Re: Helen's Hybrid Update
 

Alright, so the plants haven't done anything apparent even though the weather has warmed up a bit, the stumps still essentially look like this:



Sorry, for some reason the actual pic from today wouldn't load, but it looks basically the same.

So I decided to call it, dig them out, and use the prime real estate for something else.

When I pulled the corm out, low and behold I found this:



Hard to tell fro m this pic, but the pup is curling up towards the vertical and it is still probably at least 2 inches below where the soil line is.

So I separated the 2 corms (double seedling) washed them and noticed among the mushy stuff, was still a lot of firm material as you can kind of see here:



So I potted up the corm section with the new growth so we will see what happens. I can now safely say that this seedling is in fact a cold hardy banana having survived the winter....LOL;) Of course not a very desirable result if one wants big bananas, considering that little pup probably would not have broken the surface until sometime in July.

So I decided to replant the area with pups from one of my Dwarf Orinocos and the same HH parent that survived. My intention is to leave them both in the ground but protect them differently this coming winter. I did amend the soil by adding more drainage promoting material just in case moisture was the primary culprit....I don't think so based on where the corm was sitting, but who knows. Here area a couple of pics of the new plantings:

This one after putting a mulch of dried leaves under a composted mixture of shredded leaves and fir needles to hold the leaves in place.



This pic is to show what I have to do to keep the $&*@^&% excavating birds (Robins and Towhees) from tossing the mulch everywhere. I pruned up the Lonicera and the grape on either side and put the branches with leaves over the mulch to hamper access by the birds



So, the story continues and I will post any updates that seem relevant.

Re: Helen's Hybrid Update
 

Just popped her head up today. This is the one I potted up in the last post.

Took you long enough:)

Re: Helen's Hybrid Update
 

As the growing season draws to a close up here, I thought I would post an updated pic of the above survivor, and since I like pics of bananas I thought I would throw a few other Helen's Hybrid pics into the mix.

This is the pup from the corm/sprout in the last post. (sorry, the site's upload function hasn't seemed to work for the last few days and I can't seem to get the Flickr photos to paste directly to the thread)

https://www.flickr.com/photos/193925...posted-public/

Here are a couple of pics from another pup (different seedling) I overwintered indoors. For perspective there is a set of large bypass pruners leaning up against the P-stem and the tallest of Red Orach in front to the left is about 5.5ft tall. I am guessing the main p-stem is about 6-6.5 ft tall although I am not exactly sure what one would consider the top of the p-stem. Definitely outpaced my basjoo.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/193925...posted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/193925...posted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/193925...posted-public/

And finally I noticed this particular seedling has very pink petioles which I haven't noticed to that degree on others. Could be that I am just not that observant or maybe its an artifact of its particular growing situation, not really sure but I thought it was neat.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/193925...posted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/193925...posted-public/

Re: Helen's Hybrid Update
 

Beautiful!!!

Re: Helen's Hybrid Update
 

They are looking great,I've only one HH at the moment but next year I will get a couple more.

Can't believe the season is coming to an end....I've started getting organized today with the first steps of the ' winter musa migration ' to the warmer climate of my greenhouse!

Re: Helen's Hybrid Update
 

They are beautiful plants and they grow fast, I am just not sure they are all that hardy. The big guy probably would have another foot or two if I hadn't over fertilized it and set it back several weeks. Hopefully the pstem survives this winter with more significant protection but I am not holding my breath at this point

I know, I started the initial preps as well:(

Re: Helen\'s Hybrid Update
 

Uncovered the HH today and the P-stems definitely didn\'t make it. I think the corm was protected better this year than last, so we will see if it comes back in any way that makes it viable as an outdoor overwintered plant in this area.

Re: Helen's Hybrid Update
 

So it looks like I am calling the outdoor overwintering experiment with my HH seedlings. It is now July 10th, and although it has been a very cool spring/summer so far with a lot of rain (not a good combo for rot potential) I don't think even with a warmer, drier spring/summer, my particular seedlings have much potential around here as outdoor, overwintered plants.

No regrowth whatsoever:



As compared to my basjoo:



Experiment now over, I am going to continue growing HH because it seems to do very well here during the growing season, it is a beautiful variety, and supposedly has nice tasting fruit (not counting on getting it to flower, fruit, and ripen) but I will be digging it out and storing it indoors over winter.

