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edwmax
12-28-2016, 05:54 PM
What is considered to be "best practice" for the "home grower" to grow young TCs that apparently are just out of the rooting tray & greenhouse. I have not found much info for these.

I bought 5 plants the beginning of November. 2 appear to be dead and the stalk of the 3rd has collapsed after about 2 months. I closely watched and metered the potting soil moisture trying to keep the plants from giving too dry and the potting soil too wet.

2 Plants (one is the one that collapsed) were not looking good last week. I started giving these water every day. That was the way they were watered (or more) in the greenhouse. 1 is now growing and looking good while the other collapsed. These plants are inside and under a grow light.

The next TCs I buy, I will re-pot in sand so they can be watered once or twice and spray mist on the foliage daily until there is good leaf and height growth.

Richard
12-28-2016, 06:49 PM
Check this thread: http://www.bananas.org/f310/richards-guide-homegrown-bananas-46227.html#post296373

edwmax
12-28-2016, 08:23 PM
Thanks for the link, but that is for "field ready" plants. TC plantlets from Florida Hill Nursery & like suppliers are not "field ready" nor potted house plant ready for that matter. ... These (new) TC plantlets will not survive those procedures ... yet.

These plantlets have just been harden from in vitro to open air greenhouse shaded environment with a mist system. The plantlets have just grown its first roots, but have not grown a corm of any size.

To get the plantlets "field ready" they still need filtered sunlight and constant moisture until they grow the corm and obtain plant size. Then be acclimated to normal sunlight and outside environment. ... I've seen the micro prorogation videos for this, but this was for mass production in a shade house.

So that is my question ... does someone have a 'best practice' system to accomplish growing the TC and hardening it off to be 'field ready".

MY thoughts or what I will try with the next TC's:
** re-pot to sand and water with fertilizer twice a day (1/4 cup) tapering off as the plant grows. This is to keep fresh water to the roots and reduce root rot from excess stale water until obtaining stalk and corm size for self storage of water.

** Mist the plant daily with a spray bottle with water-fertilizer foliage mixture to assist plant, root and corm growth. This is how the in-vitro worked and the greenhouse misting system while the plantlet grew roots.

** Keep plantlets inside with filtered sunlight or grow lights until ready to be acclimated to the outside environment.

Dose anyone have a better way or additional suggestions?

sputinc7
12-28-2016, 08:44 PM
I put them in the ground here in central Florida where it is all sand anyway with some Black Kow and water daily until they grow a couple leaves, then taper to every other day. I put a lawn chair up to protect from mid day sun exposure.(They still got morning and evening sun.) I did this with three tender TC starts and all three took off and grew a corm in a month or two. After they began growing I removed the chair.
Nothing fancy, but it worked. I am a firm believer that plants like it best outside in the ground where God made them to be.
I have had several plants of different kinds that were near death I found in people's trash, markdown bins and that people gave me and once they were in the ground, BAM! off they would go.

edwmax
12-28-2016, 09:13 PM
That's basically what I was doing. Repotted to 6 inch pots and set them at a morning sunny window under a grow light and kept a close check on the water. The Grand Nam and another died; the Gros Mich collapsed ( i think it might come back). They are inside for the winter because the 26 deg F we had a few weeks ago would have killed them. ... Any way I'm trying to improve the success rate; 60% loss sucks.

Richard
12-29-2016, 03:06 AM
Thanks for the link, but that is for "field ready" plants.

No it isn't. And if you have further questions send me a PM so I can update the guide.

beam2050
12-29-2016, 06:08 AM
Thanks for the link, but that is for "field ready" plants. TC plantlets from Florida Hill Nursery & like suppliers are not "field ready" nor potted house plant ready for that matter. ... These (new) TC plantlets will not survive those procedures ... yet.

These plantlets have just been harden from in vitro to open air greenhouse shaded environment with a mist system. The plantlets have just grown its first roots, but have not grown a corm of any size.

To get the plantlets "field ready" they still need filtered sunlight and constant moisture until they grow the corm and obtain plant size. Then be acclimated to normal sunlight and outside environment. ... I've seen the micro prorogation videos for this, but this was for mass production in a shade house.

So that is my question ... does someone have a 'best practice' system to accomplish growing the TC and hardening it off to be 'field ready".

