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View Full Version : First Timer Here ... Unsure What I Planted


Sleili
07-22-2015, 01:18 PM
Hi All,

I planted two banana plants back in the beginning of May. I purchased them from a local garden supply store and the tag did not identify the plant specifically. Only that is was a fast growing banana plant that is cold tolerant. (I live in NE Ohio so cold hardy is a must!) I was looking for basjoo as these seem to be the easiest to care for in my climate but I think I might have something else. I think I have had maybe 4-6 inches of p-stem growth the past three months and they are looking more like Super Dwarf Cavendish in stead. Any help in identifying these would be a great help as the summer is going to start winding down here soon and I am going to need to put together my overwinter plan which will depend on the species. Sorry the pics are kind of far away. These were the only ones I had. Please let me know if you need better pictures and I can take more. Thanks in advance for the help!

<a href=http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=58358><img src=http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=58358&size=1 border=0></a>

<a href=http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=58357><img src=http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=58357&size=1 border=0></a>

siege2050
07-22-2015, 01:47 PM
Need pics that are more close up, of the leaves, the canals in the petioles (Leaf stems) and the pstem, but from a distance they look like some form of Cavendish, definitely not cold hardy unfortunately. They do make a good houseplant in a south facing window, at least from my experience.

Sleili
09-02-2015, 03:15 PM
Thanks Siege. Sorry it's been awhile for the reply but here's a few more pictures. Let me know. I need to finalize winter plans and don't really have room in my house if these guys are going to get any larger than 7 or 8 feet. I have also ordered a few basjoo's and can clearly see that these aren't so I am really intrigued to learn what I have here. Thanks!

<a href=http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=58729><img src=http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=58728 border=0></a>

<a href=http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=58729><img src=http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=58729&size=1 border=0></a>

<a href=http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=58727><img src=http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=58727&size=1 border=0></a>

<a href=http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=58726><img src=http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=58726&size=1 border=0></a>

JP
09-02-2015, 05:57 PM
I'm unsure of what it is. Doesn't look SDC to me...

Kat2
09-02-2015, 06:09 PM
If there's not a reliable tag, could you ask the garden center who supplied the plant to them? If it's been in the ground since May it's not a very fast grower so, if you have space inside, you could winter it out of the weather. If not the mother plant, you could pot up some of the pups. I have no clue what it is. Sorry.

siege2050
09-02-2015, 07:19 PM
Not absolutely positive, but It looks like SDC that has been grown in high light with a solitary pstem, but definitely not Basjoo. When you grow them indoors in lower light or shade, they will make a more flattened rosette shape to the leaves that seem like the leaves almost cant escape the pstem, and you see a lot of examples of this in photos on this site. When grown outdoors in full sun the norm for mine at least is the more traditional banana look, but they retain the very short petioles. At first I thought mine might actually be a regular Dwarf Cavendish because of this, but when I moved them back in, in winter they resumed the stubby shape, the leaves get rounder also. Mine go from this more elongated appearance to the more flattened shape each winter while grown in the house, then flip over to the other shape in summer. I think my largest one is about 3 1/2 to 4 feet tall right now at the tips of the leaves. The leaves look a bit narrower, but that might be from folding in the sun.For sure though, dont move them straight out into the full sun in spring, mine burn like crazy if I do this, I have to get them used to it over a week or two.

siege2050
09-02-2015, 07:45 PM
Here is one of mine, it gets about 4 hours a day of straight sun, but is in shade the rest of the day. During winter it will start looking like some weird kinda vegetable with very round leaves, and has already started since I reduced it from full sun all day. You might have something else like Truly tiny, etc., yours has more powder, and less pink on the pstem, but the photos you posted on the first post looks about the same, but it does look like some form of Super Dwarf.
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=58732&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=58732)

Tytaylor77
09-02-2015, 10:51 PM
Looks exactly like my truly tiny / SDC. Not positively sure which mine is either. Was sold to me as truly tiny. Here is a picture of mine.

http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=58603&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=58603)

venturabananas
09-03-2015, 12:56 AM
Yes, some "ultra dwarf" version of Cavendish, probably SDC.

siege2050
09-03-2015, 06:10 PM
Yep, I would plan on giving it the space that you would give a SDC. It it grows through the ceiling though, oops lol