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The Praying Hands Banana isn’t just a cool-looking fruit—it comes with a love story from the Philippines.
Legend says the bananas represent the hands of Saging, a forest spirit, reaching out for his lost love, Raya. After their parting, Raya planted Saging’s heart, which grew into a tree bearing these unique, clasped fruits.
Fun Fact #1: The Filipino word for banana, saging, comes from this very tale 😊
Now that you know the story behind the fruit, let’s get into how to grow your own!
That said, this grow guide will cover everything you need to know about the Praying Hands Banana:
Table of Contents
- Praying Hands Banana Tree Characteristics & Fruit Production
- Praying Hands Banana Flavor Profile
- Praying Hands Banana Disease Resistance
- Praying Hands Banana Tree For Sale (Where To Find)
- Conclusion
Praying Hands Banana Tree Characteristics & Fruit Production
Praying Hands Bananas are medium to large banana trees that usually average between 12 – 16 feet tall. As a result, Praying Hands would not do well long-term in containers and would NOT be considered a “condo” banana.
Additionally, due to the tree’s sturdy and robust pseudostem trunk, Praying Hands is less susceptible to wind blowdown and can tolerate mild to moderate winds. That said, it is still recommended to avoid planting a tree in areas with frequent or extreme wind conditions, as its large leaves may become shredded in strong gusts.
Fun Fact #2: The Praying Hands Banana is known by several other names depending on the region. In the Philippines, it is sometimes called Inabaniko, Binendito, Ripping, or Uht Kapakap.
The Praying Hands cultivar is a Musa acuminata x balbisiana hybrid belonging to the Saba Subgroup and features a triploid (ABB) genome structure. Other triploid (ABB) banana cultivars include, but are not limited to:
Why does banana chromosomal count even matter? Glad you asked! 😜
In layman’s terms, the sweetness and softness of a banana’s texture increase with a higher concentration of ‘A’ chromosomes inherited from Musa acuminata. Conversely, a greater proportion of ‘B’ chromosomes from Musa balbisiana enhances the banana’s resilience, improving its cold tolerance and resistance to diseases.
So, while the Praying Hands isn’t genetically geared to produce perfectly soft and sweet fruit like cultivars found in the Cavendish Group, the additional B chromosomes allow for Praying Hands to have greater tolerance to environmental stressors, including both drought and mild wind conditions.
When grown under optimal conditions, Praying Hands’ fruit production consistently ranges from average to good.
While this cultivar is known to produce several hands (averaging 6 – 20 fruits / hand) of large, starchy bananas per bunch, they are definitely not as prolific as other bananas like Cavendish or Saba. From my experience, Praying Hands Bananas generally reaches full ripeness within 8 – 12 weeks (2 – 3 months) after first forming on the stalk.
And while Praying Hands is not grown on a commercial scale, I believe that it’s yield is often sufficient for those looking to add this banana to their home garden, especially since it serves both ornamental and edible purposes.
Praying Hands Banana Flavor Profile
Before I describe the flavor, let’s first talk about the looks.
The Praying Hands Banana looks like something out of a botanical art exhibit. The fruit grows in tight clusters, with the peels of individual bananas semi-fused together, giving the fruit its signature praying hands look.
When determining ripeness, don’t just go by color. You’ll know they’re ready when the skin feels soft.
That said, if there’s still a lot of green on the peel, the bananas aren’t quite ready to be eaten.
You’ll want to wait until the entire banana is primarily yellow, with some brown patches and slight wrinkling. At this stage, the fruit can look a little beat up when fully ripe, but don’t be fooled. In my humble opinion, that’s usually when they taste their best.
To avoid tearing the peel (which is very brittle) on neighboring fruit, be very gentle (or else you risk eating all the fruit at once). Upon opening the fruit, you’ll find yellow-white flesh with a marshmallow-like, fluffy texture on the outside that almost melts in your mouth, while the core retains some chewy firmness.
Overall, the fruit is dense and juicy without being overly starchy, maintaining a pleasant creaminess when perfectly ripe. However, due to the B chromosomes, you can expect to find a few tiny undeveloped seeds hidden in the core, but honestly, they’re so small you won’t even notice them.
From a flavor perspective, I’ve found that Praying Hands has a mild vanilla sweetness—though definitely not as sugary as a ripe Nam Wah—with just a bit of tropical tang in the center.
The flavor is very close to Dwarf Brazilian but more mellow and balanced. I’ve never tasted any sour or acidic undertones, just a gentle custard-like flavor that sometimes has the slightest hint of muskiness, similar to Saba (but not nearly as intense).
Furthermore, I would say the flavor is slightly reminiscent of Pitogo Banana. That said, Pitogo definitely has a lot more tropical, sub-acid flavors going on.
Overall, Praying Hands is a great banana, but don’t expect a sugar bomb—it’s more of a low-key sweet treat.
In my opinion, Praying Hands is perfect for someone who doesn’t want a sickeningly sweet banana and also wants something that works well as a cooking banana.
Additionally, I would recommend Praying Hands for those who love Saba Bananas but want something much easier to harvest (I’ve seen heavy Saba racks that were upwards of 25 feet high).
At the end of the day, I think Praying Hands is worth growing for the sheer novelty alone. That said, I’ll admit the cool fused-finger look might be the main draw here. When it comes to pure eating experience, there are definitely smoother, sweeter varieties out there, but it’s good to know that these hold their own in the kitchen.
Praying Hands Banana Disease Resistance
Due to its triploid (ABB) genome structure, the Praying Hands Banana exhibits moderate susceptibility to diseases.
More specifically, the Praying Hands Banana can be affected by both Panama Disease and Black Sigatoka, which pose challenges for many banana cultivars.
While not as vulnerable as other varieties, like Gros Michel, it still requires careful management and benefits from being planted in disease-free or well-monitored soils to reduce the risk of infection.
Praying Hands Banana Tree For Sale (Where To Find)
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Conclusion
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If you have any questions regarding anything mentioned in this grow guide, please comment them below! This way, others can also benefit from the answer to the same question. For any other questions or growing tips that you think may be helpful, feel free to use the contact form and drop me a line.
Thank you for reading! 🙂
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