bigdog

OK, I just got these back from the greenhouse yesterday, where they have been since I germinated them. I couldn't resist posting a few pictures and speculating on this species. Seed was from sunshine-seeds.com, and so far I've had 15% germination (1 died)(3/20). It still hasn't been officially given a scientific name, I don't believe (Gabe, please correct me if I'm wrong...and please chime in on what you told me you thought it might be). This could turn out to be a very cold-hardy species also, which in my mind would make it THE most desireable, cold-hardy banana species. Take a look.

Plant on the left sprouted on 3-22-07, plant on right on 04-09-07:



Leaf closeup of the bigger one:



And of the smaller plant:



Another side-by-side picture:



How's that for ornamental?? The color on the midrib bleeds into the leaf more with each leaf that unfurls. I certainly hope that it retains this characteristic as an adult, but something tells me it won't. Seems like most of these bananas lose their coloring and become very green as they get older. I can hope though!

Tropicallvr

Those look great, and they are the spitting image of the two I sprouted from jungle seeds called Musa sp violet. The red does seem to get more intense with each new leaf, but it seems with mine when the leaf got to a certain size the red stays just as red and covers the same amount of leaf, but then the overall size of the leaf grows and the green with it(if that makes any sense). After about 3-4 more leafs it seems it's most dramatic, and definatly should be a good seller for nurseries from a 1-5 gallon pot.
Congrats, and I hope you are as stoked as I am.(thinking about ordering another 100 seeds from where you got yours. This one and Daj giant are definatly the favorites of my collection.

bigdog

I think I understand what you're saying about the red areas. So, as the leaves get larger, the red area does not? Oh well, at least it stays red. Yes, I am very stoked about this Musa! It is a beauty. I only ordered 20 seeds from sunshine-seeds.com, because they don't have wholesale quantites available (or do they? I never asked!). I would like to order more seeds too. 15% germination isn't very good, but I only placed them in a flat and set them in the greenhouse. I could put them in a temp-controlled chamber to try for better results. Plus, if I got 15/100 to come up, that would still be 15 plants. And if it is as cold-hardy as I think it might be...wow. It could end up replacing Musa basjoo as THE cold-hardy banana of choice! Wishful thinking, I know...

MediaHound

Very nice.
Would they die here in S. Florida?

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Tropicallvr

I think the pic on the website depicts what it will look like, but if the porportions stayed the same as they are when the leafs are smaller then there would be a ton of red bleeding into the leaf. And that red is really deep red that seems to stainglass a little..amazing in person as you probally know. Also the only seedling that I have sprouted that had a red mid rib on it's first leaf(got direct sun from early age)!

Yeah they sell wholesale quantities, just click on the whole sale button on the left, but they are still a little pricey(worth it though) and they also have Musa sikkimensis X paradisica wholesale that I sprouted 2 and killed(multiple sprouts per seed!)
I'll cross my fingers for cold hardiness too, but I won't have the b lls to test it.
They definatly seem to be well placed in the species of initerans(for some reason the leaf's shiny green color really reminds me of initerans, but that's taking for granate that my M. sp. violet is the same). Then again maybe there happen to be two banana species from the same area of India that come out on the market at the same time, and both have the same unusall appearance.

chrisltropical

Send me one and I'll be happy to test it out in a Upstate NY winter

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Banana Country

bigdog

Update on these two little gems in my collection:







Ain't they purdy?!

JoeS475

Wow, thats a stunning banana!!!

~Joe

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Kylie2x

Absolutly BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!
Kylie

Steve in France

Wow encore , can the pup que form in an orderly line behind me
Later
Steve
p.s. Frank I think I like that one better than my 'Siam Ruby' .

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bigdog

I know I like it better than my Siam Ruby right now! I love seeing the new leaves open up. Such an ornamental plant! Sunshine-seeds.com has it rated to zone 7, so I'm hopeful. Not going to find out this winter though. I'll plant one of them out next year, and keep one for backup. This banana and my Musa itinerans var. xishuangbannaensis are my two favorite bananas at this moment. I contacted the folks at Kenibreed in India, and they believe that it isn't going to prove as hardy as M. sikkimensis. Maybe they will be wrong, lol!

Bananaman88

Awesome plants, Frank! I love the strong red midribs and the heavy veinatation! Seeing these gives me hope that one day my M. sikkimensis seeds will sprout.
Brent

MediaHound

Never loose hope.
Just yesterday, I stumbled upon some bottle palm seeds from seventeen months ago that were finally sprouted.

Anyway, great new pics Frank! Thanks for sharing them

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bigdog

An update on my two plants. Both of them have reached a size where the red veination on the top of the leaves has completely disappeared, unfortunately. However, I think that they are definitely Musa itinerans, because I found a pup on the biggest one that was on the end of a long rhizome and wrapping around the edge of the pot!

The smaller one:



The bigger one:



You can see the leaves are totally green at this size:



Here's the pup that came up about three weeks ago, then has just sat there.

Mark Hall

Frank I never knew that India Form lost the red blood streak as the plant got older I was hoping that it keptit throught its life.

I find this one a very challenging one to grow. I was given two seedlings both around 25mm tall and kept them alive for over a month but they never grew any taller. Are they a slow grower from seed ?

I have 50 seeds in the prop so hopefully some should germinate.

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bigdog

Mark, Kenibreed describes it on their website as saying that young plants show the red streaking, but I didn't realize it disappeared with age either. Oh well.

The first one that germinated for me was very small and never even opened up the first leaf then died. The second two germinated and grew quickly and vigorously, and could not be described as slow at all! They did take a couple of months to germinate though. Good luck with them.

dablo93

very nice pics and plants!
unfortunalety the lose their colour.

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Tropicallvr

Even if it does lose it's color still, an nice looking "runner".
http://www.kenibreedplants.com/Musa%20itinerans.htm

bigdog

Yeah, and it is a Musa itinerans variety, so should be cold-hardy as well. I'm actually sort of amazed that a seed dealer correctly identified a banana, lol. I wasn't very confident about the identity, considering the whole Musa vino-tinto, Musa sp. 'Violett' thing where they all look alike. When that pup came up hugging the side of the pot though, and I dug down a bit to find a long rhizome, I was convinced. Can't wait to get it in the ground! I am going to try to convince my professor to let me grow a few cold-hardy bananas in the greenhouse so I can try and hybridize a few of them. Imagine Musa itinerans 'India Form' X Musa basjoo, or whatever. Fun stuff to think about!

Mark Hall

frank did your seeds come from kenibreeds ? They have only got sikki and acuminata at the moment.

I think they must be related to this company too as its the same name and region.http://www.ganeshvilla.com/index.html

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