Ensete Superbum Plants?
 

Does anyone know a site that sells Ensete Superbum PLANTS? I've found a ton of places that sell seeds, but would rather not spend money on something that might not germinate. I actually ordered some E.S. seeds on Ebay a few weeks ago. When I received them, the little baggy said 'Thailand Red Banana - Musa.' I wrote the seller and told him I didn't think this was the right type of seeds since E.S. is not a Musa at all. So what happens? He sends me another package of the SAME SEEDS!? So if anyone can tell me what that even is (or wants to take them off my hands) I'm down. Or maybe these are indeed E.S. seeds? Ideas?

I'm looking for the Thai version of the E.S. I've searched far and wide but haven't found even a single site that sells the plants. I realize they do not pup, and are kinda rare anyway, but I kinda figured somewhere would germinate and sell them. Maybe not. I love the fat, stocky structure they have and would love to have one in my collection, but so far, I have not succeeded. If any of you know something and can point me in the right direction, please let me know.

Thanks.

Re: Ensete Superbum Plants?
 

Bryan, tell me about it.... My last batch of 1,000+sds of the Thai Ensete sp. Kluay Pa, have yet to say hello.

Does the sds from the Thai seller look like the normal ensete sds? They are quite confusing when it comes to naming their sds/plants. Check it against your other ensete species sds. Well, by now I am sure you are aware of the diff between musa and ensete sds, rite? Just to recap then, ensete sds are bigger and more full bodied and are smoothish is appearance.

One of the factors on its germn is that this species comes from the cooler region of Thailand, near the north. Now, up there the temp is crazy, when it's hot, it's really hot and then comes the very wet and cold winter period. Many of the smaller town floods like mad during this time. On top of that, this plant has no economical value in Thailand and very few people collect the sds and I suspect most of the sds are very old.

Well, I haven't given up hope yet and I will try to get another batch soon.

Re: Ensete Superbum Plants?
 

dont know what kinda seeds you have but..if im not mistaken the thailand red banana is a variegated ornamental. its variegation patteren is like an ae ae only its red and green..i only have general info.maybe the experts will join and give you all the facts.

Re: Ensete Superbum Plants?
 

hey Gabe15 posted a vary good picture with lots of diferent seeds in it with all the names listed out check it out!

Re: Ensete Superbum Plants?
 

The only plant that I've read having that moniker was the Siam Ruby. Seeds would suggest a bloom and fruit...er...and seeds!
Could you post some pics of the seeds?

Re: Ensete Superbum Plants?
 

Hey Ron, check the thread below for the variegated Thai musa. The only Red and Green Thai 'naner I know of from Thailand is what is known as Kluay Saer Phran which refers to the markings of the camouflage uniform of the military. So far, no one seems to have offered sds of this. When I did a check, none of my friends there know its origin and it is different from the Musa acuminata subsp sumatrana aka Rojo. Still a damn mystery up till now.
http://www.bananas.org/f16/musa-danee-3689.html

Ok, not to go off track, as Paulo said, this is Gabe's thread on the sds.
http://www.bananas.org/f16/musaceae-seeds-6397.html

Re: Ensete Superbum Plants?
 

Pete, I have asked my Thai friends...the damn Siam Weedby, I mean Ruby has not bloomed in Thailand up till now. It's a weed there now, thus, new name by me, if you are nice to the Thais, they will happily dig it up and give it to you....:ha:

Ron, I think maybe you were referring to this sport but then, no sds have been offered yet, not to mention it blooming. :ha:

Re: Ensete Superbum Plants?
 

Well, I took some pictures of the seeds with/without a flash (the flash just kinda glared against the background, but offers better seed detail). I'm no seed expert, by any means....no clue. I'm sure you all can do much better on identifying them than I can.


They're not entirely smooth...some have some indents and I can't really compare size cause I have nothing to compare them to. But I put the ruler in there so you all can tell the relative size.
If you get some to germinate and are willing to part with one, PLEASE let me know!!!

That sounds really cool! I've never even heard of it before. I really had no clue when I got the seeds as it wasn't a name I recognized.

Re: Ensete Superbum Plants?
 

i was looking at this website.


http://heliconiaparadise.com/images/Sp.1_Thai-_Red.jpg
the people who posted this pic call the plant a red thai.its different from the red rowe they say..its not the same. im no expert im only relaying info

Re: Ensete Superbum Plants?
 

That pic looks kinda like a Siam Ruby to me. Again, no expert by any means....just what SR's look like from pics I've seen.

