View Full Version : Is MUSA VELUTINA edible?
kman84
06-02-2009, 06:10 PM
Is MUSA VELUTINA edible?
I've been hearing both yes and no all over the net. Can anyone tell me froml personal experience? I just started to germinate some and I was curious.
Thanks
Matt
just j
06-02-2009, 06:16 PM
yes if u pick out all the seeds
alexizhere19
06-02-2009, 06:17 PM
i have tasted a little, but there is so many seeds that are like buckshot. it tastes fine, nothing impressive.
Gabe15
06-02-2009, 07:59 PM
They are edible in that you can eat them and they will not hurt you, but in the banana world, edible means that it is a seedless cultivar where as M. velutina is a seeded wild species. Personally I think they are fun to eat even with the seeds which are not as hard as most people tend to think they are (though some other banana species are indeed like rocks), but there are a lot of seeds.
alexizhere19
06-02-2009, 08:04 PM
They are edible in that you can eat them and they will not hurt you, but in the banana world, edible means that it is a seedless cultivar where as M. velutina is a seeded wild species. Personally I think they are fun to eat even with the seeds which are not as hard as most people tend to think they are (though some other banana species are indeed like rocks), but there are a lot of seeds.
Gabe, does growing conditions dictate seed toughness? my velutina are so hard i couldn't break it with my teeth.
Thanks,
:03:alex
musaboru
06-02-2009, 08:55 PM
I think while in the banana, the seeds are not as rock hard since they aren't dried.
alpha010
06-03-2009, 05:12 AM
This brings up a question from me........Aren't all bananas actually edible? By edible I mean non-poisonous or won't kill or mame you if you eat it. In the banana world...the only reason for the edible/non-edible labels are seeds in fruit?
jmoore
06-03-2009, 06:12 AM
...and taste surely. If something tastes like crap, it's inedible
Bananaman88
06-03-2009, 06:17 AM
My M. dasycarpa (velutina) is about to bloom right now. If I get fruit, I'll try them and report back.
alpha010
06-03-2009, 10:35 AM
...and taste surely. If something tastes like crap, it's inedible
Taste is all a matter of preference, my question was whether any form of musa is actually poisonous....
Gabe15
06-03-2009, 12:00 PM
No Musa are known to be poisonous, so yes they are all technically edible.
However, the difference between wild species and the cultivated varieties goes much deeper than just not having seeds, there is a complex synergy of things going on inside of edible cultivars that make them edible and separate them from wild species. The most important aspect of edible bananas is parthenocarpy caused by an autonomous auxin release in the fruit during development. This allows the fruit to grow without pollination, but in order to have a seedless fruit, some form of sterility must coincide with parthenocarpy. Not all parthenocarpic varieties are sterile, so many normally seedless bananas will form seeds with a source of pollen. The most successful and popular varieties however generally do not form seeds, which means that they are both parthenocarpic and have some level of sterility. The combination of parthenocarpy and sterility was selected by humans over thousands of years and the plants grown specifically for eating the fruit, so these varieties are called "edible" to distinguish them from wild species which have not had human intervention for fruit cultivation.
kman84
06-03-2009, 05:50 PM
Thanks Gabe! That was very helpful. Hopefully, My little guys will bear fruit when they grow up. :woohoonaner:
alpha010
06-04-2009, 05:12 AM
No Musa are known to be poisonous, so yes they are all technically edible.
However, the difference between wild species and the cultivated varieties goes much deeper than just not having seeds, there is a complex synergy of things going on inside of edible cultivars that make them edible and separate them from wild species. The most important aspect of edible bananas is parthenocarpy caused by an autonomous auxin release in the fruit during development. This allows the fruit to grow without pollination, but in order to have a seedless fruit, some form of sterility must coincide with parthenocarpy. Not all parthenocarpic varieties are sterile, so many normally seedless bananas will form seeds with a source of pollen. The most successful and popular varieties however generally do not form seeds, which means that they are both parthenocarpic and have some level of sterility. The combination of parthenocarpy and sterility was selected by humans over thousands of years and the plants grown specifically for eating the fruit, so these varieties are called "edible" to distinguish them from wild species which have not had human intervention for fruit cultivation.
Wow! That's one of your first technically speaking posts I believe I understood! Anyways, The basic of what you are saying is that the nanners we have today were bred over thousands of years to have this genetic "defect" to be sterile and wild species could have that same chance over time once studied, influenced, and bred.
ewitte
06-04-2009, 05:56 AM
It may taste horrible and have seeds but if your without food are you going to care? The one I tasted last year also never got as soft as a normal banana.
The Hollyberry Lady
06-09-2009, 04:20 AM
I just got seeds today, for musa velutina, and this will be my very first time ever growing a banana. I am wondering how big does this variety grow? How long after the seed has germinated, will the plant be mature and actually bearing fruits? If someone can answers these 2 questions, I would appreciate it.
: )
Bananaman88
06-09-2009, 06:19 AM
Musa dasycarpa (formerly velutina) normally gets in the 4' range. Mine is flowering right now and it didn't even get that tall! Another of the pseudostems in the clump is around 4' tall, however. Some may get a little taller.
Tog Tan
06-09-2009, 06:22 AM
I just got seeds today, for musa valutina, and this will be my very first time ever growing a banana. I am wondering how big does this variety grow? How long after the seed has germinated, will the plant be mature and actually bearing fruits? If someone can answers these 2 questions, I would appreciate it.
: )
Hi!
The Musa velutina has been officially renamed Musa dasycarpa syn velutina. Depending on the actual variety, the p-stem height can range from 3ft to 6ft+(or more as one of the members told me).
