Re: Hawaii plant - "Apple" banana
- To: m*@ucdavis.edu
- Subject: Re: Hawaii plant - "Apple" banana
- From: M* T* F*
- Date: Sat, 14 Oct 2000 09:46:08 -1000
>Anyone from Hawaii here? I know this isn't a medeteranean plant
>(although Hawaii has some very low rainfall areas). Is the "apple"
>banana, grown in Hawaii, a species or cultivar, and is it grown anywhere
>else? Recently tasted them there, never having encountered them
>anywhere else. I found it the most pleasant tasting banana I have
>tasted. In Berkeley, California, we can purchase about 15 kinds of
>bananas, but not this one, to my knowledge.
Richard,
it is a cultivar of M. domestica (AFAIK). You might look for lady
finger bananas as they are very close if not the same. The biggest
difference is the apple bananas here are not force ripened with acetylene
(ethylene gas analog) and thus are allowed to develop a nice rich natural
flavor. If you are considering getting some plants from Hawaii, I would
recommed you don't. There is a problem with Banana Bunchy Top Virus in the
state and the apple banana is very susceptible. Also the movemenet of
rooted plants with soil for propagative purposes is prohibited by the CDFA
due to the burrowing nematodes we have in Hawaii....
MTF
Mach T. Fukada
AKA member 07778
fukada@aloha.net
MACh Tech,
Macintosh Computer and Agriculture/Aquaculture Consulting
Visit our friends at the Honolulu Aquarium Society
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Meadows/2948/HASF.html
