Rajapuri Banana

phoenixtropicals · Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2007 7:48 am Post subject: Rajapuri Banana

I mail ordered this Rajapuri from Pennsylvania of all places. It seems they have a greenhouse business there. It was planted in March and is coming along well. I picked Rajapuri because it has a nice thick trunk, so it won't be as likely to crimp when it has a big bunch on it. That was a problem I had with my Enano Gigante. Also, Rajapuri flowers and fruits in a shorter time then most, plus grows better in cooler weather. Maybe the ideal banana for Phoenix? We'll see.

BMJ06GT · Joined: 22 Mar 2008 Posts: 8 Location: Arizona

Looking Good....

phoenixtropicals · Posted: Tue Aug 05, 2008 3:35 pm Post subject:

Same tree in August 2008

phoenixtropicals · Posted: Tue Sep 30, 2008 3:50 pm Post subject: Banana flowering

Same tree in late September 2008. Now flowering.

phoenixtropicals

My Rajapuri banana plant held these bananas all through the winter and now they are starting to round out, so I'm looking forward to home grown bananas. I kept the tree relatively dry through the winter and only gave it a very dilute mixer of 5-1-1 and 0-10-10 fish emulsion this spring. It is real easy to burn the fruit with fertilizer so you have to be careful when bananas have fruit on them. When the plant does not have fruit on it, I fertilize it heavily.

Ava · Joined: 14 Mar 2009 Posts: 7 Location: Scottsdale

thats too cool, a year and a half to get bananas, seems its a fast producer.
Wonder how big the tree will get, do you have any idea?

phoenixtropicals · Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2009 2:12 pm Post subject:

Its about 6 feet tall. That's its full height.

Ava · Joined: 14 Mar 2009 Posts: 7 Location: Scottsdale

did they ripen yet? how do they taste? and what kind of exposure did
you plant them in? Inquiring minds want to know Laughing

phoenixtropicals · Posted: Sat May 30, 2009 3:26 pm Post subject:

Not ripe yet, but still going strong. I´ll definitely post when they´re ready to eat. It's planted on the north side of a 6 foot wall and on the east side of the house.

phoenixtropicals · Posted: Mon Jul 06, 2009 7:38 pm Post subject: They're ripe!

It has been 9 months, a long time from flower to ripe fruit, and the bananas were held on the tree all through the winter and through a good part of the summer heat. You can tell that a banana bunch is ripe when the first hand turns yellow. At that point you can take them inside and put them on the counter to ripen at room temperature. They are similar to American supermarket bananas but smaller and denser and a little bit more sweet. Since the rajapuri had a nice thick stem I never had any trouble with the stem crimping.

phoenixtropicals · Posted: Mon Jul 06, 2009 7:40 pm Post subject:

Here is the bunch cut up into hands. The taste is good! They taste similar to U.S. super market bananas but are a little more sweet and dense. They don't get as yellow when they are ripe, and are fully ripe when they start too look a litte overripe.

Kyle_Davis · Joined: 01 Jun 2009 Posts: 45

Wow, very nice! I have one of these growing in the back yard now. It's still small. It's on the East side of the house and is growing, but slowly. I'd LOVE for mine to fruit like that.

We'll see.

obietrice88 · Joined: 21 Feb 2012 Posts: 6

Do these taste any different than the bananas you buy at the store? What does a banana seed look like? It's one of the only fruits my kids will eat.

phoenixtropicals · Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2012 11:27 pm Post subject:

They are very similar to super market bananas in flavor but more dense. Edible bananas are not grown from seeds but from cutting away part of the banana corm (the roots) and transplanting it.

Bkaus · Joined: 31 Jul 2012 Posts: 136 Location: North Phoenix

Do you have another pup in the place of the orginal plant and if so how big is it?

I would like to get Banana 3-4 times a year and wonder how many plants I need to get that level of production?