Grown over here with favorable conditions year round, from germination to fruiting only took me 10 months. During this time, it was in a pot. My plant fruited at a p-stem height of about 3ft.
I hope my comments helps! :ha:
The Hollyberry Lady
06-09-2009, 06:29 AM
10 months?!!! So I would be looking to plant this thing outside for next season then, correct? We only have 5 or 6 months now, and snow will be flying again! I should try to raise this thing outside, but bring it in for the winter? How cold can it stand, before it would die? I know absolutely nothing about these plants. I am researching though.
Thanks for all the info.
: )
Tog Tan
06-09-2009, 06:36 AM
I think other cold growing experts will step in soon and give more details as it is still early in the morning. Don't forget I live in the tropics! :ha:
The Hollyberry Lady
06-09-2009, 06:42 AM
Oh I am quite aware of where you live Tog - you lucky duck!
lorax
06-09-2009, 06:50 AM
Your winters are too cold to leave your dasycarpa outside, Hollyberry. However, if it's in a pot it makes a lovely houseplant, so I wouldn't worry - just bring it in before the first frost.
Dasycarpa here goes from sprout to fruit in about 8-10 months on about 6' of pstem when they're in the ground, and about 4' of pstem in pots. However, like Tog, this assumes no winter.
Tog Tan
06-09-2009, 07:57 AM
Oh I am quite aware of where you live Tog - you lucky duck!
Quack...Quack...Quaaccckkk!!!! :ha::ha::ha:
The Hollyberry Lady
06-09-2009, 10:09 AM
LoL Tog!
So great to know about it making an attractive house plant, Lorax! That's just terrific. I am so thrilled that I will have so many beautiful looking plants this season.
I am also losing my nervousness about growing these plants because you guys seem to know so much. I see I am in good hands.
: )
alpha010
06-09-2009, 01:08 PM
Those two have an ignorant amount of nanner and horticultural knowledge! I bow before them as King and Queen of nanner-ville!
Miss Lady, if you are going to grow this, keep it in a nice sized pot (20 gal and bigger) well fed and well watered and as pest free as possible and it makes a wonderful houseplant as stated before. Good Luck on the germination!
The Hollyberry Lady
06-09-2009, 01:39 PM
I totally agree, even though I've only been here a short time. They are super nice, and good people as well. They have helped me a whole lot, and I feel fortunate to be associated with both of them. Alright, enough of all this sappy stuff.
; )
So, just to be clear, we are talking about the musa velutina (dasycarpa) that makes a nice houseplant, right? Didn't you say too though Lorax, that the one of the palm seeds I have could be grown indoors as well? Or am I way off base?
How should I prepare the earth for my new banana plant when it's ready? I may grow it in the ground, and then dig it up and containerize it in the Fall, and bring it inside. Will it produce the bananas indoors then at Christmas time - because this will then be about 8-10 months?
Also, what kind of organic and synthetic fertilizers should be used on these plants? I am huge into blood and bonemeal - do banana's like this? Do they like full-sun?
One last question, how do these plants hold up to strong winds and heavy rains at times? Do they require staking?
Thanks everyone. You people are really getting me into this, you know. I am feeling the banana insanity that has been referred to on this forum. I just hope I can grow one successfully. I mother my plants like crazy though, so hopefully it will like what I do for it. I feel like a foreign person is coming for a visit, and I am worried if they will like it here, and be ok with the way we do things! Hahahaha.
: )
alpha010
06-09-2009, 03:28 PM
In order to keep things short and sweet....There is a posting somewhere of how exactly to prep the ground for nanner planting, with pics too (if I remember correctly)! There is also a forum dedicated to fertilizer....good reading in there and should get you up and going.
About the fruiting when indoors......its a double-edged sword in our neck of the woods. What I have read and been told by others with experience, we will use a dwarf cavendish for arguements sake, it takes anywhere from 12-18 months for a DC to fruit. That being said, the 12-18 months are said to be "proper" growing months, i.e. tropical. So if we have 6 months a year of being able to grow bananas outside in proper climate and 6 months of not necesarily proper growing climate (lower light conditions generally unless supplemented) we are looking at 2 to 2-1/2 years to flower AND if we are extremely lucky on flower timing, possibly fruit at 3 years.....if you are lucky. There are people that grow potted nanners indoors and reported of as long as 5 years for fruit that was less than desirable. BUT, try it out, watch it grow and have fun with it! Try different things.
The Hollyberry Lady
06-09-2009, 06:55 PM
The great thing for me is that I have an HID light system with an amazing SunMaster bulb that emits rich blue, green, orange and red light. My banana plant will always have great light, no matter what time of year. So exciting.
: )
BULLYBITE
06-11-2009, 06:05 AM
Hi Hollyberry, I tried some Velutina from seed knowing nothing about gardening, plants, germination or any other technical stuff like that, I followed the basic instructions I got with seeds and got some help and support from these nanna addicts, Hey presto about three weeks from sowing I got three shoots showing through. All three are doing quite well standing about 5" high. So good luck with the seeds. I am now hooked and trying some snow banana and some chinese dwarf. I already have a basjoo and a helens, not to mention a very small garden, LoL.:drum:
Bananaman88
06-11-2009, 06:24 AM
[QUOTE=The Hollyberry Lady;79303][COLOR="DarkOrchid"][B]
Thanks everyone. You people are really getting me into this, you know. I am feeling the banana insanity that has been referred to on this forum.
Our evil plan to convert everyone into banana fiends is working! (Insert evil laugh here)
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