canadianplant

I bought a bag of random banana seeds and planted then. Its been 5 months and only one has sprouted. I unfortunalty dont know the species.

It got attacked pretty bad by spider mites, and its lost its leaves. Its only an inch tall, maby an inch and a half. IT hasnt really grown much in the last month. THere is no new leaf spear yet, but the psudostem is still nice and healthy ( healthy green colour, stiff, but not crunchy and brown). I was thinking of putting it in a plastic bag to help it recover ( if its still alive). How do I know its alive? If you want, i could post a pic tomorrow when theres more light......

Thanks

Seaner

Even if the entire top of the plant looks dead, there's still hope. My brother had a Sikkimensis with a similar prob. Everything above ground was brown & dead. A bit more than a month later, it sent up a banana pup. That grew & got real healthy.
If it's still green after a month, you're doing fine. It's very likely building it's corm underground. DO NOT COVER WITH PLASTIC! That's inviting corm-rot and death for the plant. From what I've seen of my brother's experiences, just keep taking care of it the way you have been & be patient. When it's corm grows large enough, it will put on a leaf.

In addition, I read a post, here, concerning banana seed germination. The dude said he had probs with that till he discovered that temp variation was needed. He put the pots in a sunny window so that temps were high days & cool nights. He said he had incredible luck with that.

canadianplant

Thats what I was thinking too. There were some sikki seeds in the mix. As well as a musella, and ensete. Im hoping its a musa, cause then it should pup nice. Even if its still a baby plant ( an inch tall or 2), would it sill put out pups?

Eric

Ya never can tell. Thought that little Sikkimensis was like history till that pup popped up! And the stem on the mother plant wasn't much wider than a toothpick. It was only about 3 inches tall when the top died. Only took a couple of weeks for that pup to put out 2 leaves, super! Btw, Sean's Def right about the plastic. That would Very likely kill it.
It's the corm & roots, that ya never see, that are the important part. The stem could stay tiny while the corm & roots grow enough to send up an even larger plant .
Oh, and Sean's right about the seeds thing, too. Sikkimensis (especially) has to have day to night temp variations to germinate. I'll bet most banana seeds do.
Looks like ya might be up in Canada. Which province/zone?

canadianplant

I wasnt too sure about the bag..... I thought it would help with humidity and get things goin a bit faster. I forgot about dampning off. Its in a plastic dixie cup right now. Maby a repotting will help it? or would that stress it out more?

The ensete seeds i bought seperatly before that ( 2 months before, so ive had them for months havnt done a thing. Even in the summer we have warm days and cool nights, even inside the house. Although they did get hit with a night or 2 of 5-8C a few nights in the porch. Some of the other sones dried out a bit before i caught them. They are now covered with moss or green fungus, and im assuming nothing is gonna happen with them. The house never goes below 62F, i think thats about 18C, but when the sun comes out, the windows more then likley heat up a bit more then the rest of the house.


Yup, im in canada, western shores of lake supirior,so that makes it ontario. Everything says were zone 3, but there are more then enough zone 4 plants in gardens here that arent pretected throughout the winter for me to say its a zone 4. Although u wouldnt know it by this fall. ITs been at least 5 C warmer then normal ( for now at least :P), and a bit sunnier then normal as well. The days are getting pretty dark now, by 5 30 its pretty much black outside.

Eric

Re-potting would Def hurt a lot right now. Baby banana plants are Very sensitive. Btw, while seeds need temp variations, baby bananas can easily be shocked by it. For young bananas, best to keep light and temp conditions the same till they get bigger. Oh, and do be sure there's holes in the bottom & lower sides of the dixie cup. Good drainage is Def important for any banana plant.
I haven't worked with seeds much, myself, but I do know that the soil they're planted in should be Very Well draining. Once the seed germinates, it will become a corm which is sensitive to water. Btw, you can probably scrape the moss/fungus off the top. Some growers have reported that their seeds have taken as long as 6 months to germinate.
An important thing to remember is that banana plants are herbs and what we call banana fruit is actually a false berry (more closely related to a seedless watermelon). The underground corm (rhizome) can grow & spread without putting up stems or leaves so a lot of patience is needed... probably why I haven't tried seeds yet, not enough patience. The temps in your house sound great for starting seeds in a sunny window!
I see your general location's closer to Manitoba & Minnesota around Thunder Bay. I can easily believe it's zone 4 with all the global worming we been having! Although ya really can't tell here in Oklahoma. Fall started out kind of warm but now so much cold air has drifted in, we're freezing our b*lls off ! Btw, another thing ya might try is putting the seed cups near a heater during the day. Not too close, though, and you'd want to move them away from it at night (maybe on a tray). I have 2 Orinocos that I'm growing from corms and they're taking off like madcats by the heater, yay !
Gotta stop, for now. Home-school and time for English comp. If ya have any more questions, just ask and I'll answer after school.

canadianplant

Thanks for the replies...... I wonder why i try seeds, im patient with lots of other things, but appreantly seeds arent one of them lol. Some bananas can take up to a year to germinate, some palms even longer:S Yup im in Thunder bay..... lots of people even up here dont know where we are, they assume that every city in ontario is by toronto lol.

