Ensete ventricosum maurelli aka Red abyssinian banana-info please
 

Does it pup like a regular banana?
How hardy is it? I'm in zone 9 in Sarasota, FL
Easy to grow?
Anything else?

Re: Ensete ventricosum maurelli aka Red abyssinian banana-info please
 

Ensete do not pup.

Should do fine in zone 9.

Generally easy to grow, provide lots of sun, water and fert.

Same plant as regular Ensete ventricosum, its just the ones that tend to have more red coloration are TC'd and given the name 'Maurelii'.

Re: Ensete ventricosum maurelli aka Red abyssinian banana-info please
 

Gabe, that is definately not true. "ventricosum" and "maurelli" are totally different plants. Maurelli has a lot of red to the trunk and leaves where ventricosum or often called "red stripe" only has a red stripe down the midrib of the petiole and is otherwise solid green. I also notice here (zone 9) that the greens get a lot larger than the reds.

They do not pup though I have heard they could after flowering. But I have not personally seen this yet. So figure on seed start or TC.

Mike

Re: Ensete ventricosum maurelli aka Red abyssinian banana-info please
 

Even if you stress the pseudostem? Odd for this type of plant. Are the seeds easy to germinate?

Re: Ensete ventricosum maurelli aka Red abyssinian banana-info please
 

rsieminski-I seem to remember reading that it will pup if you "really, really stress it" by cutting off the trunk, digging up the corm and cutting the corm into quarters. I seem to remember reading that this is how the plant is propagated in areas where the corm is cooked and eaten.

Re: Ensete ventricosum maurelli aka Red abyssinian banana-info please
 

I searched, and searched, and cannot find seeds? Does anyone have a source for seeds?

Re: Ensete ventricosum maurelli aka Red abyssinian banana-info please
 

I think the vast majority of them are tissue cultured and not grown from seeds.

Re: Ensete ventricosum maurelli aka Red abyssinian banana-info please
 

A person on e-bay had like two or three potted ones selling it for cheap as a package last month.Go ahead and do another search on e-bay.I didn't buy them at that moment because I don't have the space to grow one of those at the moment.They grow fast and you need to leave plenty of space along its radius.

Carlos

Re: Ensete ventricosum maurelli aka Red abyssinian banana-info please
 

rsieminski, if you are zone 9 you may be able to find one at a local nursery or have them order you one. They go for $15-$20 in a 1 gallon around here.

I think banana-tree.com has seeds. Or maybe watcom seed company. You can also find TC plants on ebay and the net.

I sprouted seeds for the green ensetes. Some came up within a few weeks and some not for over a year (after I gave up on them they were coming up in the yard), so be patient.

Mike

Re: Ensete ventricosum maurelli aka Red abyssinian banana-info please
 

Quote-"Gabe, that is definately not true. "ventricosum" and "maurelli" are totally different plants. Maurelli has a lot of red to the trunk and leaves where ventricosum or often called "red stripe" only has a red stripe down the midrib of the petiole and is otherwise solid green. I also notice here (zone 9) that the greens get a lot larger than the reds."

Let me explain, Ensete ventricosum is a naturally variable species, in the wild, they usually tend to be green with a little red, however, redder plants are naturally occuring and these ones with red foliage are tissue cultured and given the name 'Maurelii', but in reality, it is the exact same species. To answer rsieminski's question also, the reason there are no seeds is because its not a distinct plant, you could plant a whole bunch of Ensete ventricosum seeds and theoretically get a few red ones by chance, but if you pollinate a 'Maurelii', you will get seeds, but the vast majority of them will turn out green because that is the normal color of the species, because again, Ensete ventricosum 'Maurelii' is just a naturally redder form of the regular Ensete ventricosum.

Re: Ensete ventricosum maurelli aka Red abyssinian banana-info please
 

$22
http://www.singingspringsnursery.com/page3.html#718
Ensete ventricosum �Maurelii� $22.00 Red-leaf Abyssinian banana
Closely related to true bananas is this gorgeous, sought-after Abyssinian banana whose leaves can reach up to 15' long by 3' wide, though in containers or as an annual, 5 or 6' long is more likely. With dark burgundy stems and wine-tinted leaves that glow like stained glass when sunlit, 'Maurelii' makes a stunning garden showpiece. Treated as an annual, it grows 6-10' tall. In zone 8, 'Maurelii' may be root-hardy with protection; it is trunk-hardy in zones 9-11 and can reach 20' tall with time. It grows as a single-trunked specimen and does not make offshoots, so consider that in your overwintering schemes (no pups to dig up means you have to bring in mama). An awe-inspiring plant that looks great towering over Colocasia 'Black Magic', Hibiscus 'Jungle Red', Senna didymotropa, and Coleus 'Swallowtail'.
Sun to light shade / z9-11 / Ethiopia / Musaceae / #718

Re: Ensete ventricosum maurelli aka Red abyssinian banana-info please
 

banana tree sells the seed for the abyssinian banana.

here is the link

http://www.banana-tree.com/

byterunner

ps very hard to germinate out oof 100 seeds got about 20 plants sold for $ 8
each @ 12 inches.

Re: Ensete ventricosum maurelli aka Red abyssinian banana-info please
 

Here is what I've heard/ Have experienced about the Ensete Ventricosum:
-Can struggle in the warmer parts of Florida
-Easiest banana from seed
-Maurelli gets better red colours in cooler climates (turns green in tropical)
- Grows like there's no tomorrow
- Variable from seed, both in height, red colouring, and leaf shape.
- Loves extra fert & water (dont all naners though)
- Seedlings are hardier than most musa seedlings
- Quickly outgrows a pot
- In Norway, keeps growing relatively fast, almost until the first frost

Erlend

Re: Ensete ventricosum maurelli aka Red abyssinian banana-info please
 

Just an FYI about them pupping when stressed. I had vandels cut mine to the ground and it came back up beautifully...but alas...no pups....

rsieminski-I seem to remember reading that it will pup if you "really, really stress it" by cutting off the trunk, digging up the corm and cutting the corm into quarters.

Re: Ensete ventricosum maurelli aka Red abyssinian banana-info please
 

Why worry about pupping, when it's very easy and fast from seed?
:bananarow:

Re: Ensete ventricosum maurelli aka Red abyssinian banana-info please
 

:coldbanana: Can potted ones be put into dormancy? would they survive it?

Re: Ensete ventricosum maurelli aka Red abyssinian banana-info please
 

It depends on the size. They have to be big to be strong enough to go into dormancy. Even though they are supposed to be in suspended animation, the smaller plants seem to wither away no matter what you do. I could not suggest an absolute lower size. I would still not attempt to put any ensete under a (rootbound) 3 Gallon size in a dormant state.

Erlend

Re: Ensete ventricosum maurelli aka Red abyssinian banana-info please
 

erland , if a two foot tall ensete was put outside in the spring and potted up a couple of times in the summer to maybe a seven gallon, would it develop a decent size corm by the end of october? our summers are warm.:2718:

Re: Ensete ventricosum maurelli aka Red abyssinian banana-info please
 

I would definately think so. These plants grow fast. An uncle of mine put a 5 month and about 5 feet tall old specimen in a cold & dark basement for the winter, and it came back fine the following spring.

Re: Ensete ventricosum maurelli aka Red abyssinian banana-info please
 

Here's the wiki page for the Maurelii, everyone is invited to add some information to it:
http://www.bananas.org/wiki/Ensete_ventricosum_'Maurelii'