Great video, it shows just how resilient banana plants can be and still be productive in Northern California. The bunches on those plants are huge. I'm actually up in the Bay Area right now, in Santa Clara, and I'm going to be starting a few different varieties up here in the spring. I'm from the Los Angeles area, and I grow bananas down there, and they do really well there. I plan on growing Misi Luki, Ice Cream, Pisang Ceylon, and possibly Raja Puri up here.
Yes, Macadamia should be fine through out the Bay Area. As far as collecting seeds on the convent is concerned the nuns can be formidable. I recommend getting in, grabbing seed and getting out before they notice you. The two sapote are at the rear of the grounds on the right behind the last building. There are also fruiting sapote for seed in my yard and at Niles community park.
The one you have looks like a Namwah. Most of the plants labeled 'Ice Cream' in the mainland US are Namwahs due to a tissue culturing mix-up by AgriStarts. The clone of Misi Luki that I have is also a Namwah type. Namwah is a very good plant though, and possibly one of the best varieties to grow in subtropical climates. I'll let you know if I'm interested in any plants.
The varieties you listed are all grown in this area. I've raised Sweet Heart, Caradaba, Gold Finger and Orinoco here. None of these grew as well for me as the Ice Cream I grow now. I have Ice Cream at our other home in Hawaii too but the plant isn't the same. I suspect the one I have in Fremont, CA was miss labeled by Monterey Bay Nursery when I purchased it. What it really is would be anyones guess. I do have a large amount of potted banana plants if you are interested.
Time to fruiting will depend on factors like climate, culture and whether the tree is grafted or seed grown. My tree is seed grown and in coastal California it took 6 to 7 years to make fruit. Grafted trees take a bit less, maybe 3 to 4 years. The trees bear twice each year in CA so a 15 to 20 year old tree can produce over 2000 pounds per year. That's enough to use a dump truck and end loader to clean up the trash.
There a few Mango tree's worth a try in the bay area. There is one Manila in Mission San Jose,you can walk under. I have one thats about three years in ground. Very sweet but small fruit. Still fun to grow. I have a two year old Maridol Papaya that's about 3' tall. So far has survived two winters with no protection. Its really important to find a spot that gathers heat from walls and lots of sun all day if possible.
+knowallcity Been at the Mission many times over the 25 years I've lived in Fremont, never seem a living Mango there. If there had been one at the Mission it died last night because Fremont temperature dropped well below the tropical range required by Mango. Exactly where at the Mission is a mango? I'll be driving past tomorrow and will check this out
Its in the Mission San Jose neighborhood area was what I meant. I saw a photo of it. I can ask the guy for the street address. He also posted some tree sized Ficus Benjamina growing as sidewalk trees there. Good frost free or near ff climate.
+knowallcity If you have a street address for the tree I would appreciate it. The tree isn't known in the digital arboretum. We have no records of surviving Mango in the area.
+GreenGardenGuy1 Bill,Andy says its on Bruce Drive about 4 or 5 houses up the hill. There are some Ficus Benjamina street trees also on that street. Check it out!
+knowallcity I have a job on Olive Ave this Wednesday. When I am finished I will take a look. When you say 4 to 5 houses up the hill is this from the beginning of the street at Washington? Like 3264 Bruce? I have had a ficus benjamina on the front porch for over 20 years but it gets protection from the roof. I am going to guess that these "Benjamina" are more likely Ficus nitida or Ficus microphylla which are borderline hardy here. Are these Ficus and Mango visible from the street or are they in someones backyard?
I will have to go look at Namwah. Thanks for the tip. I could tell that it wasn't the same Ice Cream grown in Hawaii but didn't really know how to figure what it was. I always have plants around for this one. They are on Bay Area craigs list at the moment.
Mexican Avocado varieties like Mexicola, Bacon, Zutano and Stewart are all pretty easy to grow in the SF Bay Area as long as you have decent soil drainage. Hass, the most popular avocado, doesn't do well in the Bay most of the time. One good freeze and the entire tree can die.
Where can I get one? And do you think it could survive in 9b/15 hills of Fairfield? (We get several freezes each winter, though I don't have accurate data on the actual bottom number because the reports come from the much colder airbase on the valley floor several miles away.)
So you say don’t trim any old leaves from the banana tree? What about removing the pups? Or keep them? I have a banana tree 2 years since I bought the house and having seen any bananas yet in South San José 🥴. Trying to figure out what to do. Thanks
The first thing to know is, the banana is not a tree, it is a lily. IF you know how to grow Canna or Calla lilies then you understand banana. Forget anything you think you know about trees, they do not apply. The stalk emerges and fruits. In the mean time the suckers come up around the mother stalk. You remove all but three. Once the mother ripens the bananas it is cut to the ground. The three suckers are left to fruit one more time in the spot. After that a single sucker is moved to a new spot to start over and the original is destroyed.
After watching your video, I got excited to find out that banana could grow in california so I purchase a ice cream banana and apple banana plant at home depot in 3 gallon pot. I also purchase my father a gold finger banana at lowes. I live in oakley ca where the soil is sandy and they are growing really well. hopefully I could get great banana like the one you are growing. Any advice for growing these varieties?
I really don't have too much to add that wasn't covered in the numerous videos I have done on Bananas. I probably have about 4 of them if you search my GreenGardenGuy1 youtube sight. Place the plants in the landscape where you have the best microclimate. At the south edge of overhanging evergreen trees or near the south wall of a building with a decent eave is usually good. Walk the yard on winter mornings at dawn and look for frost and the lack of. Moist yards have warm and cold spots, look for the warm ones for banana. They eat plenty and drink quite a bit. Use a nice think organic mulch on the soil in a 6 foot circle around the plants. Water as needed in summer. Feed with chicken manure or an organic citrus food several times each year. Don't cut back the stalks if the leaves freeze, this will set the clock back to zero. New leaves will usually push out if you wait in spring. Honestly I do much better with very specific questions than with general ones. If you have a particular problem just ask. Bill
Hello Bill, do you have a video that discusses your move to Hawaii? I searched UA-cam and your channel But I can’t find it. When you moved to Hawaii, Did you leave all your California plants behind, or were you able to bring some with you?
I have some videos related to moving here but little about the move it's self. The move was just the usually boring old stuff of sell my good and packing the rest into a cargo container. I always leave my plants behind. In the last 4 moves all plants stayed where they belonged because What grew in Chicago didn't grow in Northern Wisconsin, what grew in WI didn't grow in California and what grew in California would not be happy in Hawaii. Plants are related to specific environments. Here are a few videos but there are others. ua-cam.com/video/SxpkiFgiaY8/v-deo.html ua-cam.com/video/WLDZTTU95P8/v-deo.html ua-cam.com/video/FoMsFHUVaww/v-deo.html ua-cam.com/video/k7Zd2CzbJW4/v-deo.html ua-cam.com/video/C3gJrbtS8tY/v-deo.html
Hey Bill, I bought a couple of Cavendish Banana plants from the north of Argentina and I'm planting my area (8b hardiness zone), which is similar to northern california. I already have ornamental bananas that give fruit looking like lady fingers, but they are not tasty. Do you think cavendish bananas will bare with this cold?
I would say that Cavendish would probably be the worst choice. The plants are dwarf and slow growing. They are so heat loving that they don't even do well here in HI at 1600 feet. I got the plants from near seas level and their they grow fine but it is too cool up here for them. Apple is the king of bananas at this elevation. Nam Wah is also a great choice. Excellent fruit, better than Cavendish and very cold hardy. Orinoco is also a good choice for 8B. I grew this fine in zone 9, California.
Cavendish are all dwarf to one extent or another. Some types are extreme dwarf. I have tried Cavandish in CA and HI and they just don't have the vigor to deal with less than tropical conditions. They usually succumb to root rot and terminal choke at the end of winter. Most bananas will not grow well in zone 8. Varieties are not created equally in their ability to handle cold. Cavendish is pretty much the bottom of the scale with cold resistance. Orinoco and Nam Wah are on the other end. They resist more cold than most other fruiting types. The taller and more vigorous the variety generally the better they grow in cold climates. Types that grow to 16 feet or more usually have the vigor to recover from cold. This has been my experience with bananas , you may find a completely different story in your location.
Wow i didn't know you can grow so much tropical fruit tree in the Bay Area. Do you sell seedling? I want to start growing some in my garden too. Anyway I enjoyed your video. Thanks
At a point in time I did sell a lot of fruit trees in the Bay Area. Since then we sold the house in Fremont for a good sum and retired to a farm in Hawaii. I still sell lots of fruit seeds in California but I only ship the plants in wholesale quantities of 100 or more. Most of the stuff in this video should be available from time to time at the best local nurseries. Fruit trees are a seasonal business and subtropical is even more so. Most nurseries to not like to carry tender trees into the winter but the garden season fades rapidly when the kids get out of school. Shop around and pick up what you find when you find it. Do not expect it to still be there when you return later but something else may have filled the space. Join California Rare Fruit growers and meet your local chapter members. They have the connection locally that you need. Happy gardening, Bill
Bill, enjoy your videos. I'm trying to find a source for a pomelo seedling. Do you have any or know anyone that would want to sell one? Our Chinese Temple here in Oroville has a large tree and it does very well here. I also have a hot house to protect it. Do you attend the National Heirloom Expo in Sonoma?
No I do not attend functions in CA since moving to Hawaii. As for Pumelo seedlings I would not go that route. Pumelo do not breed true from seed. The Spanish brought these seeds into the new world years ago and they grew up as grapefruit, not pumelo. There are two major citrus growers that grow grafted Pumelo in N. CA. One is Menlo Citrus in Gilroy, the other is Four Winds Citrus in Fremont, CA. They have Chandler Pumelo which is the best one for northern CA. Aloha, Bill
The Mexican avocados are the best for the Bay Area. They have the cold tolerance it takes to produce under most conditions. Guatemalan avocados are risky in the Bay. West Indian are worthless, too tender. Zutano, Mexicola, Stewart, & Bacon are the top choices if you want fruit. Fuerte is good but biennial bearing. Mexicola grande is too tall and no better than classic mexicola. The popular Hass is a Guatemalan tree that is borderline. If you have one expect it to freeze in cold snaps. Like Fuerte it is biennial. Remember that Avocado trees require a combination of A & B pollinator types. You need the right combo for good crops.
@@carolinarojas5899 Gem is a more compact alternative to Hass. It has the one advantage of being less prone to alternate year bearing. It will likely make a contribution California avocado production. Currently I can find no commercial source for the tree in Florida, California or HI. Considering it's lack of availability you would have to graft your own if you want it.
When I lived in California I raised Cardaba, Orinoco, Sweet Heart, Gold Finger and Ice Cream. Over time I moved all the others over to the collection at the county park and kept what was labeled Ice Cream. I now believe the plant was probably Nam Wah. Since we sold the property and moved to Hawaii. Here I grow Ice Cream, Apple, Williams Chinese, & Cavendish. My neighbor has 65 varieties and I am planning to buy a collection traditional Hawaiian canoe bananas from him.
GreenGardenGuy1 I'm asking because I live in southern Europe, in a climate that's very similar to bay area, but maybe a tad bit warmer, and I'm wondering if I could have fruiting bananas. Some people grow bananas as ornamentals here, but I've never seen any fruit on them.
If the climate is similar to the Bay Area then you should be able to raise fruiting bananas. When it comes to ornamental bananas there are a few varieties that are used mostly for ornament, most are Ensete rather than Musa. On the other hand people raising Musa in areas with frost often trim the entire stalk to the ground after cold weather damages the leaves. If this is done the plants will never fruit. Even if leaves are damaged the bud is protected inside the stalk and will make fruit when the weather warms if let alone. Also most bananas will not push growth in the spring and "choke" after cold weather. Only a few like Nam Wah, Ice Cream and Orinoco are hardy enough to do so reliably. These burn sugar during the night at far lower temperatures than most. This elevates the temperature of the flesh and keeps them from freezing badly.
Great video, it shows just how resilient banana plants can be and still be productive in Northern California. The bunches on those plants are huge. I'm actually up in the Bay Area right now, in Santa Clara, and I'm going to be starting a few different varieties up here in the spring. I'm from the Los Angeles area, and I grow bananas down there, and they do really well there. I plan on growing Misi Luki, Ice Cream, Pisang Ceylon, and possibly Raja Puri up here.
love your channel bill,,thank you very much for taking the time .