The lake has a warming effect of the of up to 14km inland, sooo the airport is generaly 3-5 degrees colder then we are closer to the lake. We do get COLD though. Around- 29 is cold here ( i have seen -33 as well), but the winds can take it down to -45 ( thats celcius). We generaly stay about -25 at night for a few weeks, with a day or 2 colder thrown in. I definetly wish i was down in oklahoma when were buried in 5 feet of snow, and the air is so cold I can hear flags blowing in the wind half a mile away :S

And if your wondering... i more then likley wont plant then outside for the winter here. Although I may try one or 2 types ( still trying to find a basjoo here), that i might try if my bamboo survives this year ( fargesia rufa "green panda"). Rated for zone 5 unprotected, so Im gonna see what a 3 foot payer of leaves, a garbage bag, a wooden box buried in snow can accomplish :P

Thanks man, ill keep you updated....

Eric

Same here, on the "Toronto" thing, ! Everybody thinks Oklahoma city's just a suburb of Tulsa !
Okay... -20*F, sometimes -23*F... Yikes !! Our thermometer doesn't even go below -40*C... I think it's cause that's the point at which all motion stops & life ceases to exist!! Scary!! -13*F for a few weeks at night, Wow, you should get the Medal of Honour or something!
OMG!! 5 feet of snow!! I'd be in winter Heaven! A guy could dig a lot of tunnels in 5 feet of snow, and Lots of snowmen & igloos, Yes ! Guess that wouldn't be so great to have it that way all the time, though. Hmmmmm....
Btw, if I thought ya might try and grow nanners in the winter there, outside, I'd Def wanna see some pics ! But summer can be a Lot different!
Even in Oklahoma, all but Basjoos, Sikkimensis, Virupakshi, & Pahari Kela (and maybe a few others) would die if they were left out for the winter. But I bring mine in (even the 14 foot tall ones) and keep them in the back room till spring. It takes a few weeks for them to start growing new leaves but it's great having banana trees to stand under in the summer, Yes! And that's something you could do even in Canada! Btw, if ya ever wanna try something like that, Blue Java (ice cream) bananas grow so fast, with a good pup, you can have a plant to stand under in just 2 years! They also pup like madcats!
Fargesia rufa "green panda"? Sweet! Def on the -15F for that so that 3 foot leaves, garbage bag, & box thing should work fine! Btw, if any Great Pandas move in, from China, get some pics, LOL!! Seriously, that is one awesome mountain bamboo! And Luv those long leaves & yellow culms, Yes ! Fargesias are Def the way to go that far north since they tend to be real cold-hardy. i'm even thinkin about growing a Fargesia here. Right now I'm growing Phyllostachys Viridis (Robert Young) & Phyllostachys Rubromarginata (Red Margin) timber bamboos. They're up 21 feet now & will eventually (with luck) get 40 feet tall!
Btw, there's an interesting thread at Garden Web on Green Panda bamboo & getting it through the winter. Randytootall is growing some in Ohio and made it through one winter already. Also, good discussion & info at UBC Botanical Garden site & White Flower Farm site! I may grow Phyllostachys but I've always been real ON about getting some of the mountain types!
Def keep me updated on how the bananas & Green Panda are doing! Def wanna find out more about that from someone actually growing them up there !!

Ps. I've never had the spider mite prob but I hear that insecticidal soap is good. But ya would need to wipe the leaves shortly after using it, each time, to keep the soap from burning the leaves. And I wouldn't trust companies selling "attack mites". From what I've read, a lot of those companies put very few, if any at all, in the containers.

canadianplant

The good thing is Ive never seen the actual temp go below - 36 celcius. They facter how cold the wind makes it feel. There have been days when the actual temp is only - 25 celcius, but with the wind chill factered, it feels like - 40 celcius. ID take the dry cold any time lol.

From my knowledge, basjoos have been grown in zone 6 without protection, and even colder with major protection. Vanvouver/victoria region grows them like mad, and their zones there are rated from 6b-8b, with micro climatees up to 9b. They just have problems with the monsoon like rains that come with winter.

