Nicolas Naranja

So this is a question that will probably be very directed at someone who has lots of tissue culture experience:

I have established my plantation from tissue cultured bananas and my first dwarf Namwah planting is coming close to first harvest. Out of the 71 plants that I planted, about 5 of them have produced a bunch that looks like Orinoco or Burro. The plants that they come from are also about 2' taller. So I have another planting that is supposedly dwarf Namwah that has just started to fruit and ALL these plants are tall as well and don't appear to be producing standard Namwah bunches. So my question is whether or not somaclonal variation could actually cause a change in the type of fruit produced.

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Some people go bananas, I went plantains.

Jack Daw

Not that I would be some sort of a TC expert, but isn't TC done precisely because certain characteristics, such as cold/drought/disease resistance, fruit texture and quality... are the typical characteristics that are passed on to each clone?

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



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Nicolas Naranja

For me it is mostly a disease/phytosanitary issue.

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Some people go bananas, I went plantains.

sunfish

NANAMAN

I'm no TC expert, but as Jack pointed out, TC's are supposed to be exact clones of the parent plant. Depending on growing conditions, environment, ect..., it may vary slightly in height, but not an entirely different shaped fruit!
I would be more inclined to believe that the plants were mislabeled, packaged, or something along those lines.

I have read on one of Gabes threads, something about subculture batching of TC's only so many times before they start producing off types. I think I got that right! But I assume you purchased the TC's from a reputable source, and they would have quality controls in place to prevent that.

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Gabe15

It is highly unlikely that off-types would be that dramatic. What has likely happened is that there was simply a mix-up at the lab. It can be easy to mix up TC plantlets when they all look the exact same at that stage, and the only thing differentiating them is a label on the vessel.

Often people claim to have had intense mutations from varieties that are so different that they look like another known variety. To this I ask: what is more likely? one variety mutated into looking exactly like another known, but unrelated variety, or they were just mislabeled from the start.

If you want to be sure though, post some photos and let us confirm it.

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

Bananaman88

Exactly. I say mix up at the lab.

Nicolas Naranja

Dare I say, but this is agristarts and while I realize that their varieties are not always the accepted international names I would expect them to have some kind of Quality Control/Quality Assurance in place to prevent mix-ups. I'll get some pictures when I get back later this weekend.

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Some people go bananas, I went plantains.