asacomm

Hi all,
This spring I failed the pollination of Musa Sikkimensis because I just left it
for natural pollination. So I want to prepare before hand enough pollen for
manual pollination.

On the other hand, my Saba/Cardaba is about to bloom and I will collect the
pollen from it and preserve it in the refrigerator if it is good for manual polli-
nation of Musa Sikkimensis.

Your advice will be welcome.
Stan

Gabe15

Musa 'Saba' is a triploid edible banana (belonging to group ABB) and thus does not produce any viable pollen. It is one of the few that may be pollinated by with diploid pollen (mainly some wild species) and it may set seed, but it may be entirely viable.

One limiting factor in any pollination effort is that banana pollen generally will stay viable for only a few days in the refridgerator. For the best results, a direct pollen transfer is needed, preferable done in the morning before noon when the female flowers are open (or even slightly before as I have experimented with).

Your best chance to get seed set on your M. sikkimensis is to try and pollinate the last hand of female flowers with the first hand of male flowers on the same bunch if you have no other M. sikkimensis flowering.

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

asacomm

Thanks Gabe,
I now understood it perfectly, and I will try it nest spring.

By the way, Gabe, do you know if Helen's hybrid can self pollinate? Or is it
same as other eumusa?

Thanks again.
Stan

Basjoofriend

Hi,

do you have a Musa basjoo too? If yes, why not try pollinate Musa sikkimensis with Musa basjoo pollen? Saba is not very suitable, Gabe15 is right. Musa sikkimensis is diploid and Saba is triploid. Musa basjoo is diploid. Saba is not hardy in colder areas like the northern US states and Germany. If you want to get a hardier fruit banana, then try with basjoo pollen. Musa sikkimensis bears edible, but seedy fruits.

But there is a recently discovered acuminata like hardy banana in China, still not in cultivation. This new hardy species will be better.

Best wishes
Basjoofriend