View Full Version : Coco gros Michel plant
Pip313
12-19-2015, 11:31 PM
Desperately looking for verified source of this variety. I live in an apartment in Michigan and can't do full size trees.
Willing to pay a good price for a real coco
robguz24
12-20-2015, 02:21 AM
My dwarf Gros Michel is probably 18' high at the top of the tallest leaf so don't expect it to be small like some other dwarf types are.
Pip313
12-20-2015, 09:35 AM
Are you sure you have a coco, yours is taller than a full size gros Michel
'Gros Michel' which is the tallest at about 15ft, 'Highgate' which is about 10ft, and 'Cocos' which is about 6-8ft.
Gabe15
12-20-2015, 01:55 PM
Banana plant heights are measured from the soil to the top of the pseudostem (aka "trunk"), and do not include the leaves as it can be variable and is difficult to accurately measure. Plus throw in a pot underneath if you're container growing and the referenced plant heights really need to be carefully considered.
In my experience 'Cocos' and 'Highgate' are similar height, with 'Highgate' being somewhat shorter initially, but much stockier than 'Cocos'. That being said, I doubt you would be able to get either to fruit in a container in an apartment. Of if they did, it would take a very long time and make very very small, possibly fruitless bunch. Dwarf is a relative term, but these plants are still huge. You could grow one as a specimen houseplant, but if you're after indoor banana fruit, I would focus more on 'Dwarf Cavendish' and 'Super Dwarf Cavendish'.
Pip313
12-20-2015, 02:13 PM
Indoor specimen non fruiting with the option of going in a greenhouse when I buy my house. Plan for greenhouse is 15 feet tall with a ground level that lasts 5 feet wide then drops to another 15 feet at its max. (In 5 foot increments. Bananas would be at the 10 foot level with avocados at the 15 and citrus at the 10)
Let me add I have 20 dwarf citrus and 2 dwarf avocado, a dwarf pomegranate and a habanada. I can handle indoor tropicals.
robguz24
12-20-2015, 03:07 PM
Even 15' may not be high enough without the taller leaves getting somewhat smashed. I have a few short GM variants. Some seem to fruit consistently around 8', guessing this is Cocos. Have another I just got as "Dwarf Bluefields" that first fruited at 6' but is now closer to 10' on 2nd bunch, and indeed is much stockier than the other type. So I'm guessing this stocky one is Highgate. Thanks Gabe!
Gabe15
12-20-2015, 03:13 PM
Rob, 'Highgate' is fairly easy to ID, if you can post photos I can take a look at it. I've also seen another dwarf Gros Michel in Hawaii that has intermediate traits between 'Cocos' and 'Highgate'.
PR-Giants
12-20-2015, 04:16 PM
Rob, 'Highgate' is fairly easy to ID, if you can post photos I can take a look at it. I've also seen another dwarf Gros Michel in Hawaii that has intermediate traits between 'Cocos' and 'Highgate'.
Gabe, do you know which dwarf Gros Michel the TARS in PR is growing?
I've got a few that will be blooming in the next couple of weeks.
Gabe15
12-20-2015, 06:53 PM
Based on these photos, 'Highgate' TARS 17153 looks actually more like a Cavendish clone to me, with the red underlying pseudostem color, the semi-persistant bracts above the male bud, and the rounder fruit tips. Do you know which accession you have?
01PRI10841, Highgate | Musa Germplasm Information System (http://www.crop-diversity.org/mgis/accession/01PRI10841)
Pip313
12-20-2015, 07:04 PM
I'm grateful for the discussion but it seems no one knows of a reputable cocos seller nor anyone who wants to sell pups from personal plants?
PR-Giants
12-20-2015, 07:51 PM
Based on these photos, 'Highgate' TARS 17153 looks actually more like a Cavendish clone to me, with the red underlying pseudostem color, the semi-persistant bracts above the male bud, and the rounder fruit tips. Do you know which accession you have?
01PRI10841, Highgate | Musa Germplasm Information System (http://www.crop-diversity.org/mgis/accession/01PRI10841)
Yea, we've talked about that Highgate Cavendish on the forum before and TARS does list it as a Cavendish and it was removed. It's kind of sad, I believe the donor gave a Cav & a DGM and both turned out to be incorrect and were removed, the Cav was a GM & the GM a Cav.
The dwarf Gros Michel I'm growing is definitely a dwarf and definitely a Gros Michel. I was just hoping you knew which one, I'll find the #.
Pip313
12-20-2015, 08:13 PM
I'm begging you to tell me where you got it form or when the time comes sell me a pup. I'll go as far as buy you another plant if that's your wish.
PR-Giants
12-20-2015, 08:31 PM
I would recommend a Kokopo or Veinte Cohol way before a DGM.