MY thoughts or what I will try with the next TC's:
** re-pot to sand and water with fertilizer twice a day (1/4 cup) tapering off as the plant grows. This is to keep fresh water to the roots and reduce root rot from excess stale water until obtaining stalk and corm size for self storage of water.

** Mist the plant daily with a spray bottle with water-fertilizer foliage mixture to assist plant, root and corm growth. This is how the in-vitro worked and the greenhouse misting system while the plantlet grew roots.

** Keep plantlets inside with filtered sunlight or grow lights until ready to be acclimated to the outside environment.

Dose anyone have a better way or additional suggestions?

first, forget the 4 inch pots. I haven't had any nanners survive in them. they last about a month maybe 2 and end up with what you just described. 2nd to much water and I think that is why they die in 4 inch pots, no room to breath and stay to wet. I bought 7 what are supposed to be blue javas from wellspring gardens the end of September, potted them in one gallon pots. I haven't watered them in a month, by my gauge, the soil is still moist and in this cooler weather they are putting out a leaf in 8 days. I going to have to raise my igloo style green house because they are growing to fast. I got 3 zebrinas and 3 sumatrana x from well spring gardens last week, their in 6 inch pots and except for one they all are throwing out leaves. and the pups are throwing out leaves. these are on the table in the dining room. I gave them about a quarter cup of water when I potted them. I have a really nice nain pup in a gallon pot if you want it.

sputinc7
12-29-2016, 09:31 AM
I have never seen anything do well in a 4 inch pot. Always too dry then too wet. Plants are always stressing. I agree.

edwmax
12-29-2016, 10:32 AM
@Beam

Just so we are not talking apple & oranges, what was your plant size from Wellsprings? I'm specifically referring to TC fresh from the rooting tray cell with a root ball 1 1/2" diameter x 4" deep and a corm smaller than a pea. Plants with bigger root balls have had further root development and growth.

And, I did not replant in 4" pots. I used 6" pots. I have 2 of the TC plants that are doing quit well, but 60% plant loss is not acceptable (3 out of the 5 TCs).

edwmax
12-29-2016, 10:33 AM
No it isn't. And if you have further questions send me a PM so I can update the guide.

PM sent.

edwmax
12-29-2016, 10:41 AM
@Beam

Thanks for the offer of the Gran Nain. I have 5 in the ground planted the first week of November with 4 to 6 inch pstems. These TCs are a learning project for me.

beam2050
12-29-2016, 10:47 AM
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=61081&size=1That's basically what I was doing. Repotted to 4 inch pots and set them at a morning sunny window under a grow light and kept a close check on the water. The Grand Nam and another died; the Gros Mich collapsed ( i think it might come back). They are inside for the winter because the 26 deg F we had a few weeks ago would have killed them. ... Any way I'm trying to improve the success rate; 60% loss sucks.

thought you said 4 inch pots.http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=61080&size=1these were the same size when I got them, same as yours

edwmax
12-29-2016, 11:38 AM
@beam
Actually I did say 4 n the above post. That has been corrected. thanks

beam2050
12-29-2016, 12:35 PM
@Beam

Just so we are not talking apple & oranges, what was your plant size from Wellsprings? I'm specifically referring to TC fresh from the rooting tray cell with a root ball 1 1/2" diameter x 4" deep and a corm smaller than a pea. Plants with bigger root balls have had further root development and growth.

And, I did not replant in 4" pots. I used 6" pots. I have 2 of the TC plants that are doing quit well, but 60% plant loss is not acceptable (3 out of the 5 TCs).

60 percent plant loss is inacceptable.? back in the 80s I had a place with a magical grove of bananas already on it. always wanted since then to get me a banana [tree]. when I retired I got one. a nain, had 20 pups on it, not the spear leaf type. then it had another 20 and then another 20. never was a house plant guy, get a small tree or a cutting throw it in a pot and watch it get bigger. did you know that bananas are hard to grow? especially in pots and of a small size. I lost 2/3rds of those pups. this is like being a general in the army, do your best, sacrifice them and gain that hill.

