Banana- SH 3640

Inventory of bananas will be intermittent. You will be notified when plants are available via email and text. You will have 24 hours to make your purchase before we notify the next customer in line.

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This banana was developed in the famous Honduran banana breeding program FHIA which released many improved varieties such as Goldfinger and Sweetheart.  Of all banana varieties known in Florida, this is one of the most well adapted and productive.  One grower friend who managed a banana collection for many years which included around 70 varieties maintains that this variety stands out as the most durable and productive and most conducive to small scale Florida production.  Other banana collectors have also commented on the productivity and high performance under Florida conditions.  Despite these traits, it has remained somewhat unknown and not widely available to Florida gardeners for reasons not known to us.

SH 3640 has a full size fruit that can actually get larger than a grocery store banana.  The fruit is of very high quality.  It is reminiscent of grocery store bananas but with a distinctive acidity that adds a new flavor experience.  Our customers have given very positive reviews of the fruit and find it a notch better than what is available at stores.  It does not have some of the sensational tropical flavors of some specialty bananas but is a great standby that virtually everyone will enjoy.  The fruit are decent cooked green but are unappealing to cook when they have any level of ripeness developing.

This variety is ultra productive under our conditions, giving bunches in the range of 50-75 pounds (we irrigate and give lots of organic amendments to our plants).  No banana is tolerant of frost, but some are tolerant of cool weather.  This is an example of a banana that holds up well to the Florida winter, holding healthy green foliage while other varieties begin to get yellow and spotty from cool weather.  The stems are very resistant to hard freezes.  We originally got this variety from a grower in Gainesville who found this to be a reliable option for that freeze prone area.  A friend who conversed with one of the main FHIA breeders indicated that this variety was released specifically with nematode tolerance in mind.  This may explain why it performs so well in our nematode ridden Florida soils.  Plants are compact, maxing out at ~10-12 feet tall and fruit is easily reached without a ladder.  Stems are thick and sturdy, typically supporting large fruit loads without needing staking.  The plants produce very few pups, a trait that reduces the workload in commercial plantings.  Plants typically have a tree-like appearance, with one large dominant pseudostem.  Pups that are produced tend to be robust sword suckers with large corms.

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