I consider the "feud" very valid. On the Bananas.org forum, the Florida Hills Nursery owner misrepresented himself as a customer of his own nursery, and an extremely satisfied one, at that. He carried on the charade for quite awhile. When finally confronted with it, the Florida Hills Nursery owner would not come clean. He just would not admit it even though the evidence was overwhelming. Furthermore, he made a number of childish/immature posts to the bananas.org forum. Subsequently, in another interesting twist, he came on this forum and claimed to vet all potential customers before selling to them. Anyone even remotely familiar with eBay recognizes that would not be possible using that venue. No matter what he sells or his prices, I would never patronize him. He is just not honest.

I live in zone 4, but I'm also interested in an "ice cream" banana. Of course, I'll have to keep mine in a pot to keep it mobile. What size pot is necessary to keep these happy and fruiting? Is it possible to keep it indoors during the rather long winter here (i.e., are they particular about light and humidity)? Any advice on this will be greatly appreciated -- I've never grown bananas before and have no experience with them whatsoever. Thanks, Jon

Hey, yardman, we did dodge the bullet, didn't we, thanks to the clouds off of that storm system in Ohio. It was like 38 at Oakland Pontiac Airport just a few miles NW of my house, and 32 in Lansing. Anyway, I assume this is an in-ground banana and not potted. I've wintered them a lot of years with probably 90-95% success. Just dig it up before the frost/freeze really does zap it, and leave a little bit, like six inches, of soil clinging to the bulb (if possible, if it's really sand or something and falls off, don't sweat it). Cut all of the leaves off (ok to leave the curled leaves at the top. Put the root into a big paper lawn and leaf bag, and then pack some DRY inert material around the root and part way up the pseudostem -- sawdust, shredded newspaper, sphaghnum moss. Then, tie up the bag in a couple places around the pseudostem so it will stay on. Store it for the winter somewhere dry and cool but non-freezing. I put mine in the utility room in the basement behind my water softener, in total darkness, and never water them all winter. Generally, the entire pseudostem will survive quite nicely. Sometimes, it will rot off part of the way down. Generally, several leaves will continue to grow and unfurl over the winter, and will be yellow/white due to no light. In spring, when it's safe, just replant it, and it will hardly miss a beat.

Hi Wanna, I have many African Oil palms and many fish tails, many sizes of both. I have a sprouted coconut of a VERY TALL 40' plus) coconut tree, do not know what it is. I also have egg fruit seedling, almond seedlings and larger, and Florida coffee bushes. Everything is in the ground. the best would for you to come and see. E-mail me or answer here. Peter