Richard
12-29-2016, 01:24 PM
Keep in mind that banana plants are not trees, but stalks that grow from a bulb. The stalk is called a pseudostem and the fruit they produce are technically berries.
Info:Plant Morphology - Bananas Wiki (http://www.bananas.org/wiki/Info:Plant_Morphology)

In my opinion, it seems that some of the folks in this thread are struggling with basic gardening practices. I recommend to you this book:
Plant Propagation, edited by Alan Toogood.

beam2050
12-29-2016, 02:18 PM
you know there is a lot of excellent information lost, people who no longer participate for one reason or another. but there are still some people with a lot of good information that still participate who still help out. thank you

edwmax
12-29-2016, 02:20 PM
...

thought you said 4 inch pots.http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=61080&size=1these were the same size when I got them, same as yours

Are you saying these are the plants and pots from Wellspring? They look to be much bigger than my TCs. If so they are not the same as mine.

My TC that is surviving, a Gros Mich, has grown in the past week. The 3 leaves are about twice as big. The pstem is 5" tall and less than 1/2 in (.4") diameter. This plant has much improved since i've been watering it every day disregarding the 'wet' indication of the water meter. I'll back off the water now before root rot set in.

The other Gros Mic that collapsed as a pstem of less than !/8" diameter. The pstem of the Gran Nain that died was about 1/8" diameter. These were shipped with the root balls (1 1/2" x 4" deep/long) warped in plastic and obviously straight from the 72 cell rooting tray as shipped by AgriStarts to Florida Hill.

beam2050
12-29-2016, 02:38 PM
yes the blue javas were that size when I bought them from wellsprings. and if you look closely at the zabrinas and the sumatranas 3 of the plants have pups.

sputinc7
12-29-2016, 03:44 PM
The three I spoke of were like green onions with a couple skinny leaves on them. Tip of the root to the tip of the leaf was about 18 inches max...
Say what you want, but I am usually quite successful with plants unless I try something new. Nobody bats 100% in Florida, too many bugs, diseases and fungi here.

Richard
12-29-2016, 04:17 PM
The three I spoke of were like green onions with a couple skinny leaves on them.

That's normal. I used to buy them 3 full trays (3 x 72 TCs) at a time.

Tip of the root to the tip of the leaf was about 18 inches max...

That's about double the height I would receive from AgriStarts. My guess is that Florida Hill had them for a few months before shipping to you.

too many bugs, diseases and fungi here.

It's the same in my locale, and the reason I have a CA State pesticide applicators license.

Here's my banana growing area at my previous home (USDA zone 9) in October 2009.

http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=61090&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=61090&ppuser=1558)

edwmax
12-29-2016, 09:23 PM
OK … for those following this thread:

…. This thread was to find or define the Best Practice to grow young TC Plantlets, which are just out of the rooting tray and greenhouse. Both Beam2050 and Sputinc7 have helped (whether they know it or not) by posting their growing method. Their method works for them. Why? … They both live in Florida!

It was stated above that we were struggling with basic gardening methods. Those basic methods are Fertilizer, water & humidity, sunlight, and temperature applied in the right combination for the “particular” plant being grown. … TC plantlet ARE NOT the same as growing a 3 ft tall banana pup or a garden of corn; and growing banana plants inside is not the same as growing them outside. Different methods are needed; mostly only slight changes.

So why did Beam2050 and Sputtinc7 method succeed and I lost 3 of my TCs? … I believe it was Humidity. If you have every been to Florida during the summer, then you would know how humid Florida is. You can actual see moisture vapor (aka: steam) rising from the sandy ground. Beam2050 had his TC plants in gallon pots under a small igloo style greenhouse cover directly on top of the ground. This trapped the ground humidity keeping the upper green plant moist and provided need shade from the sun. Sputic7 planted his TC Plantlets directly in the ground then placed a ‘lawn chair’ over the plant for shade and the rising ground moisture kept the plantlets from drying out. Their methods met the basic needs of the TC plantlets.

Now what happened to my plantlets? … I brought my plantlet inside because of low nightly temperatures (38 F tonight) and I have not built a greenhouse yet. It was only 5 pots. However, Georgia humidity is much lower than Florida’s (knock on wood; usually) and the humidity inside the house is even lower. This caused the upper green part of the plant to slowly dry out which then the plantlet looked like it needed watering. With these young tender TC plantlets, once a problem becomes visible it is almost too late to correct. … So live and learn … buy new plantlets ...

The steps I outlined above for TC growth I will try with my next plantlets. This has not changed, but humidity control or plant misting even in a small greenhouse will be top of the list. … I live in hot dry Georgia not humid wet Florida.

