Log in

View Full Version : Thought Provoking Germination!


Tog Tan
04-27-2009, 09:24 AM
Rite....most people have their ways of germinating sds using methods which have been tried over and over. I have discovered 2 new methods by chance!

Incident #1
Look closely and you will see some of the sds have germinated.
<a href=http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=16678><img src=http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=16088 border=0></a>

Since I have a big bunch of extra sds of the Musa corneri collected for germn, I decided to try something crazy. I bagged up some 1,000+ sds moist to see if they have a natural resistance to fungus and left it on top of my work table. After 2+mths, instead of fungus, I had some of them germinating in the ziploc bag! There was enough moisture to get a couple of the stronger embryos up!
The day temp was around 90F and night time was high 70F with the air cond on.

Incident #2
Pix-1 : I was shocked to see sdlgs in a sealed deli cup coming up from broken fruits!
<a href=http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=16916><img src=http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=16916&size=1 border=0></a>

Pix-2 : Angle from above. Liquid is the juice from the fermenting old fruits.
<a href=http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=16917><img src=http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=16917&size=1 border=0></a>

Pix-3 : Close up of the sdlgs on the broken fruit removed from the deli cup. Mind you, the sdlgs came from the center of the fruit!
<a href=http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=16918><img src=http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=16918&size=1 border=0></a>

For the life of me, I just cannot remember what species this is. I had put a couple of broken ripen fruits in a deli cup and totally forgotten about them as there were loads on junk on top of it. When I was cleaning up the place some 2 mths later, I found some sdlgs have germinated through the cracks of the fruit! Some fungus was present on the peel but it did not affect the health of the seedlings. So what is the talk about the natural germination inhibitors and sterile conditions? :ha:
The daytime temp was 90+F during the day and about 80F at night.

Come and give some of your views and you will hear some from me. Let's have a good laugh about all the fuss on proper germination! :ha:

Bob
04-27-2009, 09:50 AM
With the luck I've been(not) having I may place some seeds in a half rotted Cavendish fruit and see if that helps! I'm not kidding. I had always wondered why all the fuss about sterile conditions when this can't possibly occur naturally.

lorax
04-27-2009, 09:57 AM
I've had this happen with heliconia fruits - they fall to the ground, and if a tapir or a huanchaka doesn't get them, they rot down to black and sprout from the middle of the fruit. (If a tapir or huanchaka gets them, I find seedlings on my forest paths, like I do with papayas all the time.)

Obviously, natural conditions aren't sterile, and I've always wondered about the big fuss over "perfect germination conditions." As far as I'm concerned, dirt is dirty and if germination is going to be inhibited it will be due to the seed itself, and not its conditions. For other fruits, I've always had great success just planting a very overripe fruit and letting Nature do the rest.

LilRaverBoi
04-27-2009, 10:20 AM
Tog, I don't think your thumbs could possibly get any greener! You truly are a mad wizard of banana cultivation!

Dalmatiansoap
04-27-2009, 10:58 AM
With the luck I've been(not) having I may place some seeds in a half rotted Cavendish fruit and see if that helps! I'm not kidding. I had always wondered why all the fuss about sterile conditions when this can't possibly occur naturally.

Hmm, Bob.
Interesting idea, even might work.
Worth trying.
:woohoonaner:

proletariatcsp
04-27-2009, 11:42 AM
I have had similar experiences with fruits an veggies that had gone bad in the fridge. Some of the coolest were jalapeno, and pumkin. I just wish the ones I want to grow would sprout. Had some luck with red chillies, and a crape myrtle so far. Just have to keep my fingers crossed for the pineapples and orange jasmine.

I think the temps and humidity certainly aided your container grow. A good shift between day and night temps but still warm enough to keep up the humidity.

Awesome photos friend, please post an update soon!

Chris in FL

Tog Tan
04-27-2009, 12:32 PM
Tog, I don't think your thumbs could possibly get any greener! You truly are a mad wizard of banana cultivation!

Thanks for your kind words Bryan but this is one compliment I can't take on! :ha:
I have done lots of weird things in the past concerning animals and plants on the reproduction process. One very interesting one was the hatching of 1,000+ eggs of the huge Reticulated Python, Python reticulatus. Many interesting things were observed during this experiment and I came to the conclusion as to how to manipulate the color and even the pattern of the hatchlings.
My next experiment with 'naners is to germinate a whole bunch of Musa corneri sds which should be approx 12,000 sds or more. I want to see the rate of germn and the anomalies which comes out of it. I am still looking at the most conducive site at my nursery to do this. We can't stop learning, can't we? :ha:

Bananaman88
04-28-2009, 06:10 AM
You da man, Tog!

LilRaverBoi
04-28-2009, 09:45 AM
I'm totally with ya...life is a constant learning process. I spend all day in class, and during my free time, what am I doing? Researching/learning about various things on the internet! I spend at least 80% of the time I'm awake learning. You truly can never know too much!

Wow...your python experiments sound really cool. I took a field herpetology class in undergraduate and had the opportunity to work with rattlesnakes and a bunch of other reptiles/amphibians. It was very fun and interesting!

Though this thread is mildly hilarious to me. Not that I'm laughing at you by any means. I just find it a bit funny that many of us here have tried sterile growing conditions and a wealth of other complex sprouting methods....but you, you can just toss some wet seeds in a bag or WHOLE BANANAS in a jar and they grow! LOL. Keep on doing what you do!

Tog Tan
04-28-2009, 10:31 AM
Wow...your python experiments sound really cool. I took a field herpetology class in undergraduate and had the opportunity to work with rattlesnakes and a bunch of other reptiles/amphibians. It was very fun and interesting!

Though this thread is mildly hilarious to me. Not that I'm laughing at you by any means. I just find it a bit funny that many of us here have tried sterile growing conditions and a wealth of other complex sprouting methods....but you, you can just toss some wet seeds in a bag or WHOLE BANANAS in a jar and they grow! LOL. Keep on doing what you do!

Ha! Bryan, I am glad you caught my drift about the sterile germination media thingy! Great! I have actually meant this thread to be a mild satire on the regular germination methods. I think 'naner sds germination should not be compared with the germination of sds of other plant genus as their nature is totally different. As many people are aware 'naner sds are one of the worst to work with.

Here's a summary;
Incident#1 - musa sds seem to have a natural resistance towards fungal growth in a high humidity environment.

Incident#2 - The talk about natural germination inhibitor in the pulp needs to be investigated further as the sdlgs came up from a whole fruit.

As you have read, I did not purposely do both these methods but they came on their own unexpectedly. One of the members here, Christian, have lots of personal comm with me on the subject of germination and I am always stiffed neck about certain theories. We enjoy our regular mails on this subject very much though we argue alot. Of course if I put these theories here, some experts will jump on me at once! :ha:

Talking about your experience with Crotalids (rattlers) please be very careful with them as I have had many before and they are one of the most nervous snakes I have worked with.