Yes, Macadamia should be fine through out the Bay Area. As far as collecting seeds on the convent is concerned the nuns can be formidable. I recommend getting in, grabbing seed and getting out before they notice you. The two sapote are at the rear of the grounds on the right behind the last building. There are also fruiting sapote for seed in my yard and at Niles community park.
The one you have looks like a Namwah. Most of the plants labeled 'Ice Cream' in the mainland US are Namwahs due to a tissue culturing mix-up by AgriStarts. The clone of Misi Luki that I have is also a Namwah type. Namwah is a very good plant though, and possibly one of the best varieties to grow in subtropical climates. I'll let you know if I'm interested in any plants.
The varieties you listed are all grown in this area. I've raised Sweet Heart, Caradaba, Gold Finger and Orinoco here. None of these grew as well for me as the Ice Cream I grow now. I have Ice Cream at our other home in Hawaii too but the plant isn't the same. I suspect the one I have in Fremont, CA was miss labeled by Monterey Bay Nursery when I purchased it. What it really is would be anyones guess. I do have a large amount of potted banana plants if you are interested.
Time to fruiting will depend on factors like climate, culture and whether the tree is grafted or seed grown. My tree is seed grown and in coastal California it took 6 to 7 years to make fruit. Grafted trees take a bit less, maybe 3 to 4 years. The trees bear twice each year in CA so a 15 to 20 year old tree can produce over 2000 pounds per year. That's enough to use a dump truck and end loader to clean up the trash.
very educational, makes me want to move to an area like yours.
There a few Mango tree's worth a try in the bay area. There is one Manila in Mission San Jose,you can walk under. I have one thats about three years in ground. Very sweet but small fruit. Still fun to grow. I have a two year old Maridol Papaya that's about 3' tall. So far has survived two winters with no protection.
Its really important to find a spot that gathers heat from walls and lots of sun all day if possible.
+knowallcity Been at the Mission many times over the 25 years I've lived in Fremont, never seem a living Mango there. If there had been one at the Mission it died last night because Fremont temperature dropped well below the tropical range required by Mango. Exactly where at the Mission is a mango? I'll be driving past tomorrow and will check this out
Its in the Mission San Jose neighborhood area was what I meant. I saw a photo of it. I can ask the guy for the street address.
He also posted some tree sized Ficus Benjamina growing as sidewalk trees there. Good frost free or near ff climate.
+knowallcity If you have a street address for the tree I would appreciate it. The tree isn't known in the digital arboretum. We have no records of surviving Mango in the area.
+GreenGardenGuy1 Bill,Andy says its on Bruce Drive about 4 or 5 houses up the hill. There are some Ficus Benjamina street trees also on that street.
Check it out!
+knowallcity I have a job on Olive Ave this Wednesday. When I am finished I will take a look. When you say 4 to 5 houses up the hill is this from the beginning of the street at Washington? Like 3264 Bruce? I have had a ficus benjamina on the front porch for over 20 years but it gets protection from the roof. I am going to guess that these "Benjamina" are more likely Ficus nitida or Ficus microphylla which are borderline hardy here. Are these Ficus and Mango visible from the street or are they in someones backyard?
You're a wealth of information Bill!
I will have to go look at Namwah. Thanks for the tip. I could tell that it wasn't the same Ice Cream grown in Hawaii but didn't really know how to figure what it was. I always have plants around for this one. They are on Bay Area craigs list at the moment.
Wow, likes your avocado tree. I’m growing Zutano and it seem to do well this winter. Can’t wait til summer.
Mexican Avocado varieties like Mexicola, Bacon, Zutano and Stewart are all pretty easy to grow in the SF Bay Area as long as you have decent soil drainage. Hass, the most popular avocado, doesn't do well in the Bay most of the time. One good freeze and the entire tree can die.
Where can I get one? And do you think it could survive in 9b/15 hills of Fairfield? (We get several freezes each winter, though I don't have accurate data on the actual bottom number because the reports come from the much colder airbase on the valley floor several miles away.)