Thanks to Beam2050, Sputinc7, and Richard. If anyone has additional suggestions please post them.

Richard
12-29-2016, 11:11 PM
... humidity control or plant misting even in a small greenhouse will be top of the list. ...


I don't think frequent misting or sustained high humidity are necessary at all.

Richard
12-29-2016, 11:20 PM
See if this helps ...
http://www.bananas.org/f310/richards-guide-potted-plant-care-46311.html

edwmax
12-30-2016, 07:17 AM
I don't think frequent misting or sustained high humidity are necessary at all.

These plantlets came from a greenhouse where they were receiving misting. The pots & soil-mix were carefully watered, not too dry and not too wet using a moisture meter. But, 3 plantlets slowly withered & died. No misting or low humidity is certainly an environmental change for the young tender TC plantlet.

The two plantlets that have survived ARE getting daily misting (not frequent) from the squirt bottle. To reduce plant stress of the new TC plantlets, the greenhouse conditions need to be provided as closely as possible & practical for couple of weeks and then reduced to normal potted plant conditions as the plantlet grows.

Few of us can afford $8 to $10 per plantlet (or $2 from Argistarts) just to find which will survive by JUST putting the plantlet into a pot or ground and water. The goal is to insure all the plantlets will survive, even the weaker ones.

I'm not realty new to this. Growing up on a Farm, we had a small nursery operation rooting plants. The sprinklers for finishing & harden-off the finished pots are still in place. I plan to be using those within the next year.

edwmax
12-30-2016, 07:22 AM
See if this helps ...
http://www.bananas.org/f310/richards-guide-potted-plant-care-46311.html

Thanks for the link. But I'm already aware of how to pot up a plant. Those general directions were being followed. ... As far growing tubular plants (aka: potatoes), that I'm not doing. Not in pots anyway, 1/2 acre plots yes.

Richard
12-30-2016, 10:48 AM
Thanks for the link. But I'm already aware of how to pot up a plant. Those general directions were being followed. ... As far growing tubular plants (aka: potatoes), that I'm not doing. Not in pots anyway, 1/2 acre plots yes.

Try following the watering instructions and being less defensive.

kaczercat
12-30-2016, 01:10 PM
So you now have 2 out of 5 that survived?and are you saying these are TC's that were 2 inches or so? like what you see in jars?in TC Labs? It's not easy to start up any young banana in November even in a greenhouse. I'm sure you will have a greater success rate buying them in spring.

edwmax
12-30-2016, 04:39 PM
Try following the watering instructions and being less defensive.

Why do you think I wasn't following good watering practice which BTW induces similar actions as described by your reference? I have stated several time water was being carefully watched. ... Are you trying to promote your link?

edwmax
12-30-2016, 04:51 PM
So you now have 2 out of 5 that survived?and are you saying these are TC's that were 2 inches or so? like what you see in jars?in TC Labs? It's not easy to start up any young banana in November even in a greenhouse. I'm sure you will have a greater success rate buying them in spring.

I don't know where you got those height measurements, the size of the plants were posted above. Except the Little Prince, it is a little over 3" tall and the pstem is about 5/8" dia. This one is a tough little bugger. I put it outside 2 weeks ago for a little sun. The leaves sunburned. I forgot this one does not like direct sun. within a week it has grown new leaves and dropped the old ones.

The two surviving plantlets of the 5 are: Gros Mich (5" tall pstem) and the Little Prince (3" plus pstem).

Richard
12-30-2016, 08:52 PM
...
It appears that:

your effort at reading advice and horticulture literature is only cursory (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cursory)
you believe your approach is similar to what I've described when in fact it is different
you are defensive to everyone in this thread to the point of being offensive.

edwmax
12-30-2016, 11:03 PM
It appears that:

your effort at reading advice and horticulture literature is only cursory (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cursory)
you believe your approach is similar to what I've described when in fact it is different
you are defensive to everyone in this thread to the point of being offensive.


Presumptuous (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/presumptuous) assumption (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/assumption) on your part since there absolutely no way for you to know any of that is true.

