CookieCows

The plant in question is the little one in the foreground with the tomato cage around it. This is the slowest growing banana I've ever had. I bought it last winter through an online nursery and it was supposed to be an IceCream. For comparison the ones in the background are DO and Basjoo. All were little in the spring and this one hardly grew at all. It produced leaves but not height. It had red splotches on the leaves when I first got it. I'm assuming it's not an icecream?

Deb

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Yug

I'm not an authority, but based on the really short petioles, I'd think it is a dwarf of something.

venturabananas

I'm not an authority either, but if it had wine splotches on the leaves, then it is not Ice Cream. Like Yug said, it is a dwarf something. Given what is available in the trade, dwarf Cavendish seems most likely. It definitely has only A genes based on the wide open petioles.

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CookieCows

"A" gene and wide open petioles.... going to read up on that! I was sure looking forward to trying an icecream, darn! I'll need to dig it up and put in the house over the winter. I was wondering all summer why it wasn't getting taller!

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Yug

Petioles are the portion of the stem between the leaf blade, and the large main psuedostem (the main trunk). "A" genes I think come from Musa acuminata, and "B" genes originate from Musa balbisiana. I think the "A" side lends sweetness to the fruit, and the "B" genes are from more starchy cultivars. Typically, bananas are combinations of sets of genes from parents in the "A" or "B" groups. You may have AA, AB, BB, AAA, AAB, ABB, BBB, and some even have 4 sets of genes. These groups will still have intra-group variations since not all parents that were bred were identical.

My knowledge is limited due to not much experience with bananas; some folks here can explain in far more detail, but I think I've got it right so far.

CookieCows

Not being in the right zone to grow bananas I've had myself in a rut with just afew different kinds so it's interesting to know the subtle differences in ID'ing them. I was actually wondering if this might even be an ensete. It also didn't get as much water as the others so maybe that stunted it? Well I'll bring it inside and see what it does next summer.

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flounder

I most certainly am no expert, but it don't arf look like my dwarf cav!

venturabananas

Yug has it right. If you search around on this website or the internet you can find much more about this, if you are interested. Generally, bananas with only A genes (e.g., Cavendish is AAA, Pisang Mas is AA) have open petioles. Bananas with lots of B genes (e.g., dwarf Namwah ABB, Orinoco ABB, Musa balbisiana BB) have closed petioles. Bananas with AAB genes fall somewhere in between, some having open petioles (e.g., dwarf Brazilian, Rajapuri), some having somewhat closed petioles (e.g., Mysore).

The starchiness is a bit more complicated, but Yug has the general trend right, more B genes means more starchiness and more likely to be a cooking banana. There are major exceptions, though, for example true Plantains have AAB genes and are extremely starchy, whereas Mysore bananas (also AAB) are very sweet and not starchy. Now consider that there's around 1000 edible cultivars of bananas and you can see how difficult it can be identify a banana plant.

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CookieCows

This is really interesting!!!

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BigBananaBoy

Hope this helps

Banana Gallery - diagram

Big Tony

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