Jeff zone 8 N.C.

Well you and I definitely have the fever bad. Over a year ago I drove (If my memory serves me) 300 miles round trip to buy Turface MVP that looks to be a similar size to PR-Giants medium although I think it is coarser. 50# bag $18-$19 but it seems worth it. You might try to find "paver base sand" from a brick/block/tile supply. I think Home Depot sells it too as well as other building suppliers. You probably need to find out it's PH first just to make sure it's near neutral. While on a job last week I saw some and it looked perfect for a well draining sand but have not checked it out any further. It was finer than my Turface MVP but looked workable and is made for good drainage under things like driveway tiles.

PR-Giants

How about today, any update?

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WildernessGreen

4 weeks 2 days today, and no growth. I have however used a test I do with Fig cuttings, and that is applying just a very slight, light tug on each corm, and there are definitely roots formed, they haven't rotted as of yet.

While I expected/hoped for growth within 4 weeks, I have to realize, these weren't nice healthy fresh dug/cut/trimmed corms, they were all distressed in one way or another, due to my waiting way to long to pull off of them.

Had I pulled/trimmed/cleaned up all of them the day I say issues, I would have had far faster/better results, I'm sure. If and when they show signs of growth, I will for sure post photos!

PR-Giants

Wiggling it from side to side can also indicate the presence of rot but there's nothing comparable to getting eyes on it.

All a'ea'e rot all of the time.

I'm sure there are some people that disagree with that but the people that understand that it's a fact tend to be more successful.

Some people focus on growing it faster than it's rotting and they can be successful.

Some people focus on mitigating the rotting and they are usually more successful.

When a rhizome is planted roots will start growing in some areas but if there are distal areas that don't produce roots those areas are usually the first to rot. That's why large rhizomes are problematic for unsuspecting growers, everything seems great until it doesn't.

A great aspect of growing in sand is also the reason why an hourglass works. A rhizome can be removed from the sand, inspected and then replanted after the first few days without any concern about damaging it's roots. Once there's a decent amount of roots removing it can be counterproductive but by tipping the pot and adding water the top levels of sand will flow out of the pot allowing for an easy rhizome inspection. Using water the sand can be put back without damaging any roots.

Inspections are helpful because any rot found can be removed before becoming a major problem.





Most of my experience is with stressed cuttings and I've never noticed any delayed performance issues.

Thanks

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WildernessGreen

Well, I spent some time going through my corms in sand, using the hourglass and wiggle slightly method, and there appears to be ZERO rot on any of them. They are just sitting there, enjoying their "day on the beach".....er I mean warm summer sand.........and aren't rotting, and are still alive. A couple of the Florida's showed some new white roots, and also a Veinte Cohol has some new roots. I'm still in the game! woo hoo!

While in my experience, with all my musa, "4 weeks" seems to be the sweet point for new growth, be it corms, or just shipped in pups.......I am hoping/feeling like I am gonna see "some action" soon........stay tuned........

WildernessGreen

Some ever so slight signs of life today on two of my experimental corms/nubs in several different grades of coarse, graded, washed sand I have dug myself - and some in large coarse perlite. All of these nubs/corms came from plants spoken about previously, from large mother plants I "messed up" this past winter with overwatering, and poor drainage. (I think I have learned my lesson, but check back with me next spring!)

1) My one large Florida corm is showing a slight green swelling on one side, looks like a pup starting - today, at 27 days. (I had been off by an extra week on an above post day count!)

2) My tiny Micro Manini A'ea'e nub - this one is in perlite - after 34 days, 4 hours, and 23 seconds of "nuthin' honey" all of a sudden started pokin' just so slightly some new growth! WOO, yes, I say WOO........ HOO! I have been dealing with a slight algae growth on top of the perlite, as per the pic shows. I believe this came from using some rainwater out of a bucket that wasn't pure. I'm carefully removing it, piece by piece!!

[IMG][/IMG]
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Jeff zone 8 N.C.

I said a Woo Hoo for you too. I'm like a kid at Christmas when I see a new sprout like that even if it's not mine.

Foxhound

Fantastic!

I gotta say, that's awesome.

Also I have to thank you for your dedication to this experiment. Many people... Well, many people with this specific niche, will be helped with the knowledge learned from the Filtered Coarse Sand experiment!

And double congrats on the little nub showing signs of life!

WildernessGreen

One note - my mother A'ea'e plant - who's pictures caused some discussion as to if she was actually a Florida Variegated - I have been in contact with the fellow forum member I got the original plant from 2 years ago - who has both A'ea'e and Florida - and was told it was for sure an actual A'ea'e - but in any and all of my musa, whenever I say it's "this or that", nothing will be 100% proven until it fruits for me! All I can state with full 100% accuracy is what I bought it as! I now have several new "A'ea'e" pups from several different sellers - and will be closely comparing them to my Florida's as they all grow. I'm studying and watching all differences in the leaves, petiole's, and growth habits and most important of course that "seals the deal" is when they eventually fruit!

PR-Giants

Congrats on your progress...

Knowing is much more reassuring than hoping.

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In my experience there's about a 50% chance of receiving a correctly identified bananas when dealing with a fellow forum member.

I received a FHIA-01 and SH-3640 from a longtime and reputable forum member which many had considered an expert, so I was fairly certain I was getting properly identified bananas.

