> At 03:27 6/19/98 , Douglas M. Hinds wrote:
>
> >Semilla means seed. That's a figurative rather than literal use of the word.
> >Sucker on the other hand is a denigrating term for what I would call an
> >offshoot, a complete plant emanatinng natually from the mother root or
> >mass of root material (root bed).
>
> Yes. I was aware of the linguistic origin and figurative use of the word
> "semilla". Thanks for providing me with a better word to describe the
> method of propagation of the banana (offshoot).
>
> >You may have noticed that the offshots have two basic and very different
> >forms. In Mexico, one type (a trianglar shaped plant, with a strong, solid
> base) is
> >preferred; the rest are thinned out.
>
> Perhaps the variety you see in Mexico is far different from the several
> varieties we have here in Puerto Rico. I have never seen any with a
> triangular shape. In at least two documents I have on the subject, it is
> said that there are over 200 varieties of the banana world wide, but only
> about 20 have any commercial value. I am sure that much of the decision as
> to whether a variety has commercial value is its ability to produce fruit
> that ships well to distant markets.
About 20 varieties are most commonly grown here also, although not all have much
comercial value, except for local sales (i.e. Puerto Limon - it's sweeter than
most but falls over easily and doesn't hold up well once ripe). And most are
Giant (or dwarf) Cavendish types. Add apple, finger, red, cornered (even in
Spanish, the name varies from place to place - some use it for cooking but it's
not a plantain), one called corriente (common) or Guinea (it's got a blackish
stalk), a couple kinds of plaintains and that's about it. The "triangular shape"
I referred to simply means that some offshoots have a much stronger and thicker
base than the rest and if you leave only those (instead of leaving a given number
of small plants) you'll wind up with about the same number of plants as you stated
but should have a greater degree of assurance that they'll perform well.
> > When transplanting, be sure to dig a basin and set them in somwhat below grown
> >level. If the roots develope too close to the surface, a heavy bunch can pull
> them >over. Some large bunched varieties with not so sturdy stalks require 2 or
> 3 forked >branches holding up every bunch.
>
> Many of the plants that produce large bunches are used for commercial
> purposes. One major task of the workers on large plantations is to provide
> the stakes and strings to tie them and hold them up. They also tie a
> plastic bag over the fruit to protect it from pests and from excessive
> rubbing against the leaves to prevent bruising of the fruit. the bag is
> made of a special plastic that "breathes" to allow air flow, but keep even
> small insects out.
>
> Although I do plant them deep, I still use stakes for large bunches, but
> no bags.
I've never used bags. Also, this was way back in the hills and roads were not all
weather. The fruit (bannanas, at least) was all for local consumption, and that
included my mules and dogs. It was a good fruit to have closest to the rivers
edge (except for a strip of forrage grass. Some rows might travel downstream if
the river rose unusually high. (During the 8 years I was there full time the
river took my grass strips, the second year. But I planted bamboo at the curve up
stream and they were well rooted by the time the river rose that much again. By
then their mass was enough to bump the river back across to the opposing bank.
Sounds hard to believe but it worked like a charm).
> (Each banana plant bears a single bunch and dies; to be reabsorbed by
> >the soil). I had an acre of banannas on my river front property and never
> >cut a bunch until it had at least 1 bananna beginning to turn yellow. Try that
> and
> >compare the results with the Central and South American banannas found in US
> >supermarkets.
>
> The flavor is far superior to that found in mainland stores. This is due
> in part to natural ripening, but also due to the method of growth, I
> believe. We cut ours a bit sooner. If you have good color vision, you can
> detect the very slight change in color of the fruit and cut it at its peak
> before any of the bananas actually turn yellow. It takes about 4 to 8 days
> for it to complete ripening while hanging in a protected area.
I'd cut when they were just barely beginning to turn yellow. (No one else would
do that). If any got ahead of me the birds might eat a few is all. I'd say the
difference in quality between those that take 4 days to ripen and those thast take
8 is not a small difference.
> I did allow two bunches of bananas and one of plantains to fully ripen
> this past week. Rain kept me inside for a number of days and when I went
> to check on them, I found I had waited a bit too long. Also, several of
> the plantains had ruptured and burst open due to too rapid growth at the
> wrong time. All that rain at the wrong time of the year has caused a lot
> of growth spurts.
If you let the bunch fully ripen you won't have anything left except some well fed
birds. You've got to cut when the bunch begins to ripen, unless you've got dwarf
cavendish that put the fruit within an arms reach.
Some varieites will split as they get closer to ripening - apple and guinea are
bad that way.
> >The only banannas I know about with viable seeds are found in Africa,
> >where they originated. I'm told the seeds are about the size of guaybaba
> seeds.
>
> Quoting from one of the documents I have:
>
> "We know for a fact that it is one of the oldest cultivated plants in the
> world. Mentions of bananas are found in the Buddhist Pali writings (6th
> century b.c.) and in the national epic poems of India (Mahabharata and
> Ramayana), and it is for this reason that South-East Asia is generally
> regarded as their original home."
Looks like we've got different documents. They're certainly not native to the
Americas.
> A quick look through the documents failed to turn up the quote I was
> looking for on the seeded varieties. I think Sal mentioned he had grown
> some from seeds in California.
>
> The Luquillo national Forest located in the Luquillo mountain ranger here
> in Puerto Rico is the only tropical rain forest in the National Park
> system. Parts of it has over 400 inches of rain per year. While I am not
> in, or even adjacent to, the National forest, I can see parts of it from my
> front porch. We get between 100 and 150 inches per year here in the hills
> west of Ceiba.
That's still quite a bit compared to Western Mexico.
> --Dan in Sunny Puerto Rico--
> dan.worley@mindless.com
--Douglas M. Hinds, Director General Centro para el Desarrollo Comunitario y Rural A.C. (CeDeCoR) (Center for Community and Rural Development) - (non profit) Cd. Guzman, Jalisco 49000 MEXICO e-mail: cedecor@ipnet.com.mx, dmhinds@acnet.net, dhinds@ucol.mx
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