Musa itinerans var. itinerans is creeping into the yard.
 

Well, I knew it would happen sooner or later! Frankly, I'm surprised it didn't happen last year. Three pups have emerged in the yard this year. I found one of them by stepping on it, and another after mowing over it, lol. I noticed the first one (on the far left in the picture) before mowing it over though. Guess it's time to start digging pups, or extend the bed! Hmmm...I do need to get rid of some more grass. Maybe I'll just extend the bed, lol. I count 24 pseudostems so far, including emerging pups. A low of 3F, and several other single digit nights this winter, including two 60 hour freezes, didn't seem to faze it at all. The three largest pseudostems were protected with bags of leaves, but none of the others were even mulched and came back also! In my most humble opinion, this Musa is just as hardy, if not more so, than Musa basjoo.



Frank

Re: Musa itinerans var. itinerans is creeping into the yard.
 

A bed extension would be good, but that mat looks like it could be thinned out. It really looks good, and thank you for showing growth habit!! Good growing!! :2239:

Re: Musa itinerans var. itinerans is creeping into the yard.
 

i agree thin out and ship to me lol

Re: Musa itinerans var. itinerans is creeping into the yard.
 

Maybe you could use rhizome barriere (commonly used for bamboo) to keep it inside :P
Any idea where you got this one?
Kind regards,
Remko.

Re: Musa itinerans var. itinerans is creeping into the yard.
 

There seems to be a lot of varieties of itinerans...

Do they all spread this way? I had bought itinerans var. gigantea that ended up being yunnanensis. It has quite a litter of puppies now in a tight clump - pretty and well behaved. If all of the itinerans spread like this they are off my want list, I don't have the space for them. :-(

Russell

Re: Musa itinerans var. itinerans is creeping into the yard.
 

Hi Frank

Nice picture.

Bananas are like men, they always want to explore new spaces.
(no limit)

Re: Musa itinerans var. itinerans is creeping into the yard.
 

Um.........

I had asked a question of you guys growing itinerans and its varieties, and the question is still out there....

Sorry for being a pest, but I'd really like to know.

Russell

Re: Musa itinerans var. itinerans is creeping into the yard.
 

Russell, sorry no one has answered yet, and I am not the expert in them, but do know BigDog well and if he saw this, he would answer for sure.... From what I have seen of BigDogs itenerans, this is the only one that "runs" from the parent this far. Most others tend to stay true to normal itenerans and pups stay closer to the parent. Like I said, hopefully, BigDog will see this and give you more detailed info. Hope this helps, even if only just a little...
Randy

Re: Musa itinerans var. itinerans is creeping into the yard.
 

I think all the itinerans varieties tend to "run" but some are worse than others.

Re: Musa itinerans var. itinerans is creeping into the yard.
 

Russell, I'm sorry, but I haven't seen your question. I was on vacation for the past week and a half, so haven't been checking the boards much. If you can direct me to the thread, I'll be happy to try and answer your question!!
:0517:

Frank

Re: Musa itinerans var. itinerans is creeping into the yard.
 

Frank, see post #6 in THIS thread!!! I think that is his question...

Re: Musa itinerans var. itinerans is creeping into the yard.
 

Thanks Randy.

Frank, just scroll down...

My thinking is that itinerans may offer a little more cold tolerance here along the north gulf coast. Our standard banana is Orinoco, and it is grown as much for ornamental value as fruit. Itinerans is beautiful and may be able to come through our breif cold snaps and mostly light freezes with less damage but its usefulness is limited if they all spread like the one you show. Most people in the city don't have that kind of space or want to try to stay ahead of something like that.

Any experience anyone can share about the hardiness and growth of itinerans and its varieties will be appreciated. My yunnanensis has grown quickly. This is my first year for it so I'm eager to see how hardy it proves to be this winter.

Thanks again!

Russell

Re: Musa itinerans var. itinerans is creeping into the yard.
 

this statement is not specific to Itinerans how and why a banana will run has a lot to do with soil texture and of cours genetics in Lome they will run as there roots will penetrate easily in to the surrounding space but if your like allot of people living in areas were cleacha is the norm they don't spred at all a good barer method is to dig a trench around the bed at least 3 ft deep and 2 ft wide fill with a mixture of sand and rock pack it in tight Bananas have fairly tender roots and don't like this type of soil

Re: Musa itinerans var. itinerans is creeping into the yard.
 

Most bananas do not produce rhizomatious growth like var. itinerans does though. Most bananas clump fairly close to the mother plant. Musa itinerans var. itinerans, Musa laterita, and I think Musa siamensis all produce true rhizomes that will go all over the place.

Re: Musa itinerans var. itinerans is creeping into the yard.
 

I see it now, LOL!! Sorry I missed your question, Russell! The answer to your question is "No," they do not all spread in this way. Musa itinerans var. chinensis is a clumper, and so is var. guangdongensis and var. lechangensis. Var. itinerans, var. xishuangbannaensis, and var. annamica are rhizomatous.

Hope that helps!

Frank

Re: Musa itinerans var. itinerans is creeping into the yard.
 

Great Frank, thanks!!

Now read post #12 and let me know what you think about hardiness.

Russell

Re: Musa itinerans var. itinerans is creeping into the yard.
 

Russell, it is extremely hardy! You won't have any problem with it on the north Gulf Coast for sure. It is just as hardy as Musa basjoo here in Knoxville, Tennessee. You have alluded to the one drawback that will limit its use in cultivation to serious collectors only...the running habit. I would plant it where it gets some afternoon shade though, as it doesn't seem to like very hot temperatures at all. By that, I mean mid-high 90s Fahrenheit. This year has been a fantastic season for the bananas, with just a handful of 90F+ days and lots of rain. Eric in Orlando has this banana growing at Leu Gardens in Orlando, planted under some tree canopy, and it does very well there. You probably wouldn't even get much dieback of the pseudostems in an average winter where you are.

My M. yunnanensis has proven to be very hardy here as well, but just corm-hardy so far. I have to start over from the corm every year, since the pseudostems die back completely. This year, despite a zone 7a winter, it has 2 of the fattest pseudostems that it's ever had, so maybe I can bring them through with a little protection.

Paulo, by "running," I mean that it has rhizomes that send pups out up to 2 meters away from the mother pseudostem. As Brent mentioned, there are only a small handful of species that will do this, and to my knowledge, no edible bananas have this habit.

Frank

Re: Musa itinerans var. itinerans is creeping into the yard.
 

Frank,

Thanks for the info, it is most helpful.

Now here's a question for you (and anyone else)...

How does yunnanensis really differ from itinerans? I see itinerans listed as the "Yunnan banana", why isn't yunnanensis just another variety of itinerans? I know some people are "lumpers" and some are "splittters" when it comes to classifying new plants - did the splitters describe it first?

And how big do yunnanensis and itinerans really get when the pstems make it through the winter? (as in the claims about var gigantea on ebay) My ice cream made it through last winter with leaf loss only and it is HUGE. We rarely have winters bad enough to damage pstems.

Thanks again.

Russell

Re: Musa itinerans var. itinerans is creeping into the yard.
 

Well, I finally was able to wrestle one of BigDogs pups away from him about a month ago and planted in out all by itself. It has since put out a total of 10 leaves and I noticed yesterday, it has thrown out two pups!!!! One is only about 4" from the original pup and the other is about 10". Keep in mind this is just a pup itself having only about (maybe) 3' of pstem!!!! I could not believe it was already sending out pups this soon, but hey, I will take it!!! Will try and post a pic or two this weekend, if I can find the time!!! Just wanted to let everyone know about its habit!!!!