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HarryB
09-24-2009, 11:19 AM
I bought a banana kit from Hobby Lobby yesterday, and have found this site today. I am in Otho, Iowa, USA zone 5.

I do not know anything about bananas and thought it would be fun to try and grow some. The seeds say Musa ensete, Ensete ventricosum. Will these be edible?
I know store bananas do not have seeds in them but I want to grow edible ones.
I would like any information on how to get edible banana seeds or plants.

Oh yea, I also play with a home built hydroponic garden and have been growing tomatoes for the last two years. There is nothing like fresh garden tomatoes during the middle of an Iowa winter.

Thanks all.

CValentine
09-24-2009, 12:28 PM
Fun thing those kits are!!
As far as I know - the bananas you will be growing are for foiliage...but they are BEAUTIFUL!!!
Welcome HarryB, from Cheryl in Texas! :D ~Cheryl

cherokee_greg
09-24-2009, 12:50 PM
welcome to the best group on the net :woohoonaner: Im sure your gonna love it here
welcome:02::0517:

LilRaverBoi
09-24-2009, 01:00 PM
WOOT WOOT! More Iowa people!!! Welcome to the site. I'm Bryan, I'm from Mount Vernon, Iowa but I'm going to school in St. Louis, MO right now. Hope you enjoy the site and your banana growing experience. Just to clarify, Ensete Ventricosum (http://www.bananas.org/wiki/Ensete_ventricosum) is the 'Abyssinian banana' and is a seeded variety (ornamental and considered non-edible unless you want to eat around super hard seeds). They get up to about 20 feet tall and will take 4-5 years to fruit. Just so you know, this is not a Musa variety like the package says. I'll spare you the entire explanation but suffice it to say that banana varieties fit into three categories: Musa (bananas), Ensete (false bananas) and Musella. Therefore, an Ensete is not a Musa and vice versa. Hope the information is helpful (and I linked the wiki page about it above for your viewing pleasure).

Hope you have great luck with your plants! This site is full of great resources and knowledgeable people so if you have any questions, just ask!

HarryB
09-24-2009, 01:44 PM
WOW! 4-5 years to fruit? Like I said, I don't know anything about bananas. I am going to attempt to grow them in large type of pots so I can move them inside during the winter and then put them outside during the rest of the year(s).

From a little reading, food bananas were modified to not produce seeds and thus are grown from cuttings or a piece of an established root?

Is it possible to get ahold of the edible type? I think it would be cool to have outdoor potted bananas that you can also eat and look at.

Anyway, I am just in the mood to try and grow something different and attractive for a change.

I happen to be the type of person with the mind set that if I take the time to grow something, I want to be able to eat it :ha:
My wife is into the flower garden and roses kind of thing. She enjoys that while I enjoy eating the fruits of my labor.

Thanks for the welcome everyone.

Ok yea, for those in areas where we get cold winters, how to you keep yours alive? Moving them inside and hope they don't get to tall?

frog7994
09-24-2009, 01:47 PM
welcome and good luck.

Eric
09-24-2009, 03:37 PM
Welcome aboard, HarryB :) ! Seedless, sweet, edible nanners have babies! These are called pups & you can find them growing around the base of the "Mother" plant. To separate one, just cut off a small bit of the "Mother's" trunk & dig down deep enough to get roots for the pup. The pup can then be potted or planted in-ground :). Best to get pups when they're about 3' tall. As for winters, I've been growing Blue Javas (Ice Cream) bananas for 3 consecutive summers by over-wintering them indoors. They are now 12-14' tall and all have 3-4 pups each! Any Banana plant can be over-wintered indoors, requires no watering and, therefore, can be laid down on it's side or put up on a shelf on it's side.
I grow 9 different species of bananas, 7 of them are large, sweet, edible nanners :) !
Like Bryan says, this is a very friendly forum with tons of info & specialists. If you have any questions about using the forum, just ask!
Enjoy!

HarryB
09-24-2009, 03:48 PM
Thanks Eric. I will just read up and pass my time waiting to see if my seeds will germinate. If they do, I'll put them in my downstairs greenhouse with my tomatoes under lights and see how well they do until spring.

Down the road, if you happen to have any edible pups you want to get rid of or sell, give me a shout.

justjoan
09-25-2009, 07:52 AM
Greetings Harry from:coldbanana: MINNESOTA! The winter thing is a challenge, I have 2 super Dwarf Cavandish, 1 Ruby Siam and 2 Double Mahoi that are still pups and am relatively new to the banana scene I also grow Citrus in pots. So far I haven't killed anything and the oldest Banana( a super dwarf) is 3 years old. This is an addiction, but a good one and there are lots of helpful folks here so don't hesitate to ask questions. :0519:

novisyatria
09-25-2009, 09:10 AM
welcome Harry.nice to meet you here