An awakening of Helen's hybrid
 

Here is said to be zone 9b. but it was a bit colder this winter.
Despite the lowest temperature of this winter was -4C/21F, Helen's hybrid
could overwinter completely bare without any protections, and now a cigar
leaf rolles up from the pstem, while other bananas are still dormant as you
can see from the picrure. It is indeed cold hardy!

Re: An awakening of Helen's hybrid
 

Congratulations ... I'm impressed with that plant!

Re: An awakening of Helen's hybrid
 

thats good news! How big should it get this summer?:D

Re: An awakening of Helen's hybrid
 

I uncovered mine from its winter protection last week, and it had started growing already. I have since covered it back up because of freezing temps at night again. Yours looks great! You should probably get a flower this year, hopefully.

Re: An awakening of Helen's hybrid
 

congrats on the new growth.:0518:. now i might consider getting one for outside, but i think i would have to keep mine covered in the winter. i love the protection for the other nanas you have, is it straw?

Re: An awakening of Helen's hybrid
 

Mskitty, yes, it is rice straw mat specially made for winter protection for fruits
trees. Sold at any DIY shops here in this county.
The caps on the tops of the pstems are plastic shopping bags from super markets.

Re: An awakening of Helen's hybrid
 

thank you very much. they are sold in the garden center or are they in a different area? a lot of times things like that are never where they should be in a store. they could end up being in the carpet department.

Re: An awakening of Helen's hybrid
 

Nice Asacomm! What are the other ones next to it that haven't come out of dormancy?(for comparison)

Re: An awakening of Helen's hybrid
 

Mskitty, this kind of mat is very popular in this country and is sold at any
DIY and garden center. However it would be not easy to find equivalent item
in your country. May be some Japanese gardener knows a hint where to get it.

Re: An awakening of Helen's hybrid
 

Tropicallvr, in the picture from left to right:
King banana(local banana from Bonin Islands), Helen's hybrid, Dwf Orinoco,
and the last another Helen's hybrid.

Re: An awakening of Helen's hybrid
 

Great photo Stan! I am happy your plants made it through!

Now you got me interested; What type of banana is the King Banana?

Re: An awakening of Helen's hybrid
 

I will have to consider one of those if I can make room somewhere in the garden. Red

Re: An awakening of Helen's hybrid
 

Hi Erlend,
King banana is a local banana similar to dwarf cavendish said to be
originated from the Bonin Islands of Japanese territory about 1,000km south
of Tokyo in the Pacific Ocean. The size of its fruits is a little bit larger than
that of Moncky banana, but its taste is excellent. The pstem's height is
about 2.5m. The color of the pstem and petiole is slightly reddish.

Stan

Re: An awakening of Helen's hybrid
 

Has anyone gotten the Helen's Hybrid to fruit? Is it an edible banana?

Re: An awakening of Helen's hybrid
 

No, it is not edible. I have not gotten it to fruit nor have one for that matter, but since seeds of this are sold, it can not be edible.

Unless you like the texture of seeds...:2729:

Re: An awakening of Helen's hybrid
 

I agree that it most likely won't have edible fruit. Chimichampa probably isn't the best canidate for crossing with a hardy banana, trying to get a edible, since chimichampa only has 2 sets of chromosomes.
The one thing that makes me wonder is how they do it in those breeding programs. They hybridize species, and grow the plants from seed, but somehow come up with edible plants.

Re: An awakening of Helen's hybrid
 

Edible or not edible depends on his taste.
Even he ripe fruits of Basjoo are sweet and edible and nothing to harm health.
But it is classified as non edible because there are a lot of seeds inside.
Likewise the fruits of Helen's hybrid is reportedly very sweet, but full of seeds.
So I made up my mind to taste the fruits if pollination will be succeeded.

Re: An awakening of Helen's hybrid
 

I was refering to the defiinition that edible ment seedless. Sounds like its going to be seedy.