z7banana

Green banana here , thanks for helping.

About 15 years ago I was given a banana plant and was told it came from
Ecuador. I was also told that it was the tallest growing species of banana.
It was called El Saba. The banana did indeed achieve massive heights here if all its requirements were met , ample water, heat, sunshine and added nutrients.
One year the tree reached over 20' tall ( 6.5 meters )
Now Im hearing the giant El Saba is from the orient. Im really confused what banana this is . I was told I might be growing Orinoco Banana but I dont think so.
Can anyone give me a brief lecture on the Giant Saba and its habitat.
Thanks in advance for your reply.
ROBAN

Gabe15

It sounds like you have Saba, although it originated in Asia, you find many of the same varieties throughout the tropics anyways. I would guess that the "el" part was tacked on just from being grown in Ecuador. Banana names are not official, they will vary by region and the best you can really do is just try to group together all of the many synonyms for each variety.

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z7banana

Thanks Gabe for taking the time to help me.

hydroid

This is my first year of getting serious with the bananas and am by no means an authority on them. Although I've had a few plants off and on for most years, most of them were hand me downs and never got very big. I figured they were of a dwarf type so I started researching and looking for a bigger variety for shade and saw the Sabas. I got 3 of them back in August and one died but 2 made it and are over 4 ft tall now.
I think I read that they come from the Philippines and are actually a "Plantain". I worked overseas and have a few Filippino friends and I ask them about the "saba" and they were quite familiar with that variety. I also got a basjoo but it never has done much. After seeing some of the photos posted here of the Saba, I can't wait for next year to see how they do. I hope this helps. Good luck
hydroid

z7banana