druss

Have a few of these too. Supposedly a sikkimensis x chimi champa hybrid.[IMG][/IMG]

SoCal2warm

BananaJSSI on YouTube just posted a comment that his Helen's Hybrid he was growing on Salt Spring Island has rotted and doesn't look like it survived the Winter. It was a colder Winter than usual though this year.

Salt Spring Island is a small island, one of the Gulf Islands lying between Vancouver Island and mainland British Columbia (Canada), it's in zone 9a, despite the cool temperatures most of the year.


video title: How to Grow Cold Hardy Banana Plants, published June 8, 2019
comment posted by WesleyAPEX
"The Helens Hybrid died??"
reply posted by BananaJSSI , on June 2
"It looks like it rotted , so obviously not good here"


He had wrapped the trunk with insulation, as shown in another video, and it was under the cover of many tall surrounding Musa basjoo bananas in a virtual jungle, so it wasn't completely out in the open, but he did say they had some pretty strong Winter winds.


I'm still hopeful that Helen's Hybrid might survive in zone 8 a couple hundred miles further south in Washington state.

druss

I dont believe mine are Helen's Hybrid currently. I do have cheesmanii, sikkimensis red tiger, supposed thomsonii, sikkimensis and griersonii.

SoCal2warm

If it was grown from a seed of Helen's Hybrid, it might look different and have different properties from Helen's Hybrid. Seedlings from direct hybrids can tend to be quite heterogenous.