Hopa Banana - Perfect Cooking Banana
Hopa Banana (Musa)
The Hopa Banana is one of the most exciting varieties now available in New Zealand, valued for its fast maturity, reliability, and outstanding flavour. Distinctive for its large, rounded fruit, Hopa stands apart from the usual slender dessert bananas, offering a robust form that performs exceptionally well in the kitchen and on the table.
In its green stage, Hopa is a superb cooking banana. Its firm, starchy flesh holds its shape well, making it ideal for boiling, frying, steaming, or adding to curries and savoury dishes. It behaves much like a plantain but with a smoother texture, giving excellent results in both traditional and modern recipes.
As the fruit ripens, Hopa develops a noticeably sweeter profile. Once yellow and fully mature, it softens and transforms into a flavour that mirrors classic dessert bananas. The rounded fruit delivers a smooth, creamy mouthfeel with a clean sweetness that appeals to both adults and children. This dual-purpose nature makes Hopa an excellent all-rounder for households that enjoy both cooking and fresh eating.
One of Hopa’s greatest strengths is its speed. In the North Island, it typically fruits within a year of planting, making it one of the fastest banana varieties to establish and produce. It is hardy, low-maintenance, and well-suited to a broad range of home gardens. Its broad leaves not only add a tropical presence to the landscape but are also practical for steaming, wrapping, and traditional cooking methods.
Resilient and dependable, Hopa is an excellent choice for gardeners looking to grow a versatile banana that performs well in both savoury and sweet applications. It is a true multi-purpose variety that brings practical value, flavour, and a touch of the tropics to any garden.
Plant Care
- Watering: Maintain consistent moisture, watering deeply especially in warmer months. Reduce watering in cooler months.
- Temperature: Best between 26°C and 30°C. Bananas are not frost-tolerant and require protection or placement in warm climates.
- Light: Full sun is ideal.
- Fertilizing: Use a high-nitrogen fertilizer such as 30-10-10 monthly during the growing season to support vigorous leaf growth. Once the plant starts flowering, switch to a high-potassium fertilizer like 15-5-30 to support fruit development.
- Pruning: Regularly remove dead leaves and spent fruit stalks. Cut back the main fruiting stem after harvest to encourage new growth.
- Mulching: Apply heavy mulch to retain soil moisture, provide nutrients, and suppress weeds.
- Pest Control: Look out for pests such as aphids, spider mites, and nematodes. Use eco-friendly pesticides if necessary.
- Flowering and Fruiting: Each pseudo stem will fruit once. Fruit typically matures in about 3 to 8 months, depending on conditions and variety.
- Potting: Suitable for large containers, but requires ample space and meticulous care to manage growth and ensure sufficient nutrients.
We ship our plants and garden supplies throughout New Zealand. Due to the increased costs of shipping and packaging, we now apply a delivery charge. After offering free shipping for three consecutive years, we find it necessary to adjust this policy to align with current market conditions. However, we have lowered our prices to help offset this change.
Please note, we do not ship plants or garden supplies internationally from New Zealand. We do export plants and tissue culture materials from our overseas nursery, which requires a minimum order. Please contact us at hello@exoticanz.com to discuss your specific requirements.
Shipping (plants) from:
North Island Urban $25
North Island Rural $35
South Island Urban $25
South Island Rural $35
Shipping Garden Supplies:
North Island Urban $20
North Island Rural $25
South Island Urban $35
South Island Rural $45
Delivery
- Our plants are available for shipment from September to April, depending on stock levels. Typical delivery times range from 5 to 7 business days, although they can take up to 10 business days depending on the destination.
- We take extra care in packaging; most of our plants are secured in bespoke inserts and shipped in individual boxes to ensure they arrive undamaged.
- Deliveries are scheduled once a fortnight, typically on Monday. If you place your order over the weekend, we aim to dispatch your plants on the following Monday. This scheduling allows our team to prepare your order thoroughly and ensures the courier has sufficient time to deliver your plants safely, avoiding any unnecessary delays over the weekend.
- All orders are shipped via courier track and trace service (not signature required)
- We cannot deliver to PO Box addresses.
- If you have a rural address, please contact us beforehand to discuss the best delivery options and avoid any potential issues.
Additional Delivery Information
- Most plants are shipped with soil. During the cooler months, we closely monitor weather conditions and may temporarily delay shipments if the weather is particularly severe. Our packing process includes adding insulation when necessary to protect the plants against temperature extremes.
- In summer, we ensure that plants are thoroughly watered before they leave our nursery. Occasionally, we may need to ship plants bare-rooted, particularly when they cannot be comfortably re-potted into smaller packaging for shipping. We will always discuss this with you in advance if your plant needs to be shipped in this manner.
- It's important to note that shipping can be a stressful experience for plants, often due to spending several days in a dark, confined space. While most plants withstand this with little to no stress, some may experience leaf drop. However, they generally recover quickly with some additional care, including proper watering and gradual reintroduction to light after arrival.