So you say don’t trim any old leaves from the banana tree? What about removing the pups? Or keep them? I have a banana tree 2 years since I bought the house and having seen any bananas yet in South San José 🥴. Trying to figure out what to do. Thanks
The first thing to know is, the banana is not a tree, it is a lily. IF you know how to grow Canna or Calla lilies then you understand banana. Forget anything you think you know about trees, they do not apply. The stalk emerges and fruits. In the mean time the suckers come up around the mother stalk. You remove all but three. Once the mother ripens the bananas it is cut to the ground. The three suckers are left to fruit one more time in the spot. After that a single sucker is moved to a new spot to start over and the original is destroyed.
After watching your video, I got excited to find out that banana could grow in california so I purchase a ice cream banana and apple banana plant at home depot in 3 gallon pot. I also purchase my father a gold finger banana at lowes. I live in oakley ca where the soil is sandy and they are growing really well. hopefully I could get great banana like the one you are growing. Any advice for growing these varieties?
I really don't have too much to add that wasn't covered in the numerous videos I have done on Bananas. I probably have about 4 of them if you search my GreenGardenGuy1 youtube sight. Place the plants in the landscape where you have the best microclimate. At the south edge of overhanging evergreen trees or near the south wall of a building with a decent eave is usually good. Walk the yard on winter mornings at dawn and look for frost and the lack of. Moist yards have warm and cold spots, look for the warm ones for banana. They eat plenty and drink quite a bit. Use a nice think organic mulch on the soil in a 6 foot circle around the plants. Water as needed in summer. Feed with chicken manure or an organic citrus food several times each year. Don't cut back the stalks if the leaves freeze, this will set the clock back to zero. New leaves will usually push out if you wait in spring. Honestly I do much better with very specific questions than with general ones. If you have a particular problem just ask. Bill
+GreenGardenGuy1 thank you for the information.
Sure thing, Aloha.
Hello Bill, do you have a video that discusses your move to Hawaii? I searched UA-cam and your channel But I can’t find it. When you moved to Hawaii, Did you leave all your California plants behind, or were you able to bring some with you?
I have some videos related to moving here but little about the move it's self. The move was just the usually boring old stuff of sell my good and packing the rest into a cargo container. I always leave my plants behind. In the last 4 moves all plants stayed where they belonged because What grew in Chicago didn't grow in Northern Wisconsin, what grew in WI didn't grow in California and what grew in California would not be happy in Hawaii. Plants are related to specific environments. Here are a few videos but there are others.
ua-cam.com/video/SxpkiFgiaY8/v-deo.html
ua-cam.com/video/WLDZTTU95P8/v-deo.html
ua-cam.com/video/FoMsFHUVaww/v-deo.html
ua-cam.com/video/k7Zd2CzbJW4/v-deo.html
ua-cam.com/video/C3gJrbtS8tY/v-deo.html
Thanks! I will watch all of them!
@@komreed Enjoy, hope you find some useful info.
Hey Bill, I bought a couple of Cavendish Banana plants from the north of Argentina and I'm planting my area (8b hardiness zone), which is similar to northern california. I already have ornamental bananas that give fruit looking like lady fingers, but they are not tasty. Do you think cavendish bananas will bare with this cold?
I would say that Cavendish would probably be the worst choice. The plants are dwarf and slow growing. They are so heat loving that they don't even do well here in HI at 1600 feet. I got the plants from near seas level and their they grow fine but it is too cool up here for them. Apple is the king of bananas at this elevation. Nam Wah is also a great choice. Excellent fruit, better than Cavendish and very cold hardy. Orinoco is also a good choice for 8B. I grew this fine in zone 9, California.
I'm not sure if they are dwarf but I'm going to try them out still, there are no other varieties here.
Cavendish are all dwarf to one extent or another. Some types are extreme dwarf. I have tried Cavandish in CA and HI and they just don't have the vigor to deal with less than tropical conditions. They usually succumb to root rot and terminal choke at the end of winter. Most bananas will not grow well in zone 8. Varieties are not created equally in their ability to handle cold. Cavendish is pretty much the bottom of the scale with cold resistance. Orinoco and Nam Wah are on the other end. They resist more cold than most other fruiting types. The taller and more vigorous the variety generally the better they grow in cold climates. Types that grow to 16 feet or more usually have the vigor to recover from cold. This has been my experience with bananas , you may find a completely different story in your location.
How long does it take a sapote to grow to fruit-bearing age?