Re: Helen's Hybrid Update
 

Ah, alas, was hoping for better news, but thanks!

Re: Helen's Hybrid Update
 

Yeah, me too. With the El Nino ENSO pattern predicted to be in place for awhile, I am tempted to try again.....we'll see. Maybe with a little help from electricity:D

Re: Helen's Hybrid Update
 

So this hasn't been an ideal year for this lovely lady, as she had a bit of a rocky start. This is the plant I dry stored over winter and in all likelihood put her in the ground a little early while it was still too wet for her as indicated in this thread:

http://www.bananas.org/f15/uncoverin...nas-52001.html

see the last post in the above thread.

I decided I'd post an update, even though she doesn't look her best, because I thought it was interesting to see the stem on the left straightening up. Its kind of a weird pic, the angles look a little funky (the stems on the right aren't really leaning to the right as they appear), but if you compare the left p-stem with the bamboo stake to its left, which it was being help up by, you can see how much it has straightened. I actually had to untie it because it looked like it might be starting to choke the poor lady.

Today:



As compared to June 30:



Water has been a bit of a struggle this year, we are in a stage 5 (worst) drought and being on a well makes it a little more challenging to give my plants the water they really need to grow well.

But, we're getting along and she is definitely going in the right direction.

She looks a little better from this side

Re: Helen's Hybrid Update
 

Good morning, I wanted to ask a question about this banana tree, can this plant, starting only from the roots, grow and produce its fruit before winter arrives?

Re: Helen's Hybrid Update
 

I suppose that depends on where you are located and how long your growing season is. The short answer for where I live is no. I don't now enough about it to suggest how it might behave in other climates.

This hybrid is a relatively hardy supposed cross between a tender edible and a cold hardy ornamental. As such it apparently produces an edible, seedy banana which I have not yet seen. Someday I hope to be able to sample the fruit from it but at this point I can not say whether it is worth growing for its fruit. I would suspect if you are most interested in banana fruit and are going to go through the trouble of growing and fruiting a banana, regardless of where you live, I would look into other, more well known and reliably understood edible cultivars.

Don't get me wrong, this is a beautiful plant and it grows rapidly in our summer climate in spite of the cool nights, which is why I grow it, but I am certainly not holding my breath for fruit.

Have a look through the wiki and previous threads and you will find all kinds of information on growing bananas in just about any climate.

Good luck and have fun

Re: Helen's Hybrid Update
 

Thanks for the information you gave me SIRDOOFUS, I should be in USDA zone 8b

Re: Helen's Hybrid Update
 

Bananas that have seeds are not considered edible even though they can be eaten. People wouldn't eat a seeded banana because of the low amount of edible tissue. They are usually referred to as wild, seeded, or non-edible banana.

Cultivars aka cultivated varieties are called edible bananas.

Re: Helen's Hybrid Update
 

Fair enough, although I suppose the definition of edibility, maybe unreasonably dangerous items notwithstanding, is ultimately up to the individual who decides to toss something into their mouth. I get your point and I think I can safely assume a commercial fruit producer, or I suppose anyone who can practically get a banana to ripen fruit, would not consider a seeded banana edible, but that doesn’t necessarily mean I wouldn’t….. I never claimed to be the smartest kid on the block……but of course I really have no idea what the fruit on this beauty is like and, again, am not holding my breath that I will ever get it to produce a ripe enough banana to find out. But who knows?

Re: Helen's Hybrid Update
 

PR-GIANTS, if you had to indicate a banana tree with good fruit and resistance to cold, which variety would you recommend?

Re: Helen's Hybrid Update
 

In general, banana plants with a genotype that contains more 'balbisiana' genes are more cold hardy and drought resistant than plants that contain more 'acuminata' genes. Ploidy also plays a role, with a triploid being hardier than a diploid and a tetraploid being hardier than a triploid.

Here's a photo of the first California Gold I grew, the plant has two 'balbisiana' genes and one 'acuminata' gene. The bunch size was reasonable but the fruit quality as a dessert banana was low.



Here's a photo of a Mysore bunch, the plant has two 'acuminata' genes and one 'balbisiana' gene. The bunch size was reasonable and the fruit quality as a dessert banana was excellent.

Re: Helen's Hybrid Update
 

I hear that, I have a Dobermann that literally eats her tennis balls.

Re: Helen's Hybrid Update
 

Lol, point taken ;)