c2h6

Due to a bizarre circumstance, I ordered some Truly Tiny seeds on eBay. (I was perusing eBay on my phone, saw the listing and thought, "This looks dubious." I had just clicked on it to read the description, when my wife handed me our baby, who of course grabbed at my phone. When I looked back at my phone, the purchase was completed. Oh well.)

So, my question is: Does Truly Tiny even make seeds? As I understand it, it's a dwarfed type of Cavendish or something similar, which would lead me to believe it does not. What do you think the seeds will actually be from? I'm guessing from some other dwarf, seedy banana.

Link to the listing: SEEDS - Extremely Dwarf Musa “Truly Tiny” Edible Banana – Indoor Outdoor Plant

Gabe15

Any seeds sold that supposedly come from an edible cultivar don't, they are all scams. Although technically edible banana seeds do exist, you're not going to find them on ebay or anywhere else for sale.

Post a photo of the seeds when you get them and we can ID them. My guess is that they will likely be either Musa balbisiana or Ensete ventricosum.

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

c2h6

My thoughts exactly. I will post a picture when I get them.

Kat2

Have you see what else the seller is offering? Blue Java seeds? And common fig seeds? Grrrrr!!!! If it were me, I'd ask for a refund under Ebay's policy AND alert them to the fact that this seller has gone beyond puffing. Who cares what they're sending? It's obviously not an edible banana and they're counting on people to not realize until long after the guarantee has lapsed.

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siege2050

Yeah, I saw those too, Orinoco seeds, etc. Pfffffffftttt. Ask for a refund.

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chris_zx2

I wrote him, he said he doesn't understand. I explained it to him, we'll see what he says!

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--Chris
So far:
Dwarf Cavendish -- Basjoo -- Bunch of Truly Tiny

c2h6

I thought about complaining, but I think it's a case of 'Buyer Beware'. His target audience is the uneducated and uninformed.

Kat2

It doesn't matter who he's targeting; on the page I saw it says E-Bay guarantees that you are buying what they claim to be selling. He is not selling seeds that will ever produce an edible banana called Truly Tiny. Period. Indeed I'd like to know where he got those pictures; they're surely not of HIS fruits/plants so he has probably infringed on copyrights. Which is another issue for him that E-bay might want to address.

Get your money back! Tell the seller you're onto them. If you want to be your brother or sister's keeper, make a point with E-bay. But don't just take it lying down. This is fraud no matter how much money you paid.

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Kat2

Good for you! Tell E-bay if you want to help others. I'm growing out old saved heirloom tomato seeds just now. I have never had an issue with them growing true until either 2008 or 2009 or 2010 when the currant tomatoes (potato leaves--no others are) crossed with my pure ones. (Do not grow potato leaves near regular--just don't!)

The following year some saved "that year" produced crackers--pink fruits that did not ripen but essentially rotted on the vine. A friend who is quite a tomato expert explained what happened so now I know. Even if I had total success with the 170 seeds I've planted of which some were saved during my more than typically nutty life, I would not consider passing them on to anyone at any price--even free. I have a conscience which is probably why I'm not rich though, in the big picture, what does a nasty tomato matter? Matters to me and I do sleep good at night.

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chris_zx2

Ok I have directed him to this thread. He replied with the following and seems sincere.
Here is what he wrote, including a photo of the seeds attached:

I am shocked by what you are telling me. I got those seeds from one of my supplier located in Montreal. Their website is Rarexoticseeds. The actual color of this seed is green. I have included a picture of it. Please give me more of your views.

Thank you.

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--Chris
So far:
Dwarf Cavendish -- Basjoo -- Bunch of Truly Tiny

Kat2

I feel sorry for him if he's being snookered by an unscrupulous supplier but then again I always felt bad for people who purchased stolen goods in "good faith" and under the UCC lost their honest investment when the true owner showed up to claim their property. Seriously that just seems totally unfair to me but it's the law in the US. (Yes, I know this is Canada.)

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chris_zx2

He asked if we could let him know what the seeds are.

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--Chris
So far:
Dwarf Cavendish -- Basjoo -- Bunch of Truly Tiny

Kat2

Gosh, don't ask me. They're not bean, tomatoes or peppers or even fennel though they look a little like fenugreek. Perhaps someone here can help him; I hope so. Sounds like he wants to do the right thing so he has my sympathies. I hate seeing misinformation regarding plants; it discourages newbies from becoming fanatics. BTW, I'm not a fanatic by any means--just simple gardener with dirty fingernails--always.

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Gabe15

Those seeds are definitely Musa, but can't say exactly what species. They generally look like a M. acuminata of some type. There are a number of other species they also look like, but they are more rare and less likely to be sold in this way.

Additionally, the light color of the seeds is a bit odd. Could be a camera/lighting issue, but the fact that they are described as "green" is strange. Most Musa seed becomes black-brown when mature, but are often white-cream when immature. It wouldn't surprise me that no matter what the real ID is, they are immature and unlikely to germinate.

Very often in the seed business there is a long chain of suppliers which can obscure the origins of the seed. The Canadian supplier certainly did not grow the seed (their website reveals a number of dubious banana offerings, but no 'Truly Tiny' seed I could find), and whoever they got them from might not have either.

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