banana seeds do really sprout
 

I have read so many discussions about why people selling banana seeds are just ripping you off!!

But I have seen so many ads on ebay advertising banana tree seeds that I wanted to give it a test and bought some on ebay from several different suppliers for about 50 or so banana seeds and some giant bird of paradise seeds.

I planted them in a tiny kiddy pool filled with potting soil and filled halfway with water so it stays damp on top all the time.

Yesterday morning I looked out my door and I can see one sprout so far.

I know that they sprout at different times so I am waiting for the rest to show!!:islandsharkbanana:

Re: banana seeds do really sprout
 

If I understood correctly edible bananas do not seed.

Re: banana seeds do really sprout
 

these seeds are really starting to sprout and they come from edible varieties

Re: banana seeds do really sprout
 

Maybe someone else can chime in. I'm only regurgitating what I read and that is that if you bought an edible banana seed then you get ripped off. But maybe I'm wrong!! If that is the case I'll be first in line for some.

Re: banana seeds do really sprout
 

There are a few wild bananas from seed that can be eaten, but they are generally not that tasty, or the seeds make them difficult to eat, I just ate some Musa Velutina not too long ago that I had fruit, and trust me its not worth the effort. Just a bunch of seeds with a peel basically. Edible and domesticated bananas that were created to eat like you see in the store are hybrids and have no seeds, they are sterile. The little tiny black specks you see in them are seeds that failed to develop. Be careful of who you buy seeds from, for example I have been seeing Musa Orinoco, Cavendish and other edible seeds for sale from some place in Canada on Ebay, and in this case, yes the seller is ripping people off and knows it. Orinoco and Cavendish do not make seeds, the ancestors of these Varieties do, but once they were crossed to make these cultivars, they no longer make seeds, and can only be propagated by division. As far as people getting ripped off because the seeds dont germinate, bananas are generally difficult to germinate once they have been sitting for awhile, most of mine I have tried usually take at least 3 weeks, sometimes not at all.

Re: banana seeds do really sprout
 

Can't we report them?

Re: banana seeds do really sprout
 

Edible bananas can have seeds. If not, there would not be any FHIA banana varieties. They fact that they produce fruit without pollination doesn't mean that they can't be pollinated and produce seeds. It is uncommon without hand pollination, but have seen a couple seeds in an un-seeded banana in my day.

Re: banana seeds do really sprout
 

If they are cross pollinated with another variety they may produce seeds, but the resulting offspring is not going to come true to type. You are not going to get a Musa Orinoco that is true, from seed that comes from a Musa Orinoco. You will have a new cultivar unless I am mistaken.

Re: banana seeds do really sprout
 

That, and if it were possible to produce seed by pollen from the same cultivar, which is a clone and identical, the resulting seedling is going to be a later F generation and also not true to type since the parent was a hybrid, and will not be what was advertised. But yes under certain situations, seed would be possible, but not what you were trying to buy.