xyzzy

Hi,

I have just seen the M velutina in Bigdog's gallery. If only mine stayed that small it would be no problem bringing them in in winter when they decide to flower in Noember or february. Mine always reach 3 to 4 times that height before flowering. Does anyone know what I am doing wrong. Is it because my pots are too big?

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There is no such thing as can't grow it - but the determination required may lose you your partner, family and friends - but does that matter?.

bigdog

I am actually becoming more and more convinced that there are two (at least) different varieties of Musa velutina. The one I have stays small, even when planted outside. Then there is the variety that you have that grows up to ten feet. Randy4UT here, who lives in Cleveland, TN, has a mat of the large variety, and they get huge. Check his gallery. The bigger variety also appears initially to be more cold-hardy as well. My small mat didn't resprout from the corms this spring, even though the rhizomes appeared to be healthy enough.

xyzzy

That sounds very probable. My type have often gone to 8 or 9 feet and shoot up to that in as little as 3 months. However, mine do tend to be in 1/2 cubic metre pots with 0.5 ton of peat so I can grow moveable large mats. Well, I have a very very big sack truck with a 2.5 ft foot to pick them up!

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There is no such thing as can't grow it - but the determination required may lose you your partner, family and friends - but does that matter?.

mrbungalow

And many online seed-dealers probably mislabel musa ornata and musa velutina. They call them both "Pink velvet banana". M. Ornata grows to 10 feet while I have seen velutina flower in a 1 gallon (!) pot. My theory.

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xyzzy

Well, is this M Velutina or M Ornata?

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There is no such thing as can't grow it - but the determination required may lose you your partner, family and friends - but does that matter?.

GATrops

xyzzy- Looks like M. velutina to me.

In my climate (southeast coastal GA), velutina displays a variety of different growth habits depending on the location the plant is growing. One of the main factors appears to be sunlight. When grown in full sun, it is much shorter when it reaches blooming age. It will on average be around 2.5-3.5 feet to the top of the pseudostem when it blooms. If plants from the same mat are grown in even light shade (~30-40%) the plants will be much healthier looking and bloom at 4-5 feet of pseudostem height. I also see this same "stretching" in the greenhouses during the winter when light conditions are also lower.

Richard

Bananaman88

I recently saw some velutinas at a local nursery that were approx. 6' tall, flowering, fruiting in about a 10G pot. I was able to obtain some seed and am currently awaiting germination (about a month now, along with sikkimensis since Feb.). I am also supposed to receive a M. beccarii and a velutina through the mail this week. It will be interesting to see how large my velutina gets. I am still undecided on whether I'm going to put it in the ground or grow it in a container.

Randy4ut

Hey Guys,
First time I have seen this thread... Very interesting comments... I tend to lean toward BigDog's theory of 2 different varieties... Mine are pushing 10' right now, and as of today, still no flowers... Mine should be flowering within the next week or two, if they hold to what they have done the past years... I plan on taking pics of all my nanners, palms, ee's, etc. tomorrow a.m., so I will try and post a couple of pics sometime within the next day or two... The M. velutina I have growing, I received from a very knowledgeable grower that had his for many years. He lives about 20 miles away... His have never reached the size that mine have. Mine are grown in full sun and watered religiously every 2-3 days in spring and then about once every 3-4 days throughout the rest of summer... Yes, my water bill is ridiculous!!! Anyway, I just thought I would pipe in and give my two cents worth... I will try and post some pics of them and others soon.... I will be watching others responses to this thread...
Randy4ut

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bigdog

Here's the pic in Randy's gallery from last year:

Randy4ut

This thread has gotten me wondering... Do M.Ornata produce a small (3") fruit with very large seeds in comparison to the fruit? As I have stated before, I am new to nanners, so I don't know the characteristics of M Ornata. I just received two different ornatas, so I will see for myself in the future, but I can't help but wonder what their flower and fruit look like... The pic xyzzy posted doesn't look like the flower of my velutina, to the best of my recollection from last year... But then again, I am getting older and my memory may be failing me... Input would be appreciated...




These pics are of some of the fruit I got off my clump that Bigdog posted above from last summer!!!

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bigdog

Well, Musa ornata fruit doesn't "peel itself" like M. velutina does, so what you have is definitely Musa velutina...or maybe a hybrid of...OK, that's too much speculation, lol. I am going to stick with my first assumption that there is more than one variety of Musa velutina. Phil Markey from Trebrown Nurseries posted some pictures on here a while back of some very tall Musa velutina. In fact, let me post a piece of the description of M. velutina, as quoted from The Musaceae website:

""Plant stooling freely ; pseudostems up to 1.5 m. high [but much taller in some forms], 7 cm. in diameter at base, often smaller, yellowish-green, devoid of wax

http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~drc/mvelutina.htm

I'm pretty darn sure that the tall form that Randy has is more cold-hardy as well.

mrbungalow

Here is a google search for "Musa ornata". Look at how many different banana-types show up! And look at how many are clearly velutinas!

Doesn't proove my theory, but it kind of shows the confusion...

http://images.google.no/images?hl=no...a+ornata&gbv=2

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Randy4ut

I see what you mean, Erland... I even saw a pic of Musella lasiocarpus labeled ornata... I also saw several velutina in there... Someone seems to be confused, anyway, huh!?!?!?

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