bananaman

I have been into my garden this evening to measure my Musa Basjoo.
Its dimensions are Height to top of stem where leaves emerge ; 74"
Total height of plant ; 98"
Leaf spread ; 84"
Individual Leaf size ; 56 x 24"
Pups 2 - 1 @ 4ft and 1 @ 5 ft.
This plant NEVER ceases to amaze me.
Is that it / Will it get any larger before it flowers.
My main question is ...what is the total height that this guy will achieve ??The leaves are like sails in the wind.
"Sillimensis" is 1 year younger and darker green leaves but broader and tougher.
My preference is still "Basjoo".

JoeReal

Musa basjoo have a wide variation in height depending where and how grown. I've read reports of 5' to 15' pseudostem when blooming, and total height of 8' to 21'.

bananaman1

I have a M. basjoo in my yard in Houston that I brought with me as a pup from St. Louis. It has been growing in its current location for approx. 2 years. It is currently about 10-12' tall and just fruited for the first time this year. I had always heard/read that the fruit of basjoo was inedible but I tried one yesterday. It was still a tad underripe, but otherwise tasted like a normal banana to me. I questioned whether or not it was truly a basjoo but we did overwinter it in the ground in St. Louis (Zone 5) so I belive it is a basjoo. Anyone else ever tried the fruit of a Musa basjoo?

Jeff

I sent a small Musa Basjoo pup to my sister in Pennsylvania over 4 years ago. Her clump keeps getting bigger and bigger every year but they do not get much taller than this. The orignal banana finally fruited this year but it had been cut off at about 4 feet last winter and only had time to produce about 2 leaves before it fruited. It was a very small flower. Her clump of bananas is the talk of the neighborhood! They have dug up and gave away a few pups to the neighbors.

__________________
Jeff in Costa Rica

bananaman

Thanks for phot Jeff .
Lovely specimen and such a nice house you have too.
I am still studying how to post pictures and will be showing you my Basjoo in England soon.
Looks like what I thought was "maximum height" was only a tiddler !!!

Jeff

Thanks bananaman, but that's my sister's house in Pennsylvania. I live in Florida and my house is much smaller. I was up there visiting my family this past weekend and took some pictures of her basjoo clump. They still joke about that original small banana pup that I sent them through the mail. They thought it was the funniest looking thing and never expected it to grow. That was about 4.5 years ago and her clump comes back bigger and stronger each year.

__________________
Jeff in Costa Rica