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View Full Version : Did I purchase a water sucker?


jen
08-26-2008, 08:52 AM
I have a ? So...when I go to a nursery and find a banana I want to buy and it's in a 1 gallon, 2 gallon, or 5 gallon how do I know if it was a sword sucker or a water sucker? Could my Dwarf Jamaican Red I just purchased in a 1 gallon have been a water sucker? Is there a way to tell once they are a little grown up? Are they not even worth planting?

Jen

Lagniappe
08-26-2008, 09:04 AM
Hi Jen ,
Chances are good that they are neither . Most growers buy or produce cultured plantlets .

jen
08-26-2008, 09:15 AM
Here it is...it doesnt' look very red either. I think I'm getting paranoid from too much information. Ignorance is bliss. :)
Jen


http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=12734&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=12734&ppuser=3966)

http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=12735&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=12735&ppuser=3966)

Dean W.
08-26-2008, 09:17 AM
Looks great to me!

chong
08-26-2008, 10:54 AM
Like Pete says, it looks like from tissue culture.

CookieCows
08-26-2008, 11:33 AM
I have a ? So...when I go to a nursery and find a banana I want to buy and it's in a 1 gallon, 2 gallon, or 5 gallon how do I know if it was a sword sucker or a water sucker? Could my Dwarf Jamaican Red I just purchased in a 1 gallon have been a water sucker? Is there a way to tell once they are a little grown up? Are they not even worth planting?

Jen

Jen, don't feel alone! It started nagging at me too after learning about the water suckers! :ha:

Deb

Taylor
08-26-2008, 11:43 AM
It is Dwarf Red like you said...and I don't honestly know what TYPE of pup it is, so I will stay on the safe side and agree with Pete.

By the way everyone, water suckers...although have less vigor, will produce fruit, maybe not as many as a sword sucker, but eventually your original plant will pup, and it is quite possible that they will be sword suckers which will produce more fruit.. So don't judge a banana plant by its leaf size!!!

Bananaman88
08-26-2008, 12:16 PM
I agree with Taylor 100% I don't let it worry me too much when I get a new plant from someone whether it is a water or sword sucker. I've never had any issues with either one.

Chironex
08-26-2008, 12:47 PM
I am glad that you went and bought it! It will be fine. It's nice looking, too!

Richard
08-26-2008, 01:01 PM
I've been reading that the shape of leafs in fruiting bananas, particularly in suckers is more influenced by the presence of minerals than anything else. "Spike-leaf pups" are a symptom of Calcium and sometimes Potassium deficiency. A soil test or leaf analysis (chemical) is needed to make an actual determination. A grove of bananas with predominately spike-leaf pups is often being fed with triple-15 and no micronutrients (e.g., no calcium supplement).

jen
08-26-2008, 01:45 PM
Taylor I didn't even think about future pups. Good info.

Richard that is interesting and as always I'm amazed at your banana brain.

I fell so much better. I'm going to plant it today.

It actually looks even better than the pics and seems pretty healthy. For $9.99 I couldn't pass it up. :)

Thanks everyone.

Jen

Dean W.
08-26-2008, 04:13 PM
For $9.99 I couldn't pass it up. :)



Wow, great buy! :woohoonaner: