Bananas

I've taken mine out of their pots now (yeah, should have done that months ago ...) in the hope that the roots drying out will enable them to come out of dormancy and beat the rot ...

One is throwing out a roller, the other is very mushy so not holding out much hope. Pity, as the two of them are a mainstay of my planting scheme, and although I have backups they are only 2L plants so not going to look much in their first year.

 

I had read somewhere that if the frost get the Maurelli then it's game over as it will sir back even if it's a light frost that just gets the leaves

 

Beat that - this is the Musa '1000 fingers' cultivar. The fruit continues growing until it reaches the ground. The fingers are small but sweet and edible.

 

Late follow up

At the start of this thread I cut an Ensete 'Maurelii' into 4 pieces. In retrospect it was clear that one on the pieces contained the original growing point. This has now grown into an eight foot plant that is already as big as the parent. It also had a few small pups, which I cut off.



I had another 20 or 30 pups and this shows 2 of them. Interestingly the one on the left, which has been in the warmth of my garden room is taller and thinner than the one on the right, which was forced to be outside because of lack of space. I shall look at short fat people in a new light now.

Overall the exercise has been a great success - the only problem is that I haven't found enough people to give them to - and I hate the idea of destroying good sized plants.

 

I hope I'm not the only one that thought this was funny?

 

Kristen talking about bananas , how did you mekong giant perfomed ???



got one myself inspired by the dark green leaves and the suppose to reach 13 meters in 10 years

 

Disappointing, which seems to be the consensus on HTUK - conclusion was that the summers are not warm enough here for it to put on enough growth to then come back strongly after the winter.

 

Any one know good places to get bananas from I have two but would like more different ones but can not find any plants on the net ?

 

Amulree - have had 50% off sales in the Autumn in previous years
http://turn-it-tropical.co.uk/scripts/prodList.asp?idCategory=4

Urban Jungle - also have had Winter sales, usually 25% from memory
http://www.urbanjungle.uk.com/category.asp?catname= Bananas for sale &catcode=10

For regular Bananas Jungle Plants are still selling a few under their sister site Jungle Seeds
http://www.jungleseeds.co.uk/contents/en-uk/d128.html

Jungle have the best quality via mail order that I have come across (25%-50% off at the moment), but since they "retired" from plant sales the range is limited

 

Thanks Kirsten will have to order some from there

 

Note that if Amulree says "Out of stock" it usually means "Once had it in stock and its now discontinued / might get some in the future / don't hold your breath"

 

Here's a couple of plants from my collection:

1) Musa griersonii - Himalayan Banana
I have had this one for nearly two years and kept it outdoors, only bringing it in during the coldest parts of winter.

It is similar to the popular Musa sikkimensis so would probably survive a mild UK winter. I am particularly taken by the markings on the leaves; a mixture of thin purple and deep red stripes. Sometimes the backs of the leaves will turn a deep maroon-red in the sun, which happens to several Musa varieties

2) Musella lasiocarpa 'Orange Form' (Chinese Dwarf Banana)
This is the well known Chinese Dwarf Banana that produces a star-shaped yellow flower. The seeds for this newly discovered orange flowered form come from Thailand.

I am quite certain that this distinct variety has never been cultivated before, so I look forward to the results. Grown from seed approximately six months ago.

 

Dug up the ensete with the strangles today
This was the one I brought from B&Q late last year in the sale
Not performed all year. I brought some other in late July as plugs and there bigger than this one.
Not sure whether to bother over wintering it or not?

 

If you are just going to pot it, along with others, and you have the space (spare) then nothing ventured nothing lost?