Wow i didn't know you can grow so much tropical fruit tree in the Bay Area. Do you sell seedling? I want to start growing some in my garden too. Anyway I enjoyed your video. Thanks
At a point in time I did sell a lot of fruit trees in the Bay Area. Since then we sold the house in Fremont for a good sum and retired to a farm in Hawaii. I still sell lots of fruit seeds in California but I only ship the plants in wholesale quantities of 100 or more. Most of the stuff in this video should be available from time to time at the best local nurseries. Fruit trees are a seasonal business and subtropical is even more so. Most nurseries to not like to carry tender trees into the winter but the garden season fades rapidly when the kids get out of school. Shop around and pick up what you find when you find it. Do not expect it to still be there when you return later but something else may have filled the space. Join California Rare Fruit growers and meet your local chapter members. They have the connection locally that you need. Happy gardening, Bill
Thank you Bill.
Bill, enjoy your videos. I'm trying to find a source for a pomelo seedling. Do you have any or know anyone that would want to sell one? Our Chinese Temple here in Oroville has a large tree and it does very well here. I also have a hot house to protect it. Do you attend the National Heirloom Expo in Sonoma?
No I do not attend functions in CA since moving to Hawaii. As for Pumelo seedlings I would not go that route. Pumelo do not breed true from seed. The Spanish brought these seeds into the new world years ago and they grew up as grapefruit, not pumelo. There are two major citrus growers that grow grafted Pumelo in N. CA. One is Menlo Citrus in Gilroy, the other is Four Winds Citrus in Fremont, CA. They have Chandler Pumelo which is the best one for northern CA. Aloha, Bill
What avacado type would you recommend for the bay area temperature?
The Mexican avocados are the best for the Bay Area. They have the cold tolerance it takes to produce under most conditions. Guatemalan avocados are risky in the Bay. West Indian are worthless, too tender. Zutano, Mexicola, Stewart, & Bacon are the top choices if you want fruit. Fuerte is good but biennial bearing. Mexicola grande is too tall and no better than classic mexicola. The popular Hass is a Guatemalan tree that is borderline. If you have one expect it to freeze in cold snaps. Like Fuerte it is biennial. Remember that Avocado trees require a combination of A & B pollinator types. You need the right combo for good crops.
@@GreenGardenGuy1 Thank you.
GreenGardenGuy1 what do you think about Gem avocado? Any experience with that? I’m in zone 9a
@@carolinarojas5899 Gem is a more compact alternative to Hass. It has the one advantage of being less prone to alternate year bearing. It will likely make a contribution California avocado production. Currently I can find no commercial source for the tree in Florida, California or HI. Considering it's lack of availability you would have to graft your own if you want it.
If I lived in the Bay area I would grow Mexicola (type A) & Bacon (type B)
Would Macadamia nut grow in Hayward, CA?
yes.
Are all of your bananas the 'ice cream' variety?
When I lived in California I raised Cardaba, Orinoco, Sweet Heart, Gold Finger and Ice Cream. Over time I moved all the others over to the collection at the county park and kept what was labeled Ice Cream. I now believe the plant was probably Nam Wah. Since we sold the property and moved to Hawaii. Here I grow Ice Cream, Apple, Williams Chinese, & Cavendish. My neighbor has 65 varieties and I am planning to buy a collection traditional Hawaiian canoe bananas from him.
GreenGardenGuy1 I'm asking because I live in southern Europe, in a climate that's very similar to bay area, but maybe a tad bit warmer, and I'm wondering if I could have fruiting bananas. Some people grow bananas as ornamentals here, but I've never seen any fruit on them.
If the climate is similar to the Bay Area then you should be able to raise fruiting bananas. When it comes to ornamental bananas there are a few varieties that are used mostly for ornament, most are Ensete rather than Musa. On the other hand people raising Musa in areas with frost often trim the entire stalk to the ground after cold weather damages the leaves. If this is done the plants will never fruit. Even if leaves are damaged the bud is protected inside the stalk and will make fruit when the weather warms if let alone. Also most bananas will not push growth in the spring and "choke" after cold weather. Only a few like Nam Wah, Ice Cream and Orinoco are hardy enough to do so reliably. These burn sugar during the night at far lower temperatures than most. This elevates the temperature of the flesh and keeps them from freezing badly.
Thanks for the detailed answer. :)