Re: Ensete Superbum Plants?
 

Bryan, you have the Thai Ensete sp Kluay Pa sds! What are you waiting for man? Go germy them! All the best! :ha:

Ron, that's the Siam Weedby, oops! I mean Siam Ruby, the non blooming/fruiting 'naner. Don't believe about sds from this plant.

Re: Ensete Superbum Plants?
 

here is the website. Special Plants - Heliconia Paradise yeah thailand used to be called siam..so they named the plant the siam ruby..it was recently discovered huh???(siam ruby) these people are calling it thai red..yep.. thats what i say about renaming and repakaging..a lot of it goes on in the nursery business...adds confusion

Re: Ensete Superbum Plants?
 

:woohoonaner:Well awesome, then. Not sure why they were labeled as they were, but I guess I'll go ahead and try to get them growing. Wish me luck....I'm sure I'll need it by the sounds of it! LOL. Guess at least since all the confusion I now have 10 seeds instead of 5 I've got much better odds (though still probably not that great, huh?).

I guess if more than one grows, I'll probably put the others up for sale on here...let's hope. As much as I'd like to have several of them, I just don't have the space for it!

Re: Ensete Superbum Plants?
 

thats a siam ruby the seeds you got there raver boy are ensete by the looks of the size ventiscosum they germinatew pretty easy i had 10 for 10 come up about a 2 months ago the last time i tryed them a few fell off the deep end cause i didnt take care of them that well the rest are about 6 inches now on there 4 leaf

Re: Ensete Superbum Plants?
 

I have a couple of superbum plants growing, not sure if it's the Thai version or Indian, the seed vendor didn't specify, just labelled them as rare. I'll post a picture when I'm not busy busy busy woooooooo.

Re: Ensete Superbum Plants?
 

Oi James, easy to tell, when they start to grow like 4mths, the Indian ones have a red mid rib on the leaf under surface. The Thai ones is yellowish-green.

Re: Ensete Superbum Plants?
 

I've got some pics of the Thai form in my gallery, taken in Thailand. I did come home with a few seeds, and a few germinated. A few from another source germinated also, but I think I only have three plants left. They are distinctly different from the Indian form, as Tog points out.

Thai Ensete superbum


Indian form:


The seeds in your picture are definitely Ensete seeds, and I agree with Tog. They look like 'Kluay Pa' seeds to me also. I have had ZERO luck germinating this particular species! Good luck with yours!

Wish I had extras to sell! They are some cool-looking plants.

Frank

Re: Ensete Superbum Plants?
 

I planted 50 superbum and have had 5 germinate. I ordered the seeds from Banana Tree.
Picture and details of ENSETE superbum sub.sp. Thailand. "ROCK BANANA" Seeds and Bulbs - Tropical Plant Seed

Here is the progress:


I'm with Tog get them in some medium and see what happens. I was ordering 10 to 20 seeds at a time but have decided that from now on I'll order at least 100 due to success rates.

Good Luck

Michael

Re: Ensete Superbum Plants?
 

Bryan,

Like you, after searching for weeks or months for a plant, I got some seeds.

About a month ago, maybe 2 now, I got 100 seeds of ES "Thai" (or so they said) directly from Thailand. They came damp. I used a couple different treatments before planting. So far none have come up.

Set #1, just soaked in water for 24 hours but they felt a little oily so...

Set #2 was washed in soapy water, rinsed 3x before soaking, and indeed debris was removed. Soaked 24 hours then planted.

Set #3 -- these got soapy washed & rinsed and then put them in acid. (HCl to simulate being eaten.) After 12 hours they were rinsed 3x, soaked an hour, rinsed 3x, then soaked 24 hours before planting. Note that some membrane stuff soon came off when they went into the acid. Looked like black peanut skins. (Skin, not shell. :) ) This made me optimistic that I got past some impermeable membrane.

So far all samples of all treatments are still rock hard. They were quite smooth. I'll go look, but I THINK they were smaller than what you showed, Bryan.

If any of these techniques result in green stuff, I'll let y'all know. And ask y'all for ID confirmation. If I get more than 1 into a pot I'll share.


After reading Tog's post, maybe I need to give these guys some temperature fluctuations. If I recall, the seller was collecting his own seeds. I'll look for his address, and google the climate for clues.

Re: Ensete Superbum Plants?
 

I concur with KJ. My seeds looked smaller than those you posted and my EV seeds all looked bigger.

Michael

Maybe this will help: