Lumpy Lass (Pirate Queen)

Hi All,

I am bananas about banana plants, but living in the Uk I know that we're very restricted in what we can have, and what can be planted in the ground.

I have lots of basjoos, and sikkimensis (with and without the red tiger stripes) outside, and inside I have some Helens hybrid, cheesemani and velutina pups in our cold conservatory that Im hoping to grow indoors until the spring and then to possibly plant out, or keep in very large pots and to bring in over the coldest months.

Please can you recommend any other Musa species that can stay outside, and be protected (wrapped up) during the winter.....

MANY THANKS FELLOW BANANA PLANT LOVERS!

Mellissa x

jmoore

Are you looking for fruiting varieties? I think you have pretty much all that is available.

I have a Musa 'Yangste River' which is a bit of a mystery, people think it's not quite as hardy as a Basjoo.

There's Darjeeling Giant which is another type of Sikkimensis. Griersonii is fairly hardy. Otherwise that's about it.

Welcome by the way.

Lumpy Lass (Pirate Queen)

Many thanks Jmoore,

I don't mind non-fruiting varieties.. its the jungle look that I love most about them to be honest..

But am keen to get ones that are different to the ones I already have now... Ive missed out on a few variegated basjoos on ebay, but I understand that the varigation grows out in most of them anyways, so not too bothered and glad to not fork out that much tbh ;o)

Really appreciate the suggestion of the Griersonii, and have just bought x10 seeds off of ebay because of this and will try to germinate them by soaking in some orange juice for a few days and then possibly the airing cupboard or a 28oC proporgator that I have somewhere.... (have never managed to propagate any of my seeds before, but I hear this method has really good results)

I also have some sikki Manipur seeds that I hope will germinate too, as they have LOADS of red on the leaves... will look striking against the greens of my garden...

do you know the latin name for the Darjeeling giant pls? this sounds AWESOME!! and will def be on my 'buy the seeds list' lol ;o)

What is the latin name for the Yangste River plant you have? as again i'd really love to look this one up and perhaps give it a go.... whats your experience of its hardiness? would it be okay outside protected? or inside a cold conservatory in the winter months?

Greatly appreciate your advice / words of wisdom, and glad to be a member of this forum with other people who share the same Bananary-passion ;o)

Mellissa

Tytaylor77

Lesiocarpa/golden lotus i believe is the most cold hardy I grow. I should get my first flower this year. I’m excited to see it.

I also grow Musa Mekong giant. And it seems to have a similar cold hardiness as basjoo to me. You have all the others i would recommend.

Good luck!
Ty

__________________

150+ Varieties!!. See profile for list. Help me add more!

www.bananapups.com

jmoore

You can't get Mekong Giant in the UK as no-one is TCing it. I did try it when it was available and it wasn't great to be honest.

To answer your questions about Yangste River; it doesn't have a Latin name as it hasn't been recognised as a separate species.

Darejeeling Giant is a form of Sikkimensis; Musa Sikkimensis 'Darjeeling Giant'

Lumpy Lass (Pirate Queen)

Thank you BOTH...

I have just bought x20 seeds of the Meekong Giant from the US via Ebay.... am SUPER EXCITED!!!!

will get on the hunt for the yangste rover banana too (it sounds like an episode from that RIVER MONSTERS TV SHOW!!!) mwahahaha....

Ty, I have Lasiocarpas, but have found that they die off if left outside and whilst being cold hardy, they don't seem at all frost hardy.. but thanks.. I have quite a few of these in our conservatory, and they go out during the warmer summer months. they're a beautiful plant though and clusters of these are in my most decorative and very large pots because of this...

I cant wait to see them flower and to make BANANA FLOWER PAKORAS! as the banana flower is REALLY TASTEY, especially as Pakora.. we had them in sri lanka, and have bought banana flowers online in the uk previously just to make these..... *yummmmy*

thank you all for the suggestions.. ive bought the griersoni and meekong giant seeds, and will buy and try any more that are recommended and will post about how they get on, germinate and grow ;o)

Mellissa

griphuz

Same experience here with the Mekong Giant, I guess it needs a lot of heat to get going. Growing them in the US is absolutely not the same as in europe!

Musa sp Yangtze seems to be Musa yunnanensis var yongpingensis.

Kind regards,
Remko.

Richard

That's good, because all species bananas produce seeds and are inedible. If you desire edible (seedless) bananas you'll need to expand your request to 'Edible Bananas for the UK'.

__________________
Back in business at plantsthatproduce.com