You are the one attacking me!

sputinc7
12-30-2016, 11:34 PM
There is, many times, more than one correct way to do something. To be the correct way, all it has to do is work. It may not be the most efficient way or the way you like to do it, but those factors do not prevent it from being correct.
For instance, you can shut a door then lock it, or lock the door then shut it. Which way is right? Either way it ends up shut and locked which is the objective. No need to be so dogmatic about your preferred methods, people, please...

edwmax
12-31-2016, 12:38 AM
There is, many times, more than one correct way to do something. To be the correct way, all it has to do is work. It may not be the most efficient way or the way you like to do it, but those factors do not prevent it from being correct.
For instance, you can shut a door then lock it, or lock the door then shut it. Which way is right? Either way it ends up shut and locked which is the objective. No need to be so dogmatic about your preferred methods, people, please...


You are entirely correct! ...

Richard's first link posted was to an article about 'fruiting home grown bananas' for site selection; planting; and watering of field ready plants. It did contain (only) 2 statements about TC plants in reference to shade and fertilizer. His second link posted is to his article "A few words about Potted Plants" which is general instructions for potting 'plants' (any type) and gives instruction for testing pot soil moisture using 'chopsticks' through the bottom hole of the pot and to 'Avoid watering the plants with a tray under the pot'. ... I use a long stem moisture meter from the top of the pot to the bottom checking multiple locations & depths around the pot.

From my "cursory" reading of those posted articles, it was easy to determine they contained no information applicable to TC plantlets for their current stage of growth. The articles are useless for my needs; a waste of my time to read; and were not applicable to growing TC plantlets to be field ready. ... However, in the above post, I politely thanked Richard for his contribution at the time.

Now to clear something else. 'TC' or 'tissue culture' is a descriptive name indicating how a plant was propagated. The term does not indicate the stage of growth of the plant itself: immature, young, or mature.

beam2050
01-05-2017, 06:09 AM
edwmax started this tc thread and got my curiosity up. I have been getting my tcs from wellspring gardens, never intended to get anymore bananas till spring. got my 3 gros Michel yesterday and my camera was in my wifes car. its to dark right now to get proper pictures. thought I would pound out what I found. I have received 13 tc total from wellsprings so far so this makes me an expert right, lol. wellsprings plants came in small pots you might get 2 fingers in. roots were well developed and the plants looked healthy. need to buy some more from florida hills to be fair. the fh tcs came in bags, which was no surprise from the pics from other people. the roots were healthy but for the size plant I was surprised the egg sized ball of soil wasn't thick with roots. might be the type of plant I am dealing with. the plants from both nurseries are about the same size. one was shipped only a cigar leaf and it looks pale. here is a picture of the zabrinas and the sumatranas after unpackaging. http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=61080&size=1

beam2050
01-05-2017, 06:12 AM
fyi edwmax the zabrinas and the sumatranas are in the house and not in my igloo style germinator/wintertime green house. got them almost exactly 2 weeks ago and they are putting on their second leaf. couple of hours when it gets light enough I will do the pics of the gros michels.

edwmax
01-05-2017, 08:32 AM
Thanks for updating your TC progress. This is helping. Your wellsprings plants look like they may have been grown a few weeks after transplanting to the small pots.

I have requested growing info from FloridaHills Nursery. And, I have contacted Banana specialist at the US Ag Research station at Tifton, Ga for their TC growing recommendations. I will post these when received.

To clarify our problem, I'll recap basic TC banana propagation steps for those that don't know or may be interested in growing these small banana TCs.
In-Vitro:Plant material is divided multiple times and grown in a nutrient medium in darkness.
In-Vitro)The sprout are then grown in a rooting medium under grow lights to get a few (3 to 6) roots about 1 to 1 1/2 inches long. 24 to 48 hours before transferring to the greenhouse, the jar lids are remove to allow the plantlet to acclimate to outside (lab) air at 80% to 90% humidity.
Primary Hardening (30 to 45 days): The plantlets are then transplanted to rooting trays (1 1/2" dia x 4" deep cells) for further root development in the greenhouse at about 80 to 90% humidity; & 50% shade: watering & fertilizer is by foliant spray. The humidity is gradually reduce to about 60%
Secondary Hardening (30 to 45 days): The plantlet are transplanted to 6" pots with soil & fertilizer and greenhouse/shadehouse at 50% shade & 60% humidity where the plantlets are gradually acclimated to full sunlight and outside conditions. The roots then become primary plant support for water & nutrients. The plantlet is now ready for the ground planting.


