Basjoofriend

Hi,

to import plants to another country is not easy, there are many restrictions by import laws, many foreign plants spread alien diseases, other are invasive and further other plants are so rare and in danger of extinction and are on the Red List. Why Hawaii had to give one import permit to you, this is clear. Hawaii wants to protect its flora and to avoid invasive plants and plants with alien diseases. You needed also one phytosanitary certificate. Especially Brazil normally does not allow imports of banana pups and plants, I tried to get Musa Thousand Fingers and Praying Hands via Argentina and Costa Rica, got scammed by one member who is now banned here and I reported him to the police in Germany. Costa Rica, Argentina, Israel and Paraguay are the only countries which are permited to import banana rhizomes, banana suckers and banana plants and tissue culture banana plants to Brazil. In 2008 I wanted to import my banana plants from Germany to Brazil because the too cold climate of Germany, too cold to survive without winter protection and to ripe fruits and also to breed in Brazil. To breed new hardy fruit bananas and cross with Musa basjoo is nearly impossible in Germany, here in Brazil because of the climate much easier. Now the pup from my Musa basjoo (the mother plant was passed away recently and rotten because of the fungus) in the nursery of Helton in Campina do Monte Alegre has flowered for the first time after only one year, only one inflorescence of Musa basjoo, the seeds will give openpollinated hybrids with Musa balbisiana, thomsonii, yunnanensis, itinerans and other from seeds from Rarepalmseeds. Musa basjoo is not self fertile, but might be openpollinated by other Musa species which are in the neighbourhood and male flowering to pollinate.

But the Agricultural Ministery refused my apply to get one import permit for my bananas from Germany, bananas from Thailand and the USA, I wanted to order. But I did not give up and got in touch with Helton and he was helpful, we became friends. I sent him seeds from Rarepalmseeds wiithout problems, the now flowering huge banana plants are grown up from seeds from Sunshine Seeds, Rarepalmseeds and Sementes. Now it is so far that Helton and I can try to hybridize with Musa basjoo despite of the death of the basjoo mother plant in my yard in Lucianópolis, I still have 3 one year old pups at my pond, which are thriving much better at the pond. It was so important to give one pup to Helton in November 2011, so it will be one backup if I do lose all of the basjoos here. Helton will propagate the basjoo pup by suckers and create hybrids from seeds, because the open pollinated seeds do not result pure basjoos. He now has one open pollinated seedling from Musa Figo alias Orinoco, pollinator unknown, perhaps M. balbisiana, thomsonii, sikkimensis or anyone wild species from Rarepalmseeds. When the seedling from Figo does sucker one day, he will give me some suckers.

Best wishes
Joachim