2 of my 6 “Musa Basjoo” look really different.
 

Hey all. This is my first year seriously growing bananas and I’ve got a couple of Basjoo that I ordered online. All came in looking the same when they were in 4” pots, but over the past month or so 2 have really started looking different.

The two in question have lots of “wine stains” and lack a reddish midrib in the leaf. The other 4 are very light green with a red midrib and zero wine stains. They are all growing at about the same pace…noting now that the two with wine stains are putting out wider leaves.

Re: 2 of my 6 “Musa Basjoo” look really different.
 

the wine stained ones are not basjoo
the other ones might be
do you plan to plant the basjoo directly in the ground?
my experience is that they grow much bigger in the ground

Re: 2 of my 6 “Musa Basjoo” look really different.
 

Subsonicdrone,

Definitely plan on planting these in the ground. It’s just taken me a while to get to figuring out where. I’m unsure of how to go about the other two if they are not cold hardy I guess I’ll need to have plans to dig them up in the fall.

Re: 2 of my 6 “Musa Basjoo” look really different.
 

I have no experience with Basjoo but online nurseries have a horrible history of shipping the wrong banana plants. None of those might be Basjoo.

Bill

Re: 2 of my 6 “Musa Basjoo” look really different.
 

After a back and forth with the seller - they now claim these are “IceCream bananas”…….which could be anything.

Re: 2 of my 6 “Musa Basjoo” look really different.
 

definitely not namwa. dont look like blue java either.

Re: 2 of my 6 “Musa Basjoo” look really different.
 

Dwarf Cavendish have lots of wine staining.

Re: 2 of my 6 “Musa Basjoo” look really different.
 

Not unusual for Dwarf Cavendish to be sold as something else.

Re: 2 of my 6 “Musa Basjoo” look really different.
 

:ha::ha::ha::ha::ha:

Re: 2 of my 6 “Musa Basjoo” look really different.
 

That's a dirty trick!:p

Re: 2 of my 6 “Musa Basjoo” look really different.
 

Just an update, the “not Basjoo” banana plants are growing big in their pots and are pupping out already. The others that appear to be Basjoo are in the ground and growing nicely and pupping as well.

Re: 2 of my 6 “Musa Basjoo” look really different.
 

Those are looking good!

Re: 2 of my 6 “Musa Basjoo” look really different.
 

Thank you Cincinnana !

What photos should I post that would help you experts make a good ID on these bananas or do I really need to wait until flower and fruit ?

Hoping to narrow this one down so I can make some good decisions for growing it over the next year or two :)

Beam2050 says not Namwa - what makes you think that? I’m learning here :)

I’ve got 3 pups on the one and none on the other and we’re at about 42” pseudostem height now for a 3 1/2 month old tissue culture.

Re: 2 of my 6 “Musa Basjoo” look really different.
 

Here are some current photos of leaves and pseudostem of both bananas which are nearly identical in height and leaf pushout.

Re: 2 of my 6 “Musa Basjoo” look really different.
 

Grow your plants in question as you would your other tropicals in the photo.
They all have similar requirements when you bring them indoors for the overwinter.
Expect your bananas in question to flower in 3-5 years in your zone.

Re: 2 of my 6 “Musa Basjoo” look really different.
 

If in the case these are cavendish, would bare root/dry storage of the corm+trunk be any problem? I’m reading here that cavendish might not be as cold hardy as other bananas I have. Just trying to plan the next month out with what goes where indoors.

Re: 2 of my 6 “Musa Basjoo” look really different.
 

Here is a link to the previous post just in case you missed it
Your plants could be too small and lack mass to overwinter bareroot because of dehydration and shrinkage.


http://www.bananas.org/350262-post15.html