bigdog

I have no experience scarifying Musa seeds. I've just read about it in a couple of scientific articles, and they reported some success with it. I imagine the more seed coat you can remove, the better. Again...I have never tried it. Interestingly, I've always seen the advice given about scarification of Musa seeds as something to the effect of "Don't do it!" It seems to be almost a universally (ok, maybe just an internet-banana-forum-wide) accepted given that you just don't do it. Given the generally poor success rates without scarification, I can't see as how it would hurt any!! I have many thousands of banana seeds to experiment with here, several hormones to experiment with, the benefit of a university's resources, and am going to try all kinds of cool stuff.

Yes to your second question, Allen. I thought that the results of this study were fairly significant, as it goes against the popular convention of using a sterile mix to start seeds in. Even more interesting and eye-opening: In the study, the seeds that had zero percent germination with the three sterile mixes used were, after many months, placed in a non-sterile medium, and well over 20 percent germination was the result!

The idea that microbes are necessary to help penetrate the thick outer seed coat is very logical when you think about it. Musa seeds are known to stay viable for at least two years in moist conditions, possibly more. Perhaps they just sit there in the wet soil and wait until the seed coat is thin enough for the embryo to penetrate it. I do know that I still have some Musa ingens seeds that I had about given up on, but now will be excavating them from their flats and trying something new.


As to your third question...don't see why you would want to do that if your seeds had already germinated, but it shouldn't hurt the seedlings as long as the mix is pretty light and you keep an eye out for fungus attacks (damping off). Keep a spray bottle with some fungicide or Hydrogen Peroxide handy.

Something else to consider: heating the seeds in very hot water (like on the stove) for a few minutes. For Mimosa pudica, it is recommended to heat them at 140F for 20 minutes prior to sowing. Don't know if it would work for Musa, but has anybody tried it?

GA3 is useless on Musa seed, by the way. In order for it to work, it needs to be able to penetrate the seed coat to get to the embryo. It can't without some help. I don't know if it would help with a weakened seed coat though.

Gabe I've noticed that behavior with Musa seeds, and with Ensete as well. I had some Ensete glaucum and E. ventricosum seeds sitting around for over a year before deciding to try and germinate them late last summer. Most popped right around the same time, but a few weeks later, 4 or 5 more came up at once. There is a thought that the chalazal mass is actually somehow keeping the embryo from germinating. There has to be some chemical inhibitor at work...or could it just be physical?

Erlend, I know of at least two people, one in zone 8a, who have stated that Musa velutina pops up like a weed everywhere in their garden. We have it in the greenhouses, and I've seen it coming up in cracks in the greenhouse floor! Eric at Leu Gardens said it is a weed there, and Musa itinerans is making a case for weed status.

Well, I have some exciting ideas to experiment with! Now, if it weren't for all of that bothersome schoolwork, I might be able to get some REAL work done!!