There are people who grow palms and bananas in crazy zones. A lady ive talked to grows,banana, butia, tracys, bamboo and a few other types of hardy palms, in utah ( zone 5b), for years, with extensive coverings, and they come out looking great every year. Ive read an article that people in ottawa have overwintered basjoo outsidem for multiple years ( once again with covering it well), and apperatnly grows livingstona chinensis ( palm tree), as a die back perrenial outside. So, needless to say, if the bamboo survives, im pretty sure i can get a basjoo to make it...

As fer the spider mites. soapy water sprayed on the plant once or twice a week usualy works well for me. The best bugs ive read up on that work are lady bugs.... they do a damn good job of it too.
Canada's Bamboo World - Rare Hardy Bamboo Plant Catalogue
As for bamboo, try this site.. i think they order to the states....


peace and thanks agian

Eric

Yup! Dry and cold Def beats wet cold! That's what's great about the Colorado Rockies. It may get real cold but the air's dry so it doesn't feel as cold. And Def yup, again! Basjoo is like the banana of the north! I'm sure you can grow that there and have no doubts about the BC area doing that great! I wanted to try out Sikkimensis cause it's hardy down to -3*F but i'll have to keep it indoors for the summer or the heat will take it out. I also wanted to try Virupakshi & Pahari Kela. They make really big nanners - bigger than the ones in the stores - but they're even more cold-hardy than Sikkimensis. Jack Daw has Pahari Kela but says the Oklahoma heat would Def kill one.
I don't think you'll have many probs with the Green Panda bamboo. Tradewinds said my timber bamboos might not make it here cause it's too cold in Oklahoma but they've been growing for 5 years now, with no protection, like madcats ! Don't think they really know enough about how much a plant can survive. A lot of them seem to be real stubborn!
Don't know much about palms, though. Sabal Minors are native to Oklahoma but Pindos (especially Butia Capitata) & Palmetto are not. I'm going to try and grow them anyway... with protection, and see how they do. BananaLee (Levi) lives in Michigan and I've seen his palms. They're looking super! We're swapping notes to see how well our palms do this winter!
Btw, thanx for the info on the ladybugs ! Didn't know anything about that and will Def try that! Thanx for the link too! Will be taking a serious look at that!
Peace & thanx for the info!

canadianplant

Well, its been about -8, we had one night of -12, but the days have been around 0-5 celcius. The damn bamboo is still growing, with no protection so far. ITs growing slow, but it opened a new leaf. Were gettin down to - 12C ( with windchill).

I was in calgary for a few years... definelty like the dry cold

Eric

Your days sound like our nights. About the worst night, last winter, was around -12*C here. But if you're only going down to -12*C then there's still time before it hits that -25*C mark. Calgary? Alberta, close to BC. That would have the Rockies.
Chip up, though. Could be worse. Could be living in Northern Siberia, LOL! At least it's still growing! Btw, how tall is it right now?
Also, that guy in Ohio said that the leaves on his Green Panda bamboo, that were covered with snow, didn't die. Since snow acts as insulation, the plan you have for covering it will very likely work!
After reading about your weather, think I'll get some hot cocoa!
Anyway, as fussy as seeds are, ya might be better off just getting a pup. I sent a Blue Java pup and a whole Ruby Siam plant to a friend of mine, in Ontario, last summer. They're not hard or expensive to ship. As cold as it is, though, I'd either wait till spring or have one shipped dry-root (to avoid corm-rot).

canadianplant

Ya, calgary is less then a 20 minute drive to get right in the rockies. The bamboo is 2 mabey a bit more feet tall, grew nice this summer. It was really cool and wet, and it seemed to like it. We usualy have warm humid summers, with atleast a month of hot humid, dispite what wikipedia says. ITs been 30C, and becasue of all the humid air, it feels like 48C.

Eric

Sweet! At 2 feet, the bamboo should be easy to get through the winter! Oh, and I never trust weather stations or wikipedia for stuff like that. I always find out from people who live wherever it is that I wanna know about. 30*C is super!
Will talk more later, bedtime . C ya!

Chrislilbabe

[quote=canadianplant;112237]Thanks for the replies...... I wonder why i try seeds, im patient with lots of other things, but appreantly seeds arent one of them lol. Some bananas can take up to a year to germinate, some palms even longer:S Yup im in Thunder bay..... lots of people even up here dont know where we are, they assume that every city in ontario is by toronto lol.


Hi there i am from thunderbay too any idea where i can get my own banana seeds i think i am patient enough to start from the seeds rather than just buying the plant...if you no of anything let me no thxx

canadianplant

i got them from canadian tire in the spring. But if you are Very serious about it. Id go to rarepalmseeds.com. THey have a Large selection of palms, agave, banana and others.

You might meet some lucky people on here or online that would send you some as well.

Good Luck