After growing both bananas I was able to confirm the SH-3640 was accurate but the FHIA-01 was actually a FHIA-02. I contacted the fellow forum member I got the original plants from and was told it was for sure an actual FHIA-01. They had got it from the reputable Florida company 'Going Bananas'. So I went to 'Going Bananas' website and sure enough their photo for their FHIA-01 was a photo of an actual FHIA-02. After I posted about their error 'Going Bananas' removed the photo from their website.


Here's a cautionary tale that actually happened and is documented in a thread on this forum.

A fellow forum member started a thread about their SH-3640.

I posted in the thread that their identification was incorrect.

In their reply they stated that I was the person that confirmed the authenticity of the banana for the seller they got it from as proof it's a real SH-3640.

Knowing that their SH-3640 was actually a FHIA-02, I went to their FHIA-02 photos in their gallery and wasn't surprised to see photos of SH-3640.

I don't know, and it's really not important if the seller wrote the wrong names when shipping or the recipient made the error. The reality going forward is when this member sells their SH-3640 and FHIA-02 bananas to other members the identification error gets compounded.

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Before I received my first variegated Florida there was little to no useful information about this banana on the forum. But immediately upon removing it from the shipping box it was obvious that it had a different genotype than the A'ea'e. I posted about the differences between the two so other members could properly distinguish their Florida from their A'ea'a. Now many members repeat those differences and some members have even added more characteristics they've noticed like colors or patterns. Sometimes these bananas exhibit greys and sometimes they don't, sometimes they exhibit pinks and reds and sometimes they don't, sometimes they exhibit similar color patterns and sometimes they don't. If a person learns how to identify these plants without using colors they will be able to differentiate between the all green versions while also being more accurate. You certainly don't need to wait until it flowers.

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PR-Giants

Any updates?

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WildernessGreen

Hi, this darn site isn't working well for me recently - could be the site itself, or my glitchy off-grid internet, or a combo of both that my current monsoonal stormy weather affects. It has taken me an hour to attempt to get this posted.

I will post a complete rundown off all results with pictures later this summer, hopefully the site issues are over by then. I have had a few successes and failures. I was out digging/sifting more sand last week, experimenting with some that is 3 - 6 mm nearly identical to coarse perlite. I can say quickly, I have a nice little 3" tall A'ea'e, from my tiny "chunk-o-nuthin" nub!

I also unfortunately have three new A'ea'e nubs, from a large one I recently bought off E-bay, took 10 days to get here, got very beat up, and arrived completely rotted. OUCH!

I hope the Hurricane didn't cause any issues with Puerto Rico? From what I saw you guys missed the main part?

beam2050

you and be both brother. this is the second time i have tried to answer this post.

the short version.

with pr-giants tutelage from about 6 or 7 years ago and with aquarium rock i have used the following.

first use a large frying pan for the weight and leaves to cover the holes to hold in your pot to hold in your medium. your roots will go straight down to this.

second, to reduce weight too... well lets just say corms don't like water but roots do. put enough potting soil in that your corm is in rock till it starts growing good.

3rd, you will want your rock to be some place it the 3/8 inch size. the more jagged the better and un uniform the better.

this works fantastically with small plants such as tc's. and seeds, with seeds i have a 100 percent success rate with the seeds that have sprouted.

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npk of wood ash 0/1/3 to 0/3/7

npk of banana leaf ash 1.75/0.75/0.5

beam2050

[quote=beam2050;356373]you and me both brother. this is the second time i have tried to answer this post.

the short version.

with pr-giants tutelage from about 6 or 7 years ago and with aquarium rock i have used the following.

first use a large frying pan for the weight and leaves to cover the holes to hold in your pot to hold in your medium. your roots will go straight down to this.

second, to reduce weight too... well lets just say corms don't like water but roots do. put enough potting soil in that your corm is in rock till it starts growing good.

3rd, you will want your rock to be some place it the 3/8 inch size. the more jagged the better and un uniform the better.

this works fantastically with small plants such as tc's. and seeds, with seeds i have a 100 percent success rate with the seeds that have sprouted. 9 to be precise. much better than the germinator crap and potting soil.

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npk of wood ash 0/1/3 to 0/3/7

npk of banana leaf ash 1.75/0.75/0.5

PR-Giants

How were the results?

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When I plant rotting corm pieces from variegated bananas this is how I do it and why.

I use a large pot because it's easier to maintain a consistent environment.

I plant deep because it's easier to maintain a consistent environment below the surface.

I plant deep because I know a rotting corm piece has the tendency to continue to rot and by planting deep the growing point will leave the rotting corm piece and relocate to a higher level.

In the second photo that has some of the sand removed, there is a small white root visible. This is significant because the growing point is always above the highest root and now it's well out of range of any negative impact if the rotting corm piece completely rots.

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Here's another rotting variegated corm piece. I didn't expect this one to grow but I potted it anyways and gave it a few weeks of pot space to see what happens. After 3 weeks it showed signs of growth and now it's getting close to breaking the surface, hopefully it's nicely variegated.

6/11/25

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Broke ground today!!!

The rhizome shot up about 3 inches in 3 days and now is thin and relatively weak. Once the growing point finds an elevation it likes it will start putting on some girth. The old growing point location which will probably continue to rot will be discarded. If this plant produces some nicely variegated leaves it will be allowed to put on some decent girth before being dug up and planted at a lower soil level which will then force the growing point to relocate again to a higher level and the lower part of it's rhizome which will be in perfect condition will be used for propagation.

6/14/25

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