advice requested from the land of OZ - Bigdog are you there? Cutflower ornamentals.
 

Hi All,
I live just south of Cairns, in Queensland Australia, and am in the process of setting up a cutflower farm. We principally supply bromeliads and ornamental pineapples to the Sydney and Melbourne cutflower markets, and have recently begun exploring the potential for bananas.

Ornamental bananas are illegal in any commercial banana growing region of Australia (including Queensland), and only the Dept. of Primary Industries and botanic gardens have permits to cultivate them. They are considered "pest species" because they have the potential, through seed dispersal, to become weeds in the rainforest and act as unchecked foci of disease. North Queensland doesn't have Bunchy Top or Race 4 Panama Disease, and Australia doesn't have Black Sigatoka or bacterial wilts. Biosecurity around banana cultivation and transport is very tight here.

Regardless, with the massive potential of Musa velutina, ornata, coccinea and zebrina, I recently put together a detailed application to cultivate them for cutflower purposes. I addressed the disease issues (tissue cultured plants, regular testing etc) and weed potential (bird netting, stage of maturity vs. timing of harvest ). No private individual or business has ever applied for such a licence. I recieved my first rejection yesterday from the DPI.

I'm going to meet with them today, however thought I'd do some more research......Bananas.org galleries.
A number of the images supplied by Bigdog show bananas with much potential - namely Musa's 'Royal Purple', 'African Red', siamensis and laterita. Musa malaccensis and Musa mannii may be O.K.

Are any of these bananas seedless or sterile hybrids etc. Obviously the DPI are concerned about the spread through seed, si if no seed = no problem!

Furthermore, does anyone know of any published literature on the disease susceptibilty (or lack of) of ornamentals, esp. Musa velutina and ornata to bunchy top, panama etc.

My aim is to satisfy the DPI that the cultivated plants could not become weeds, and/or cannot act as a source of disease.

All help is appreciated. I'm a posting newbie, so bear with me.
Thank you,
Adam.

Re: advice requested from the land of OZ - Bigdog are you there? Cutflower ornamental
 

Welcome to bananas.org! You've come to the right place to get information about bananas and their cultivation. I think you will find many (most) of the ornamental banana cultivars produce seeded fruit. This is why they are 'ornamental' and not used for their fruit production. I'm also not too certain how well bananas are suited to the cut flower industry. They produce large beautiful flowers, but it takes a LOT of time/care to get them to flower. Much longer than a lot of other plants.

That's too bad you need a license to grow ornamental bananas in your area...what a drag! I wish you the best of luck in your endeavors...I don't mean to rain on your parade...LOL. ENJOY THE SITE!

Re: advice requested from the land of OZ - Bigdog are you there? Cutflower ornamental
 

Welcome to Bananas dot org Adam, from the Sunshine State of Florida!!!

We do not currently, to the best of our knowledge, have BunchyTop here but it is probably on the way! I hope the people in our organization from Hawaii where the disease is present can answer your questions. I would learn from it also!

Best wishes, good weather and good growing be yours mate!!! :2239:

Re: advice requested from the land of OZ - Bigdog are you there? Cutflower ornamental
 

Thanks Guys,
LilRaverBoi, Musa velutina goes from a planted eye / bit, to 5 flowering pseudostems in 6 months here. The stems are best cut with small immature fingers ie past the initial flower stage. The potential is massive!!
I just hope that there is some sterile clones out there somewhere, or enough evidence to suggest that one or more species are immune to concerning diseases.

Re: advice requested from the land of OZ - Bigdog are you there? Cutflower ornamental
 

Hmmm...wow. I didn't realize they would flower so early! Most species take well over a year to bloom.

Re: advice requested from the land of OZ - Bigdog are you there? Cutflower ornamental
 

Well, Musa 'African Red' seems to be a completely sterile hybrid, but I haven't seen any cytogenetic studies to confirm that. It won't accept pollen, and it doesn't produce any either.

Other than that, I would only say that M. velutina would be a nuisance weed there. It self-sows in my friend's garden in zone 8a, Alabama. Since it has hermaphrodite flowers, it won't need another banana flowering to fertilize it. I'm sure it could quickly become an established weed in Australia!

I'm really not sure about disease resistance in any of the ornamentals. Information might be able to be found via INIBAP, or doing a scholarly search. Good luck!

Frank

Re: advice requested from the land of OZ - Bigdog are you there? Cutflower ornamental
 

Thanks Frank,
Gabe also mentioned the possibility of African Red and it's sterile nature. Sounds promising. Are you aware if this hybrid is available in tissue culture - Australia has strict quarantine rules! If just finished emailing Gabe on the pollen vectors of ornamental Musa - wondering if the possibility exists to exclude such vectors (insects or birds), and hence the development of seed. If wind carries pollen, however, I have no solutions!
Thanks,
Adam.

Re: advice requested from the land of OZ - Bigdog are you there? Cutflower ornamental
 

Adam, I think that it is available in tc here. Not sure where though. I originally got mine at a plant sale at Leu Gardens in Orlando, FL.

I don't think any Musa are wind-pollinated. Bats, birds, and bees do the job very nicely though!

Frank