manihot showed up okay and some didn't do so well. Not my favorite.