andy17

Hi all,
I am interested in a very small fruiting banana, and I've seen the truly tiny, which look really pretty cool. Does anyone have any experience with this variety? I am always leery of super dwarf types--my last attempt was Novak SDC that was terrible. It just grew really slowly and was sensitive to any changes in light or temperature. It would die back every year when being brought in for the winter. I've heard really good things about this one but it would be great to get some input from people who have grown it. Thanks!

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gtrplr71

I just bought one it is growing fine I bought it from wellsprings on the net for 3.95. I have it in the house as a house plant.

Worm_Farmer

If you want fruit, No. ... if you are a collector or like the look of bananas or would like to have a bonsai banana then Yes, def.

andy17

@gtrplr71 that's good to hear! How long have you had it?

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andy17

Has anyone had a problem with poor vigor or choking with Truly Tiny?

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gtrplr71

About a month it is truly tiny its was smaller than My TC plants the leaves are about 2 inches long

gtrplr71

it had a single leaf when I got it now it has 3 I have my house at 72 degrees

andy17

Wow! It sounds like it's a good grower--my DC TC plant only put out two new leaves in about 8 weeks in similar conditions.

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Worm_Farmer

I have had very good luck with TC's from Wellspring. How ever a few plants came from them and were mislabeled. I still consider them a good seller.

GreenFin

I love the TT tc that I got from Wellspring. It's an extremely vigorous grower in my tropical greenhouse environment.

My DC tc that I planted at the same time is also extremely vigorous, yet the TT was almost keeping pace with it for about the first 2' of p-stem growth (both were planted as small tc's at the same time). The TT is now largely shaded by a neighboring papaya tree on one side and the DC on the other, so it has slowed and the DC is surging ahead.

TT is a mutated sport of Dwarf Brazilian (basically a Super Dwarf Brazilian), and the fruit is supposed to be quite tasty if grown in a tropical environment.

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sunfish

A sport of Dwarf Brazilian exhibiting super dwarf characteristics with vigorous growth. Does very well in containers and border plantings. It is reported to yield small fruits of 1/2 to 1 1/2 inches at around 3 feet with a flavor similar to Brazilian.

1/2" fruit ? I could eat a bunch of those.

andy17

Thanks! This is really helpful--sounds like a great container plant and a lot of fun to grow. Have you had to overwinter yours?

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TNAndy

Newbie question: What's a "tc"?

I'm guessing that "TT" means "Truly Tiny" and that "DC" means "Dwarf Cavendish", right?

sunfish

andy17

Hi TNAndy,
Yes, you got it! TT stands for "Truly Tiny" and "DC" stands for Dwarf Cavendish. Oftentimes, people will abbreviate banana variety names to an acronym. I guess it's easier to write than the full name in a post. The one that took me forever to learn was "EE", which stands for "Elephant Ears." lol "TC" stands for tissue culture. It's one of the main methods of propagating banana plants. Most bananas don't produce seeds, so they have to be reproduced either using laboratory culturing "Tissue Culture" or by separating the little pups that pop up next to the mother plant. Hope this helps!

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venturabananas

I've seen this description in the Wiki, but I think it is wrong. All the pictures I've seen of Truly Tiny show a plant that is a Cavendish variety, not a Brazilian. The wine blotches are too intense and the petioles are too open and spreading to be an AAB plant, from what I can tell.

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andy17

That's interesting. I've heard some say it's a cavendish variety, and others say it's a brazilian variety. There seems to be a lot of confusion about it. This very topic was actually discussed in another thread. Jefferyp said he knew the owner of the original source plant at Truly Tropicals in Boynton, FL and said it was a sport of Dwarf Brazilian, but I agree, it does look very much like a cavendish at times.

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andy17

Here's the link to the thread: Difference between Truly Tiny, Little Prince and Super Dwarf Cavendish

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GreenFin

I think there are rampant mislabeling problems behind that. A lot of pictures of plants labeled "Truly Tiny" are IMO actually mislabeled Little Prince or SDC. I've been raising all 3 of these in the same environment but my TT (originally a 2" tc from Wellspring) has behaved differently from the Cavendishes (which also includes DC, Double, and Williams) since the beginning.

My Little Prince, SDC, and DC all look remarkably alike, just different sized, but my TT is much greener (never had wine marks that I can remember), has a bunch of black on the p-stem, and seems to have thicker/stronger leaves that droop less. It looked wildly different from the Cavendishes during its first few months especially.

Given the number of pics I see that are labeled TT but look like my Little Prince or SDC, I had wondered whether my own TT was labeled wrong and was actually something else, but it's definitely a super small nanner (about 2/3 as tall as my DC) and I don't know what else it could be, so I'm thinking it is indeed a true TT and that there is just a lot of mislabeling going on.

I suspect that many people and even nurseries consider TT/LP/SDC to be interchangeable as a midget banana, which makes the problem worse.

Here are some pics:

Truly Tiny --








Little Prince with standard pink/red on p-stem (note the TT on the far right) --



SDC with standard pink/red on p-stem --

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Set out runnin', but I'll take my time; a friend of bananas is a friend of mine.

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GreenFin

Mine arrived here in Kansas on January 31st this year, but it's been living in a greenhouse where I maintain tropicalish conditions, so it never really knew it was winter time

My bananas actually grew faster in the winter than in the summer, since their greenhouse is just oppressively hot in the summer.

__________________
Set out runnin', but I'll take my time; a friend of bananas is a friend of mine.

www.GreenFinGardens.com