Without growing instructions from the nursery or their assurance the plants are 'field ready', then one needs to assume special care is needed to grow these small TC bananas. The small size pots and root balls appear to indicated the plantlets have not received Secondary Hardening necessary.

beam2050
01-05-2017, 11:51 AM
no sir, that's the pots they arrived in. see the tags on each end on the pot, each one has it identifying the plant.http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=61107&size=1 gangs all herehttp://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=61106&size=1

beam2050
01-05-2017, 02:17 PM
green earth publishing out of mebourne fla. is having a sale. a number of banana plants florida hills is not selling. tcs. shipped the same way as florida hills. a bit more expensive.

edwmax
01-05-2017, 05:13 PM
no sir, that's the pots they arrived in. see the tags on each end on the pot, each one has it identifying the plant.http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=61107&size=1 gangs all herehttp://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=61106&size=1

??? ... I stated those were the pots Wellsprings transferred the plantlets to. I do not know where Wellsprings get their TCs from. I assume from AriStarts (?) If so, Agristarts uses 72 cell trays.

Good looking plants, Beam.

beam2050
01-06-2017, 07:31 AM
I could not tell you at this time. agristarts might could be a good guess. you need a license to buy from agristarts. any body know what they charge for a tray. Richard? 250, 350? I assume they will mix. little hard to keep those creatures alive in those small pots. right light, watering, feed, pots.

edwmax
01-06-2017, 10:10 AM
@ Beam
PM sent

beam2050
01-12-2017, 01:07 PM
:drum: just got 2 pisang raja and 2 mona lisa plants from florida hills. wanted to check them out a little more than the gros michal.http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=61127&size=1 potting them I found the mona lisa had a larger root system than the raja. the raja while bigger has a root system like the gros michal and the michal is smaller than the mona lisa. one mona lisa has a small pup.

Richard
01-12-2017, 11:58 PM
I could not tell you at this time. agristarts might could be a good guess. you need a license to buy from agristarts. any body know what they charge for a tray. Richard? 250, 350? I assume they will mix. little hard to keep those creatures alive in those small pots. right light, watering, feed, pots.

Cost is dependent upon what you buy. They run around $1.50 per TC and there's 72 in a tray. Of course shipping charges are extra.

I don't recommend mixing TC's in a tray. The bananas are poorly labeled and will jump around during shipping. There's also additional charges for mixing varieties in a tray.

beam2050
02-19-2017, 09:36 AM
tc's from florida hill nusery. on the left is a kandarin, center siam ruby and the left a maurelii. received these last week.http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=61212&size=1i.

Nicolas Naranja
02-20-2017, 05:09 PM
My two cents after much trial and error over the years. I put the plants on my back porch which is shaded so that the planta can acclimate to outside conditions. I water once a day. After 2 weeks on the porch I can pot them and put them in the nursery. If you have a greenhouse you can pretty much skip the hardening on the porch step, just pot them directly.
My usual pot size is 1 gallon and I have used all kinds of different potting mixes with success. My PhD research showed that 12g per pot of osmocote 15-9-12 was adequate for fertilizer. Daily irrigation was best as well.

edwmax
02-20-2017, 10:14 PM
Ok ... to update

Several weeks ago I was put in contact with Dr. Esendugue Greg Fonsah. I ask what was the best practice to grow TC bananas as received from Florida Hills nursery or Agri-Starts.

After a week or so he replied with links to 3 research reports and 3 you-tube vids. Not a direct answer to my question; but 2 of the reports (Georgia experiments 2003 & 2004) did state how they handled new TC from Agri-Starts. The links are:
http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/bitstream/27149/1/35010086.pdf
http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/bitstream/26731/1/36010048.pdf

2003: The TC were put into 3L pots with 15 g of Osmocote and placed in the greenhouse (March 3rd to April 24th).

2004: The TC were treated the same, but were grown in the greenhouse for 6 weeks. The platelets were about 12" tall p-stem when transplanted. ... A recommendation was made in this report for the TC to be grown 12 weeks in the greenhouse.

The two reports basically shows my steps (recommendations) and assumptions above for growing young TC plantlets are not off base. ... All my potted bananas are doing much better with misting a couple of times a day. The GM TC is now about 10" tall with 5 new leaves.