damaclese

no problem Kitty but its not going to be until September you are going to have to winter it inside i know for sure it wont survive out side until its at least 6 moths old thees are long lived thou the average is 5 years to maturity they also have one of the largest corms as they are grown for the starch value of the corm Vary nutritious!

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tophersmith

Great, sounds like I'm going to need a greenhouse ( a big one at that). If my Ensete Maurelli was 200lb last year what will my Ventricosum be in the fall of 2009? Anyone have a crane I can borrow.

damaclese

I'm told by a number of people that are growing them in zones 9 and 10 that they can reach to 20 ft or more some times and judging by how tall my 6 week old plants are (12") already they are going to be gigantic still no red on the pedeols

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mskitty38583

thats ok im not in a hurry for it. i still have to get the den fixed up for the nanas that have to come in in the winter.

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damaclese

How to Germinate Ensete Ventricosum from Seed
What are the keys to success for germinating one of the most sought after tropical banana seeds 'Ensete Ventricosum?'

[edit] StepsSoak the seeds for a minimum of 24 hours and a maximum of 72 hours.
Sow them individually in the selected sowing medium. In a heated propagator or in a zip-tight bag.
Keep soil moist but not wet.
Wait!
After seeds have germinated, move them into a separate pot in full sun with ample water.



[edit] TipsUse a drainage layer unless you are using the recommended seed sowing medium.
These seeds germinate erratically, so patience is required to grow them successfully, and each seed could take from 1-6 months (sometimes even more) to germinate! It is recommended that each seed is in its own pot and has its own 'space' so it can germinate when it feels ready.



[edit] WarningsDo not sow the seeds too deeply.
Always keep the sowing medium moist but not wet.


heres just a smal artical i found its vary basick but im going to start posting history of the Ensete speaceas
[edit] Things You'll NeedA pack of 'Ensete Ventricosum' seeds
A heated propagator or a zip tight bag
A heat mat
An appropriate seed sowing medium (it is recommended to have 1/2 seed sowing compost, 1/4 Perlite, 1/4 Vercumilite)
A seed tray

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tophersmith

Ok so here is what worked for me; started soking them Friday afternoon come monday at Lunch I stuck them in individual 6 inch peat pots in seed growing medium. I then watedred them well and stuck the pots in a plastic ice cream cake container it measures about 24 inches in diameter and is made if clear plastic.
Set this directly in front of a sunny window at my office. This all started at the end of May, so the days were getting longer and there was enough heat to cause condensation which I removed by tapping the top of the container. Once the stem reaches the top of the container I take them out (give them some Oscomote) and take them home to sit out in a part of my yard that only gets 3 hours of mid morning sun.
I would imagine in the winter time a heating pad would be beneficial. By the way anyone who lives close to or is passing by Raleigh NC . can feel free to swing by and pick one up while supplies last as I only need 2 maybe 3.

damaclese

Chris
thanks for the tip i had to laf when i read your last post as I'm now over run with them my self i have 9 but no one wants them i guess they are Musa snobs lol J/K in studding this Ensete i pretty sure that vary few people have room for a Banana that has such a large root system and that doesn't like high Humidity and will die with to much water
its hard to imagine but thees guys don't come from the jungle but live on the dry but temperate high planes of Ethiopia were the rain its steady but not torrential and with some pretty long dry spells guess thats why it has one of the biggest corms iv read that it can be on the order of 40 Klo
thats ruffly 36LB the more i read about this Banana the more exotic it becomes in my mind I'm just fascinated by Bananas that dos not fit in to are stander thinking of what or where a banana souled be Dry Planes preposterous! and yet there it is for all to see id like to see more people growing thees guys what a wonderful opportunity to grow a banana thats much more water conserving particularly for those of us living in low rain fall locations and the foliage is so lush with its strikingly red pedals and Limish green leafs out of all the Bananas this ones has got to be one of the prettier looking examples it seems to have Fallon out of favor probably do to the fact that its been growing in gardens here and in Europe for over a 100 years long before the Musa became available here in the US Ensete was the standard for a tropical looking specimen in your zone 9 and higher regions what can i say I'm Hooked!

