Bananas - Pisang Rotan (Lidi)

Another interesting banana that is not often found is the pisang lidi or rotan.  It has a distinctive shape compared with other bananas and you can easily identify it.  It is more elongated and slim almost like fingers.  The skin is a milky-yellow color and relatively thin.  This banana is normally eaten uncooked and has a sweet and light taste to it.  This particular banana is rarely found now so I am happy that we have it at the farm as part of my collection of banana plants.  At our Sunday morning market, when we have it available, it is sold very quickly - apparently a favorite with the afficionados.

At the farm, the plant grow to about 7m (approximately 20ft) and in comparison to other banana plants has a rather skinny pseudostem and is green beneath the dried brown upper layer.  The leaves tend to grow upright and only angles when it is about to die-off hence making it look tall and slim.  The upper side of the leaf is a dark green with a groove in the leave stem.  The underside of the leaf is a lighter green with a light green leaf stem. 
This plant produces multiple baby plants and it is best to keep it to 3-4 per group to ensure a higher and better quality yield.
The inflorescence is rather bitter hence is not consumed.  It takes approximately 2 months from when the inflorescence appears to the fruit maturing and ripening.