bigdog

I have a contact that guarantees that he has them, but he needs to know by Thursday. His price is high, shipping from Africa and the phyto, etc., so I can't afford them by myself. PM me ASAP if interested. 100 seeds each is the minimum order.

Frank
P.S. U.S.A. only, due to shipping and whatnot. Wish it was easier!

mrbungalow

Funny you should mention e. homblei; Here is the only image of ensete homblei I could find:
Mike Bingham, are you kidding me? How many beers did you have before snapping that shot? Surely, there must be more worthy specimens for a species-profile than this! Or am I missing something?

Frank, do you know anything else about this plant?

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MediaHound

Here's the pages in the wiki, if anyone has some information that they could add, that would be great.

http://www.bananas.org/wiki/Ensete_gilletii

http://www.bananas.org/wiki/Ensete_homblei

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Apologies in advance if I am slow to reply to your PM. I suggest posting in the forums for support if you need something urgent.

bigdog

Erlend, you are hilarious! I agree...maybe a shot of a living plant would have been a bit more pleasing to the eyes, lol.

I don't know much about it, other than what's written by Constantine on his website. It's not endangered though, I don't believe, so what's the holdup on seeds becoming available? I think it's either lack of interest or knowledge of the plant itself that is keeping either of them from entering into cultivation. It certainly isn't because they are undesirable plants for the garden (er, even though that picture by Mike Bingham does leave something to be desired!). Are you interested, Erlend? PM me if so.

fish2026

Whats wrong with that picture- is reality too hard to accept?? Ya know you can have all these fancy names and species and y'all sound so erudite, however in reality all my banana plants look like that. I dont have to send big bucks to Africa for these results.

Ok Im joking- - in fact i didnt even notice the dead plant at first- I was looking at the tree in the background and thought that was the banana species.

MediaHound

Allow me to post in the thread that I'm gonna go in on these as I've been speaking with Frank in the PMB...
It would be great if others could get in on it too so we can bring these bananas to all our collections.

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Apologies in advance if I am slow to reply to your PM. I suggest posting in the forums for support if you need something urgent.

D'Andra

Any idea the survival zones for these?

How much $ do we need to get them.

I don't know anything about this one, but if it's rare here I'm interested.

I would think Anna would jump at the chance to add something new to her collection.

If it's not too much and I think I can grow it... I guess I need more info. Another pic would be nice too. The screen on my PC makes this one look kinda brown.

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D'.

bigdog

Not sure on the price yet. I have one quote, which was pretty high, and am waiting to hear back from another guy.

I would imagine that they are, at the very most, zone 9 hardy, with zone 10 more likely for E. homblei.

Several people have expressed interest now, so I'll be sure and follow up on this and keep you up to date. They will not be cheap though, whatever the final price is. Both species are pretty much unknown in cultivation, and that's why you can't find a picture of a green one on the internet!

D'Andra

I'm without a greenhouse and in zone 7b-8a. Unless something changes I guess I'm out. I'm trying to get a greenhouse (probably small to start) before fall, so keep me posted. Maybe..?

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D'.

bigdog

Well, due to me being suspicious, I'm not going through with this deal. I have been in contact with two different (supposedly) people from Cameroon. Recently, I saw a special on Dateline NBC about these organized scam businesses in Africa, where people sit in internet cafes and scam people all day. It is big business, and very structured. I am just too leary of things like this, plus they both seemed very anxious for me to send money right away. Hmmm...red flag?? I've also seen a couple of posts on the IPS Board regarding this same topic, and the people never saw their seeds.

To those of you who expressed interest, I apologize. I should have had a better, more reliable sort of deal in place before advertising this online. I am still on the hunt though, so if I do happen to find them, I will let you know! Thanks,

Frank

MediaHound

Good call Frank, at those prices, better safe than sorry.

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Apologies in advance if I am slow to reply to your PM. I suggest posting in the forums for support if you need something urgent.

bigdog

I have a much lower quote than that first one...and I'm still in talks with a different guy...but I have to feel a lot more secure before I send him any money. They will get into cultivation someday (hopefully in my lifetime!), and I'm really not in a big, giant hurry to lose my money over some banana seeds, lol!

AnnaJW

Just caught up on this. You are right D'Andra! I wouldn't want to pass it up. LOL!!!

Hey Frank - if you find legit sellers - I'm in!

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-Anna Banana -

Living my life in MMORPG's

Chironex

Was going through older posts and came across this one. Did anyone ever order the E. Homblei seeds? I would be interested in splitting an order with someone if they are still available. PM me if you have a contact.

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Scot

bigdog

No, but it's just a matter of time before somebody offers E. homblei, seeing as how RPS has a source for E. gilletii now. They have overlapping ranges...I think.

Chironex

If you or anyone else finds these seeds somewhere (or any other rare banana seeds for that matter), lets start a thread and place one massive order to get the best pricing. We can surely do this with seeds and I don't think it has been done here before on a larger scale. But why not? It just makes sense to post it and add a deadline for those takers. Then a deadline for getting the money in to one person who will order them. We have strength in numbers here, let's use it!

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Scot

Tog Tan

When I saw the title of the posting and saw the key words, 'E homblei seeds'...the excitement made my blood pressure hit the roof! Well, Frank, I am sure they will come around someday. Better safe than sorry, rite?

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Tog Tan has sadly suddenly passed away 6/16/09. We will miss you Tog Tan.

Kylie2x

WOW! I just saw this thread.. I would love to get in on a purchase...
Kylie

Chironex

I am going to subscribe to this thread so that when we want to make a seed purchase, all who desire can participate and we can save some by ordering in bulk. Makes sense, right?

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Scot