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damaclese

im sad to report that two of my newest ventracosumes bit the big on i wasint waching them that closly as i have so meny they sorta blended in but they bit it had soil mites and the sucked the life right out of the littil guys boy was i pised well i still have 7 and thats good there all doing good had to repot the three im keeping and sending one to Kitty one to Dean and one to a new person i dont rember his of her nam but i have it in my msg's now im wating for some Enset Superbums to come up but i only planted 4 of them as i was worryed about having room for them if they Geminat all be planting the other seeds then i have sevral other Enset but im keeping the typs a secrit im thinking of doing a contest if they germinate

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tophersmith

Wow sorry to here about the mites, where did you get your superbum seeds? How hardy are ythise again?

Chironex

Hey Pauly, I have a Tiger Ginger going to MsKitty in September, let's combine them to save on shipping.

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Scot

Chironex

Pauly, please save one of those bad boys for me too. I also got one of those Tandarra Reds for you. Hope I have it by Sunday, but it's from Tallpinestropicals and they just had a death in their family, so it might not be shipped for awhile.

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damaclese

sure i was going to send it sooner do to the fact that it needs repoting and i was being lazy but if its ok with her all wate

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damaclese

ok cool i worked on the garden today geting it ferther along so you could realy see somthing but in this heat its realy slow going and the AC desided to take a hike so im wating on a part hopfully it will be fixed for you on sunday keep your fingers crosed i planted to difrint kinds of sweet potato vins one is bright lime green and the other is a dark purpl they look striking together im going to let them grow all around that Ic and the DB to cover up the bare earth
also got some nice seed some dubal red holly hocks and some nice purbal basil im realy going for this red and green thing i hope it works asteticly im sure it will one of the Pasadlora has red stems and green leafs so im going to grow that on a pole somwhere behind or nexst to one of the Bananas i think its winter hardy here all have to go check that out and way thanks for geting the Banana for me just let me know how much and all pay you for it on sunday

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Chironex

My treat, no charge.

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Chironex

I have the Tiger Ginger, just thought we could ship them together when it is cooler.

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damaclese

update: well this morning i was fusing over all my pants that i brout inside for the winter and i moved the Ev seed so i could readjust some things and low and behold there was a Ev seedling not only sprouted but so tall it was hitting the top of the Germination dome i repoted it and put a little green house dome over it i was just about to give up on thees seeds that makes the germination rate 10 out of 20 seeds so I'm at 50% i think thats pretty good for Banana seeds don't remember the exact date i planted it but i think it was in Feb of this year Little buggers do take there time now I'm thinking that all bet theirs going to be more and soon too maybe all have some EV to send out to some of the people on my list that didn't get any on the first wave of seedlings

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damaclese

well i had an out brake of aphids and lost one of the EV iv treated the rest so i still have 4 that have survived ones not looking so good thou and one roted in the pot i guess i over watered them after i took them inside for the winter so far id say these Plants defiantly are on the fussy side they don't like to be all that wet ever! not sure if they are going to make it here in Vegas but spring will tell as I'm going to replant them in a new bed thats on the east side of my house and only gets 3hr of sun a day 10 to 1pm i really want thees to work out! they are testing my skill as a Gardner so far EV 10 me 4 not all that good but i did give a bunch away

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Chironex

The EV that you gave to me, Pauly, is doing quite well. So add one more for your score!

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damaclese

OK now that its spring in Vegas I'm down to two EV so i took them out of there pots and by the way thees are growing allot better then the others i had no idea why but back to the point i planted them in the ground and they are growing really fast they seam to like are sandy rocky soil but i will admit i put some good compost stuff in the holes with them all keep you all posted on there progress threw the summer i think its going to be a cooler one this year fingers crossed!!!! thanks for sticking with me throw this long and probably boring thread but for those of us growing in Hot dry climates this is important research thanks again Paul

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damaclese

well the last EV i had left which was doing spectacularly up until last week suddenly dropped all its leafs and died so i may have had over 50% germination but ever one bit the dust o well i think i over watered them

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