Tropicallvr

Musa cheesmanii seems to be on par with sikkimensis for stem hardiness, but it is definatly alot more hardy than M.burmese blue, M.initerans(TC), M.sp big flower.
All of these listed(besides sikkimensis), have absolutly no hard stem left, and the cheesmanii has a perfect looking stem with green petioles.
They are in a greenhouse and some of them actually had ice hanging off of them.
Next year I think I'll going to put it to the test against sikkimensis, and basjoo. The seeds were from RPS, and it has been my fastest growing Musa from seed.

STEELVIPER

Tropicallvr,
how tall are your cheesmanii's right now? How long did it take for your batch (seeds) to germinate? Just wondering , cuz i have some cheesmanii(black stem) seeds on order.

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bigdog

Hi Kyle,
I left this Musa cheesmani outside this winter.




I covered the pseudostem with a bag-o-leaves, but left it exposed to quite a few frosts and freezing temps beforehand. It did hold up pretty well! I'm not sure if it will come back from that pseudostem though. Sure would be cool if it did!

Tropicallvr

The one that is in my cold greenhouse is about 6 feet tall(maybe a little more) to top of stem. The seeds in my experience have been really quick to germinate and I had about 100% on both batches of ten seeds that I tried. I'd like to hear how your burmese cheesmanii fares for cold hardiness.
Bigdog- Did your seeds come from RPS? Does any others come back from stem in your climate with the same procedure? I'll bet the stem will survive.
In my other greenhouse all my bananas lost their leaves, but for some reason my Alocasia calidora's still have green intact leaves. Maybe it's the large veins it has on the leaves to circulate it's anti freeze solution?

mrbungalow

Tropicalvr and Bigdog, it's people like you who do the research the seed-dealers should have done in the first place! Bravo!

I think it's the same problem with cheesmani as with helen and nagensium. Gardeners haven't grown mature plants yet, and experiences in overwintering are not available yet.

Some cling to basjoo, some take it a step further and try new species in the cold! It must be fun to know that you are on virgin ground, discovering new science through the winter!

I have a large number of nagensium X, cheesmani, and a few nagensium "true" that I can't wait to plant out this spring. Your observations have encouraged me even further if that's possible!

Erlend

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Mark Hall

Erland do you have a picture of your true Nagensium. Can you tell me did you get the seeds from the german site ( sunshine seeds ?)

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Time Flies like an Arrow.....Fruit flies like a Banana.

mrbungalow

Mark, I am still not sure if they indeed are "true" nagensiums, but that's what they said at seedman.com where I got them. We actually had a discussion here earlier about true nagensium. My "true" nagensiums are still very small and don't seem to grow well inside. The leaves are very narrow, and seem to dry out quickly. I just repotted one that has been sort of weak all along, and treated it with palmbooster. I have a picture here: (pic)What on earth is wrong with my Musa Nagensium seedling?

Erlend

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bigdog

Kyle, I received the plant from a friend in late Summer of 2005 as a small seedling. He grew the plant from RPS seed though. Musella lasiocarpa, Musa sikkimensis, and Musa basjoo come back from the stem with this procedure. Haven't tried it with M. itinerans, but I bet it would work too. I'm hoping that M. cheesmani will also. We're supposed to get some very cold (possibly real zone 7a!) temps here early next month, so it will be put to the test! Always nice to have another cold-hardy banana species to grow here. Maybe I can add even more to the list next Spring.

barna

I posted a picture of my “pure” nagensium some time ago. I received the seeds from tropengarten



This plant is now abot 60 cm high and I brought it indoors. It has glaucous leaves and the stem is covered with a whitish powder and has no dark coloration.

My nagensium “Florale Noire” is planted in the ground an until now has tolerated 0ºC with some damage on its leaves.

Today forecast is saying it will frost so let’s see what happened tomorrow ¡¡¡

Tropicallvr

This winter has been great for testing the true hardiness of plants here in northern california. It got down into the teen's a few times and there is a perma frost in the shade for the last month. I was bummed at all my dead plants at first, but I got over it.
Musa "Bhutan' (5 gallon and 1 gallon) is also showing alot of stem hardiness in a slightly warmer greenhouse, but too soon to be for sure on that one.

bigdog

We've only been in the teens on two consecutive nights in early December, and one night a week or two ago. We should be in the teens again tonight though, and early Feb. looks cold. I'm always looking for possible zone 7 bananas, but I'm really in no hurry to see zone 7 temps! Haven't seen any zone 7a temps in four years here, but I'm not complaining. All the same, it would be nice to get some hard data concerning ultimate cold-hardiness on some of these rare species (rare in cultivation anyway). I'm crossing my fingers on M. cheesmani. The 'Floral Noire' you sent me looks just like M. cheesmani to me. It's getting nice and large in the greenhouse now too. The M. 'Bhutan' is getting pretty big also, and is starting to show some coloration on the pseudostem that looks remarkably similar to Musa itinerans var. xishuangbannaensis (maroon and yellow). Don't think it is the same thing though, because it's already sent up a pup just a few inches away. Time will tell. I need to get some pictures of the both of them and post them.

barna

After several nights with temperatures close to frozen an the two last nights with temperatures low to -4ºC ( 24 ºF)



my M. nagensium ‘Florale Noir’ has leave damage but stem seems still OK



M. itinerans ‘Yunnan' was more damaged but it steam is also OK. You can also see in the picture Alocasia gageana with some
frozen leaves.



I protected my M. sikkimensis ‘Red Tiger’ stem but leaves were completely burned (this plants was younger then the previous ones)



I also have Musa basjoo planted in my garden and it has the fewest damages (but it is also the oldest and bigest one)

I hope frozing night finished for this year

bigdog

I just uncovered my M. cheesmani from its bag-o-leaves the other day. The stem was still very intact, but I had the dreaded center-leaf-rot. I had to cut it pretty much all the way down to the corm to find white in the center. Interestingly, two small pups still attached to the plant still look fine! It has not started growing, however, while M. sikkimensis, M. basjoo, and M. yunnanensis (formerly confused with M. itinerans) are pushing new growth. M. yunnanensis continues to surprise me! I didn't cover it with anything other than a few extra inches of mulch, and it is sending out new shoots in the middle of March.

Tropicallvr

My cheesmanii's have also started having a rot problem(small black circle at base of pseudostem) since surviving the cold temps, but interestingly my smaller nagesiums have no stem rot problems so far.

bigdog

Well, still no movement from the main pseudostem, but one of the pups has shown signs of movement! I can't be completely sure, but it looks like it has grown some since the other day.
Kyle, are you talking about the M. nagensium 'Florale Noir' from sunshine-seeds?

Tropicallvr

Yep Musa nagesium floir noir is the one I'm growing.