Ueberwinden

Does anyone here grow the Thai red banana? I have an opportunity to purchase some of these and know nothing about them. I didn't see them listed in the wiki, and I don't know the scientific/latin name for them to research them.

Michael

__________________
White Horticulture
Rare, Tropical, Unique

Gabe15

It could perhaps be what is being called 'Siam Ruby'. There is no latin name them. Check out information on 'Siam Ruby' and you should find a lot more info. They used to be very expensive but are now as cheap as any normal banana plant.

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

Lagniappe

Even cheaper!

Tog Tan

Michael, can you be more specific? I am very familiar with Thai stuff and I do not know of any Thai red 'naners except the cultivars. Of those, they have like 6 different varieties. If you can elaborate or illustrate, I can check it out with a phone call if I do not know.

__________________



____
Tog Tan has sadly suddenly passed away 6/16/09. We will miss you Tog Tan.

Ueberwinden

Here is the description given:

Musa sp. " Thai Red" - red variegated ornamental Banana - Musaceae

This attractive Musa is said to have been found in Southern Thailand or Malaysia. It is not the same plant as the " Rowe Red " banana which is frequently being offered in the plant trade in the USA. Thai Red displays a far higher percentage of red color on its leaves with some leaves completely red.
As this plant is only available recently it still fetches a high price also in Thailand and has so far not yet been properly described it seems. From our observation the plant grows upright in a more or less slim manner. It should be planted in a sheltered place in full sun but not extreme sun as it will suffer from leaf-burn. Easy to care for if planted in well draining soil and produces new shoots easily under suitable conditions. Rhizomes are available in very limited quantities only.

After looking at the picture maybe it is a Siam Ruby, but 80-90% of most of the top of the leaves are red.

Michael

__________________
White Horticulture
Rare, Tropical, Unique

Ueberwinden

__________________
White Horticulture
Rare, Tropical, Unique

NotherNana

So beautiful the plants you are able to grow in that climate! I also hope you escape the bad band of weather running through now.
Gino

__________________
www.ginodiavonti.com/text/sculpture.html

Tog Tan

Michael, that's the Siam Ruby! They are always like that coming with with some sales line to sell their stuff. Well, the world is big and they seems to follow Barnum's law very well.

I told you sometime back I got 12 pups from Bkk and my friend bought it from one source and all the plants turned up almost totally red. I was quite pissed cos I wanted some variation for comparison. Subsequently all the pups came up the same!



Then I was also thinking about another questionable plant from the description which you gave. This plant from Thailand is the Kluay Saer Pran. Up till now no one can tell me its origin. This is not the Musa acuminata subsp sumatrana aka Zebrina aka Rojo. The markings on the leaves stay on till maturity and the underside is a glossy red. This is a slender plant. It is not common in cultivation. Saer Pran literally mean army Ranger with refernce to the camouflaged uniform they wear.

__________________



____
Tog Tan has sadly suddenly passed away 6/16/09. We will miss you Tog Tan.

Ueberwinden

Tog,

Are You sure that this is the Siam Ruby? You know how plants have a way of evolving and adding new traits. You have so many deviations in plant life over there that it's hard to keep track of what's new. Also sometimes I have found gaps in cultures, something is called one thing one place and something else somewhere else. I was working with my friend Eric with the best methods to growing Bougainvillea and when we were talking about growing media I had no idea what any of the ingredients were that was used in a potting mix. I used my printer and scanned some hydroton and sent the picture to him. In Malaysia it was known by a different name.

Michael

__________________
White Horticulture
Rare, Tropical, Unique

Tog Tan

Michael, I just dug up some old pix which I took a couple of years ago when 2 enterprising nurserymen in Bkk decided to TC the now known Siam Ruby. They got the plant from Indonesia and wanted to make a killing through TC (which they did but it affected the partnership to a split). Then I was not even interested in 'naners but just recorded the plts for the fun of it. At that time they called it Kluay Dang = Red 'Naner. The dark one was sold for 4,000baht (approx $100+). My Thai friend bought a bunch of the cheaper ones and brought it to the US. Up till now in Bkk, no one calls it Siam Ruby, it is known as Kluay Indon Dang = Red Indon 'Naner.

Then again, why not give it a shot and buy some. No harm. That's what I always do and that's how I end up with many nice stuff and of course many not so nice stuff!

Look familiar? Dark form TC.


TC variation. I was hoping to stuff like these cos as usual I was hoping to get a 50green/50red to stay on in color.

__________________



____
Tog Tan has sadly suddenly passed away 6/16/09. We will miss you Tog Tan.

Troppo

Hello Michael.
I live in Thailand as a retired expat Aussie.

Musa Siam Ruby is as rare as chicken teeth here.

A run of the mill plant can be bought for only 10THB, SRs are quoted at 300-400THB each.

I live 10 minutes away from the 2nd largest market in S.E.A. & still can't find one!

Did you buy the Rubys?

Cheers,

john

*$1.00USD=34THB

__________________