My expereience with bananas is they are like peaches and apples in that each variety has a different length of time to maturity. I've grown some in pots and put them in the greenhouse. Some take a little over a year of growth to bloom, some take almost two years. Unless you are going to offer winter protection, you will have difficulty growing fruit.

I imagine a dwarf cavendish would - i heard that is edible

California Gold is the best tasting cold hardy fruiting banana out there.

There are some varities that will do well in zone 8a. They are 1000 Fingers, Dwarf Orinico, and Orinico.

Hi Tey157
Could you tell us how they(Thousand Fingers,Dwf.Orinoco and
Tall Orinoco) could overwinter in zone8a? Outdoors in the
ground with perfect cold protections? Or indoors in the
green house? etc.etc.?
Thanks in advance.

CalGold is only a good variety for 8a if you like plaintains. My most reliable producer for dessert bananas is Ice Cream, although it's hit-or-miss depending upon the severity of the winter and timing of frosts and/or rains. To get any banana fruit in 8a, it has to bloom not much later than July 1st. Many varieties have a tendency to bloom late-summer/fall, hold fruit over the winter, ripening in early spring. This, of course, doesn't work in 8a.

-Bruce C.

The hardiest edible is said to be CA gold, which isn't a plantain, but a dessert banana(better tasting than Dwarf orinico). The second hardiest is Dwarf Brazilian, followed by orinico and others. If you want a quick fruiting type Musa viente cohol is supposed to fruit within the shortest period of time, but it's not likely cold hardy coming from the Philipines.
Hope this helps.

asacomm, this is not from my experience, but from what others have written.

I've had CalGold for several years, purchased directly from Jeff Earl. I didn't say it WAS a plaintain, only that if you liked plaintains, you would also like CalGold. I'm fairly well-versed on bananas, and I definitely wouldn't classify CalGold as a dessert-type. When completely ripe it is still very firm, and lacks the sweetness of dessert bananas. It is also very large in size, like plaintains.

I've heard that it is a sport of Orinoco, but I can't corroborate this.

-Bruce

How well does Rajapuri do in Texas (houston area). Specifically in a 20 gallon container.

ericjwi,

Raja Puri should do well for you in Houston in the ground. Choose a spot with lots of sun and protected from frost; like up against your house with a southern exposure.

Steve

I was looking for an answer about where to locate my new musa rajapuri purchased today at the Festival of Flowers in Mobile, one of the Festival plant selections they recommend for our zone 8b. The man did not know if it made edible bananas, so I was searching to find out on this forum. I'm figuring that it will make some edible fruits?

lac1361 z9a LA (My Page) on Fri, Jul 11, 08 at 8:25

ericjwi,
Raja Puri should do well for you in Houston in the ground. Choose a spot with lots of sun and protected from frost; like up against your house with a southern exposure.

Steve
Based on this information, I'm putting my new guy just outside the kitchen window on the south side of my house.
Next to the heat pump condensate drain, should keep it moist.