There's a member near Kokomo, Indiana who's got Kokopo & VC.
robguz24
12-20-2015, 08:42 PM
Here is the "Dwarf Bluefields" that is thicker, seems to make a bit larger bunches. First fruited at 6', 2nd bunch about 10'. This is the one I'm thinking may be Highgate. I have a Highgate from you Gabe, but that's still small.
http://i1289.photobucket.com/albums/b508/robguz24/Robs%20bananas/IMG_8176_zps77f4fx9d.jpg (http://s1289.photobucket.com/user/robguz24/media/Robs%20bananas/IMG_8176_zps77f4fx9d.jpg.html)
http://i1289.photobucket.com/albums/b508/robguz24/Robs%20bananas/IMG_8175_zps0qbe1fv5.jpg (http://s1289.photobucket.com/user/robguz24/media/Robs%20bananas/IMG_8175_zps0qbe1fv5.jpg.html)
http://i1289.photobucket.com/albums/b508/robguz24/Robs%20bananas/IMG_8178_zpsx0ohyjto.jpg (http://s1289.photobucket.com/user/robguz24/media/Robs%20bananas/IMG_8178_zpsx0ohyjto.jpg.html)
This is the original GM I got years ago, sold as a Raja Puri. Pseudostems not as thick. Tends to fruit at 7-10', but never as short as my first bunch from the plant above.
http://i1289.photobucket.com/albums/b508/robguz24/Robs%20bananas/IMG_8170_zps7wlm5akx.jpg (http://s1289.photobucket.com/user/robguz24/media/Robs%20bananas/IMG_8170_zps7wlm5akx.jpg.html)
http://i1289.photobucket.com/albums/b508/robguz24/Robs%20bananas/IMG_8171_zps0aybru8n.jpg (http://s1289.photobucket.com/user/robguz24/media/Robs%20bananas/IMG_8171_zps0aybru8n.jpg.html)
http://i1289.photobucket.com/albums/b508/robguz24/Robs%20bananas/IMG_8173_zpscioa3yfa.jpg (http://s1289.photobucket.com/user/robguz24/media/Robs%20bananas/IMG_8173_zpscioa3yfa.jpg.html)
PR-Giants
12-21-2015, 08:15 AM
That's a problem with using the Musa Germplasm Information System, it's just a collection of information, some is accurate and some isn't. The TARS site removes the incorrect accessions from the active listing but it remains on the Musa Germplasm Information System.
01PRI10833, Lacatan | Musa Germplasm Information System (http://www.crop-diversity.org/mgis/accession/01PRI10833)
TARS 17144 | Lacatan | Unknown Gros Michel (https://npgsweb.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/accessiondetail.aspx?id=1647326)
TARS 17840 | Guaran Enano | Gros Michel (https://npgsweb.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/accessiondetail.aspx?id=1647360)
http://s19.postimg.org/5zfgr9zmb/TARS17840_flower_900x1366.jpg (http://postimage.org/)
http://s19.postimg.org/e3nkw0m1f/TARS17840_HARVESTED_900x1200.jpg (http://postimage.org/)
Based on these photos, 'Highgate' TARS 17153 looks actually more like a Cavendish clone to me, with the red underlying pseudostem color, the semi-persistant bracts above the male bud, and the rounder fruit tips. Do you know which accession you have?
01PRI10841, Highgate | Musa Germplasm Information System (http://www.crop-diversity.org/mgis/accession/01PRI10841)
Pip313
12-21-2015, 10:21 AM
I'm set on gros Michel. I want to tast the old school banana. Eventually.
Gabe15
12-22-2015, 10:46 PM
Rob, it's hard to say. My 'Highgate' was a very stocky plant. It has relatively short fingers compared to other GM clones (6-7" max in my memory), which I've seen referenced multiple times in many publications so that should be a good trait. The keiki on your plants also don't seem quite as compact and dwarf, and my 'Highgate' always had lots of persistent male flowers on the rachis. 'Highgate' seems to be a true dwarf, rather than just a shorter clone. I have many photos I'll try to upload later.
Gabe15
12-22-2015, 11:06 PM
My 'Highgate' photos: https://goo.gl/photos/64mMCBqKw3N8sEgh9
robguz24
12-23-2015, 02:06 AM
Thanks Gabe. Probably different based on the messy rachis alone. The fingers on mine don't seem like the long kind I get on Williams or see in locally grown Williams fruit, and they don't seem quite as long of pictures of the regular GM. Who knows, maybe it is Cocos. The fruit from the 2 clear shorter GM types I have taste the same and have the same texture. The "raja puri" one has a peel that has a distinctive sensation like tearing a sheet of paper when peeled and a very tough skin, with the more stocky one much less that way. They both taste the same as the fruit you brought to the talk last summer in Kona. Well, I'll probably keep selling them as a "Dwarf Gros Michel" until I can make a more specific determination.
PR-Giants
12-23-2015, 08:54 AM
I'm set on gros Michel. I want to tast the old school banana. Eventually.
Here's a member selling the old school Cocos for only $15 and Gabe can give you a positive ID on the photo.
If you don't find what you're looking for, I'll be shipping out the Dwarf Gros Michel next year.
http://www.bananas.org/f3/young-pups-giant-corms-sale-11-a-22658.html
http://s19.postimg.org/txl0pof4j/GF_CGM.jpg (http://postimage.org/)
Gabe15
12-23-2015, 01:33 PM
I'm rather skeptical that plant from GreenFin is 'Cocos'. Indoor/greenhouse plants can be harder to ID since many traits can change and they are often stunted to some degree, but there is little to indicate it is at least a Gros Michel clone. Looks more like a Silk or something else totally different.
Pip313
12-23-2015, 07:46 PM
That's a bummer he said he got it from Pitangadiego
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