bigdog

I hand pollinated some bananas last winter when my Musa sp. aff. aurantiaca bloomed, then sowed them in April.





The leaves of the mother plant are slightly mottled red sometimes, with reddish undersides to the leaves. They are also very leathery and thick, and would probably hold up quite well in the wind.


Got no germination from them, and gave up on them. I have the box still in my room, but with no bottom heat at all. Much to my surprise, I opened the lid yesterday and found a two leaf seedling! It is definitely a one-of-a-kind plant, since the female parent is new to cultivation and is an undescribed species still (it was originally sold as M. aurantiaca by Trebrown Nurseries in the UK). Unfortunately...I have no access to a greenhouse anymore, so this little guy will have to survive the winter in my house. I have it in a reptile tank right now, so it is getting heat and light during the day at least. It will likely be years before this plant has a proper name, since one of the parents is undescribed. The male parent is Musa velutina, and it is the tall form that Randy4UT has growing in his garden.

Pics coming soon!

griphuz

That's really cool Frank!
Do both Musa's at least belong to the same group, or is that not required for a succesfull hybridisation?

Do you have any idea how long you can store pollen at -20 deg C?

Kind regards,
Remko.

bigdog

Hi Remko,

On the surface, the unidentified mother plant appears to be in the Rhodochlamys group, along with Musa velutina. I do know that plants from Rhodochlamys and Eumusa groups can successfully produce fertile seeds, since it has been done before with M. velutina and M. balbisiana.

I'm not sure about storing pollen, but have often wondered the same thing myself. There's not much, if any, information about it in scholarly papers that I could find in a search a few years ago. According to some firsthand reports, Musa pollen only stays viable for a few days at room temperature.

Frank

Randy4ut

Great job, BigDog!!! Will, indeed, be interesting to see what it looks like mature! If and when it ever pups, I would love for you to keep me in mind for one, as I would love to have an offspring of the Daddy!!! Hope you are doing well!!!

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RobG7aChattTN

Keep it humid! The reptile tank should work fine, but since I know you mostly have leopard geckos, I just wanted to make sure you had enough humidity in there for a Musa. If you have an undertank heater you can put a layer of gravel in the tank and add water, placing the Musa in a pot on top. You can also try an aquarium water heater in a large jar of water placed inside the tank. Or, you can just mist a lot. Whatever you do, I hope it makes it. I'll be curious to see what the plant is like after a summer of growth and a winter outside.

bigdog

Yeah, I just want to keep it alive through the winter right now! It must have been in that dark box for a couple of weeks, since it already had a second leaf. It looks too be acclimating fine today. I'm just going to hand mist it frequently.

Randy, if and when it ever produces a pup, it's got your name on it!

Frank

bigdog

OK, not much to look at, but here it is anyway.

griphuz

Almost looks like it has a small sucker already?!
I've seen it before that seeds sprout in two points so to speak, giving two stems,...

Kind regards,
Remko.

RobG7aChattTN

That could be two sprouting off of the same seed. I've had that happen.

bigdog

No, that's actually just the second leaf. I buried it a few millimeters above the meristem because the media was drying out when I discovered it, and I wanted some roots to be able to grow from the top of the corm as well. I have had 2 sprouts from the same seed in the past, but not this time. I wish!

Frank

Dean W.

Congratulations! Feels great to have some germinate...especially if they turn out to be rare.

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alpha010

Nice one Frank!! I wanna bid on the seeds from this and another cross that I'm sure you are gonna do! .....If and when it flowers and fruits.

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bigdog

Well, I finally got my father to take a picture of this plant tonight, since Gainesville is getting set for a hard freeze tonight. Interestingly, my folks house didn't get a freeze in late November, as other parts of town did. I guess they might be in a bit of a warm pocket.

This little plant suffered pretty good until I got it planted in September. Keep in mind that is was only about 6 inches tall and had 2 leaves when I planted it in the ground...in late September!



I couldn't believe the growth! Plus, it has a few pups as well. It does have some strong red markings on the top of the leaves, purple leaf backs, as well as dark purple midribs (like the mother). With Musa velutina as the pollen donor, it should have a pretty good deal of cold-hardiness as well. Click on the picture for a closeup.

I'm happy tonight!

Frank

jmoore

lovely looking plant!

Will it self pollinate like Velutina? I wonder what the second generation will look like?

I'm hugely jealous

Does it have a name?

momoese

Frank what kind of Palm is that?

bigdog

Mitchell, the two palms on either side are Washingtonia filibustas. There's a very small Needle Palm in the right corner. Gonna have to move it someday soon (the Musa), but it was a good spot for it for a while.

Frank

bigdog

Not sure! I'll let you know next year!

No name yet. Any suggestions? LOL.

Thanks.

Frank

jeffreyp

I've tried diligently to create a hybrid with velutina pollen on mysore, raja puri and cavendish...so far no luck...my next try will be with saba....

bigdog

Jeffrey, try 'Orinoco' as well. Good luck!

Frank

bigdog

Well I haven't posted to this thread in over 2 years because the banana didn't make it the following year. The squirrels got to it the following spring, as they did several others. I never see that problem here, but my mother has witnessed it in her yard. They like the new sprouts, and will continue to nibble on them until the plant has no reserves left and dies. Needless to say, I was pretty heartbroken about it, since this was the only seed to sprout from that batch of seeds.

Until now!

I kept the old seeds in the same box for over 4 years, but they have been dried out for the last 3 years or so. Last month I was cleaning the room that they were in, on a shelf, and got the box down and re-hydrated them to amuse myself. I didn't give them any bottom heat. Today, I decided to check the box, and this is what I saw:



There are at least 3 more seeds sprouting not pictured also. Here's the label on the top of the box:



Guess this proves that Musa seeds can stay viable for several years in the right conditions (in this case, completely dry and room temperature). I'm pretty happy, but now I have to figure out how to get them through the winter inside as seedlings. I certainly don't want to lose this hybrid again!