shawndac1

does anyone know why my musa basjoo is growing so slow and still so small I got the Orinoco about 3 months after the musa and it has just taken off and doing so great they are planted in same soil and get fertilized at the same time, im wondering if the musa is water sucker or something it has been kinda pewnny since I purchased it the top row pic is the musa the bottom two are the Orinoco
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neferset

Are they both getting the same amount of sunlight? If I find that one potted plant grows faster than another, I'll move the slow grower closer to the fast grower and it picks up. I also watch my yard for a good 6-8 hours of sunlight before I move certain plants to certain spots.

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crazy banana

My best guess is that your Basjoo is a tissue culture that is trying to establish some corm and root mass, while your Orinoco might have been a pup separated from a mat.
Did you buy them as TCs or pups?

shawndac1

ummmm thanks guys and yes they are actually outside both in front of my drive on a rail road tie and get exactly the same aboutnt of light the basjoo I have had a year I looked it up today and ordered it from 9 greenbox on amazon it is just now putting on a new leaf, but u may be right about the tissue culture, is there a way to tell ???I the orinioco I bought from Wellsprings on ebay in feb of this year and it has tripled in size in just 4 months!!!1 and im not sure if they were tcs or pups I just assumed they where pups guess I should have done more research on um huh?

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neferset

All you had to say is 9GreenBox and WellSpring. They are both tissue culture. Those two don't sell pups.

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shawndac1

bahahah oh wow well aint that a *itch lol well either way I still don't understand y one is doing so well and the other is not don't make no sense, and who would you recommend me getting some actuall pups from?????

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neferset

I keep looking and one of your pots looks very faded, while the pot with the basjoo looks very new? Or are they different materials? I know lighter color pots are sometimes cooler to the roots than darker ones. Different materials also react differently when it comes to water and such.

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neferset

Members here, pretty much. My four bananas are all tissue culture babies (no basjoos or orinocos either) and none old enough to pup yet, but I'm sure you could find somebody here with a pup to sell.

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shawndac1

yea actually they are the same pots my mother in law gave me to when I first got the basjoo a jear ago jst one was in the sun and one was on her porch but hmmmm maybe this is the case thanks again mate cheers, maybe it will begin to grow and I will hopefully get some pups off of both !!!!

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siege2050

My Dwarf Cavendish, I bought from Greenbox was not Tc, it was actually a pretty good size pup. After looking at their site when I bought it, it appears some are Tc, some aren't, but the non Tc are more expensive, and with higher shipping.

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Mauro Gibo

Hi shawndact, I have been growing many kinds of bananas these past 14 years. I believe the M. Basjoo or Japanese Banana's native place could be here in my region, mainland Japan, Honshu Island. What I can say by my experience in growing bananas is that the edible bananas grow very fast and will bloom in a year or so, but it takes about 3 years for the Musa Basjoo to bloom. The growth of the pseudostem is quite slow. Maybe half shade would help it grow taller and don't forget to water them a lot. A banana mat needs at least 4 gallons of water everyday, that's why they have irrigations at the banana plantations.
Cheers,
Mauro from the Basjoo country.

siege2050

I have noticed this too, my Orinoco has grown almost 2 feet since may 1st, the Basjoo is very slow compared to it.

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shawndac1

hmmm maybe this is the case it it so sloooow growing lol I mean I have had it a year and got two leaves I hate this because it is the hardyiest and was hoping I could plant it outdoors this year but I rekon not lol, so even if it is tc will it still produce pups and a corm??? and I have them both planted in a sand/perilite and top soil mix but all equal parts, and I do keep it watered well but our summer just started where I live so it hasn't been very hot up until the last couple of weeks I did look at the roots today to see if they where staying to moist and noticed most of the roots are a dark brown or black there are only a few good solid white one so im thinking it has been staying to wet maybe it needs more sand? im using natural sand from a creek bed down the road from out house is this a bad idea??? I just cant understand the Orinoco roots are very healthy and tons of white on them, jst confusing lol how one can be doing great and the other so poor when in the same pot same sun and same soil with same fertilizer, but I will try moving to a place with a little more shade also here are a few pics of where they are both bananas are on each end of rail road tie in the biggest pots

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cincinnana

Looked at the pics posted and this is my take....
The soil mix ratio that you are using could be too heavy .
You could more "air" in the soil, more fluff, more places for those roots to go.

I just took this pic of a Basjoo/Balbasiana cross in a pot with a lighter mix that you are using including the wheelbarrow that the mix is in.
I have found a lighter mix (more perlite and pine fines and peat moss).
More air is good .

Container mix is important.......Basjoo pups in container with type of mix I use . by Hostafarian, on Flickr

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Mauro Gibo

I agree with you crazy banana.

jbyrd88888

Well I agree with both Crazy and Cincin but I just wanna add: if you decide to try or add different soil and/or amendments, fill the pot up more and take em dang rocks outta there...lol just my 2 cent...more root space.
Outta all my naners growing this year (7 not TC) my Basjoo has blasted off past all of them and has already shot 4 pups! While 2 of my 3 TC are working on single pups, they are much smaller.

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shawndac1

ohhh wow lol kk thanks guys I will definitely try this and take the rocks out lol jst had them for decoration I recon guess it looked so pitiful lol , just seems like the more air the faster they would dry out guess that's why you have to water so much lol, and I should get PUPS?????

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cincinnana

This is a pic taken by me locally a week ago......not my garden but a BENCHMARK on what Basjoos will do in the spring in my zone...
Chest high .....
Tc Basjoos do not need a waiting period to take off like many other Musa.
Add all the right stuff and it is game on with these guy's.
I still think the soil needs to be reformulated to fit your plant.



Untitled by Hostafarian, on Flickr

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shawndac1

wow @cinci they are huge an yea im thinking im deffinetly going to change it up for sure, I did take the rocks out yesterday and got some peat moss also ,proably going to pick up some perilite, and pine shivers this weekend and see if we cant her growing, should I do my orinioco to ya think??? since it is doing so much better or just let it be????

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cincinnana

Well...you could.
A lighter mix might benefit the growth of that one also. My Orinocos are in the same mix and are looking good as well.
No need to remove all the soil from the roots, lighten up your soil a bit around those roots and any new root growth will be in that new medium.
I do not use sand at all in my mix .
For me it makes a denser medium which holds more water and promotes possible root rot.

No need to spend alot of money to enhance your soil....maybe just peatmoss.


A decent starter fert is Espoma fertilizer for the garden.......great for getting those roots going and will not burn your newly placed plant.

You have a nice collection of plants there, lookin good.

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