Kostas

Hello,

I am new here and will be doing an introduction soon at the appropriate category.

After searching most of Musa species,i have decided i want to grow Musa sikkimensis as the Musa of my garden in Pyrgos,Greece(Zone 9b/10a) and maybe in Melissia too(Zone 8b/9a). I am between the Musa sikkimensis sold as the regular one by Rare Palm Seeds and the Red Tiger also from the same site that seems to offer wild collected seed. As these come from different localities,i am very interested in learning what their mature heights are and especially,which one grows the tallest and biggest. Also,i would like to know which variety generally makes the biggest fruits and what their leaf hardiness to cold is. Any other difference these 2 natural varieties have are of interest too so please share any that you know of.

The Red Tiger variety is just a naturally occuring geographic variation,right?

Thank you very much in advance!

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''To try,is to risk failure......To not try,is to guarantee it''

Jack Daw

Hi Kostas, another European member, too tired to answer here. Welcome to our community. Someone will quickly answer your question.
If you really want something tall and high, you should be looking for Saba, they are monsters among monsters and can grow astonishingly high.

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Thnx to Marcel, Ante, Dr. Chiranjit Parmar and Francesco for the plants I've received.



Zeitgeist - Corporatocracy 101 (~2hrs)

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Kostas

Thank you very much for the welcome and suggestion Jack and the rest of you too!

I choose Musa sikkimensis because it may hopefully not defoliate the majority of winters in Pyrgos where it usually doesnt get below -1C or at the very most -2C most of the years(some years we dont even see 0C) and the record low of the area is -3,6C about once every 20years. I wasnt aware of Musa saba(is this a true species or a cultivar?) but i do know of and like Musa peekelii. What is the leaf hardiness of all these species? I want them look good yearround and not have them loose their leafs annually due to a couple of cold nights we only get every year...

Thank you very much in advance!

__________________
''To try,is to risk failure......To not try,is to guarantee it''

Jack Daw

Saba is an edible cultivar that is supposed to be cold hardy to zone 8 temperatures.
You can read all about it here, in our wiki:
Musa Saba - Bananas Wiki

Sabas are difficult to come by, but they can be very productive and beautiful. But most of all - their fruit is edible, so they would fullfil more than just aesthetical purposes.

Some pics of what I'm talking about:
User: hydroid


User: Simply Bananas


User: jtkk3004

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Thnx to Marcel, Ante, Dr. Chiranjit Parmar and Francesco for the plants I've received.



Zeitgeist - Corporatocracy 101 (~2hrs)

Zeitgeist - Moving Forward (~2.5hrs)

Gabe15

The different varieties sold in the nursery trade are not characterized so there is no reference data associated with them. Additionally, bananas will vary greatly in size depending on location, so even if you do find height references they may not grow to be that height in your location (could be taller or shorter). I would say just choose one or both, whichever is cheaper or easier to get. If there is any different between them (again, they are not characterized so there is no good way to say if there any difference between them), they are still very similar and both would probably be around 4-5 meters in height.

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Growing bananas in Colorado, Washington, Hawaii since 2004. Commercial banana farmer, 200+ varieties.

Kostas

Thank you very much both of you for your very informative replys!

Thanks a lot for the beautyfull photos Jack! Its indeed majestic! So its not actually a true species but only a cultivar/hybrid? I am somewhat of a purist so i really prefer pure species in the form they exist in nature. In the future i may grow a few of the edible banana's at a yard of mine for fruit production but for my garden i would like a true,pure species. Musa peekelii is also supposed to produce edible bananas that can be eaten after cooking and is a true species from what i know. It rivals Musa ''Saba'' in height too. I am not sure about its hardiness though and especially of its leaf hardiness...

Gabe,

Thank you very much for telling me all that! I hadnt thought of it that way! I will try to go for the red tiger then most probably as its really beautyfull and one of the few plants with red stripes that are natural,pure species and not cultivars!

__________________
''To try,is to risk failure......To not try,is to guarantee it''