bigdog

Starting with my Musa itinerans var. xishuangbannaensis, here it was back in May when I brought it back from the greenhouse:



And early June, soon after planting:



And today. Pseudostem height is about 7 feet, and it has five pups:



Musa itinerans 'Yunnan', or Musa sp. Yunnan, or whatever you want to call it, back in early May. Note that there are two small pseudostems in this picture.



Here's a shot of the base today. The small pseudostem in the front right of this picture is the same one on the right in the picture above! The biggest one on the left in this picture is the same as the one on the left above. Weird, huh?



Whole mat today (kind of blurry, sorry):



I like the purpleish-black pseudostems. That reminds me...here's a part of the description of Musa yunnanensis on the NP site: "The trunks seem powdered white while the whole plant gives a dark purple impression."



Got a few more pics in a later post.

sandy0225

You're going to have some digging to do now! What did you let them get so big for? LOL....I hope you got a lot stronger over the summer, too.
Seriously, they look great!
You must be very proud of their growth. Obviously you've been taking really good care of them this hot/dry summer.

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bigdog

Sandy, I'm not digging either one of those plants. The Musa sp. Yunnan overwintered last year, so that is all this year's growth from ground level. It will stay in the ground again this year. The Musa itinerans var xishu... is a trial this year. I am leaving it in the ground to test its cold-hardiness (fingers crossed!). I probably am going to dig up one pup though, seeing as how I have five of them. And you are correct about watering them! I watered religiously, since we are in the "Exceptional" drought status here in Knoxville, and throughout much of the state. It still didn't help as much as some regular rainfall would have. I can only imagine how different growth would have been in a normal summer.

Thanks!

bigdog

Here's some remarkable growth for you...Musa sikkimensis 'Red Tiger' last August:



And today. I know...just amazing, isn't it? Not the first pup this year, and only slightly larger than last year. If it wasn't cold-hardy (which it is), I would toss it.

Lagniappe

Frank, are you bringing 'daj giant 'in for the winter?

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bigdog

Musa cheesmani this Spring:



And today. I tried to keep it well-watered, but the drought takes its toll anyway. It doesn't like my soil either.

bigdog

Pete, yes I am. I have it in the greenhouse as of yesterday, along with a whole pile of other bananas. It's starting to get some size to it, and should be pretty good-sized come spring. I hope it has some good hybrid vigor, and grows better than sikkimensis 'Red Tiger' does...well, it would be hard to be any slower than that, lol!

Tropicallvr

That's interesting the different growth rates. Maybe some of the sikkimensis hybrid growth rates will pick up for you in your climate, compared to the weak sikkimensis. Your growing season/climate seems almost ideal compared to Nor Cal(with cold nights). Maybe Cheesmanii is better for that type of climate.
Nice pics, and plants!

frankthetank

Could you imagine the growth if you guys actually got rain instead of 110F temps?

bigdog

Frank, you're not kidding! We didn't get quite THAT hot...but we did break 100F 3 times, which is pretty significant for Knoxville. The last time we broke 100F prior to this year was 1995! And as far as the rain, or rather lack thereof, it has been the worst drought here in something like 150 years. Most crops, that aren't irrigated, are a total loss. It looked like August here back in May. Combine that with the devastating Easter freeze of 22F (17F at my house), and it's been a very hard year on the natives even. Lots of dead and dying dogwoods, maples, and oaks to see in the hills. The top 16 inches of soil in SE TN and Western NC are among the driest in the entire country (that includes Arizona, NM, etc.)! As of today, we are 13.58 inches of rain below normal. There are places in Alabama even worse off though, like Anniston, which is 26.99 inches below normal! To make matters worse, this is the dry season...but the bananas won't be growing much now anyways, and not at all fairly soon.

Yeah, if we had anything like some normal rainfall, I imagine growth would have been much better! Hope this isn't a pattern developing.

Thanks, Kyle. I'm not so sure about the climate being ideal compared to NCal. Yes, we are warmer in the summer, but probably colder in the winter as far as extreme minimum lows go. We haven't seen single digits at TYS (airport) since '03, but it can happen, and probably will happen again. I do hope the sikkimensis hybrids grow better than 'Red Tiger' does. Would be very difficult not to! I'm getting some dumptruck-loads of topsoil delivered here this Fall and next spring, and planting everything in raised beds, so that should make a huge difference too (hopefully).

Tropicallvr

On second thought about your cheesmanii, I sprouted quite a few that had some mutant problem, with twisty, and warped leaves. Maybe it's just the plant and not the weather?

Paul7b

Hey Frank, I think you will be pleased with your results next year with the raised beds, I have been doing that now for 5 years, just make sure you do your homework and see where your topsoil originates from so you have a good idea what the debris content is. You will most likely be watering more often with the raised beds so irrigation is nice to have, good luck you will be happy with the results I think.

microfarmer

I have a little warpy leaf condition on the Cheesemanii you sent me, but thought it was too much fertilizer. It also has a very cool looking, dark burgundy colored stalk.


Do you overwinter Cheesemanii outside?

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bigdog

I have had the warped leaves with Musa sp. Yunnan, Raja Puri, and Sweetheart as well. I heavily limed my garden area early this spring, where my Raja Puri and Sweetheart are planted, and the leaves appear to be almost normal-looking this year.

Musa cheesmani was left out here last winter, heavily mulched.

Something else...looks like this isn't quite the end of our season either! The forecast a few days ago showed possible frost coming up in the next 10 days, but now I see nothing under 45F until at least November! Maybe I will now seriously consider protecting a couple of plants with bunches on them that needed an extra month of frost-free conditions for the bunches to mature. Sure is nice, considering my first frost last year was Oct. 12th!