Tropicallvr

Your multicolored Saim Ruby isn't to shabby either!

Bananaman88

Gabe, do you have any pictures of that Fe'i you could share?

bigdog

There's that yellow-variegated one from Thailand that is still very new and really nice-looking. The problem with the variegated bananas is that you can't tissue culture them (yet), and so they will never be as popular as something that can be tc'ed like 'Siam Ruby'. The wild, seeded species bananas are never going to be very popular either, IMHO. That's just based on how long they have been around, and their popularity today. Look how long it's taken Musa basjoo to become pretty popular, and I still wouldn't call it common by any stretch of the imagination. 'Siam Ruby' is so different from anything else out there that it caught the eyes of people who normally wouldn't look twice at a banana. It would take something spectacular like that to happen again to equal the popularity of 'Siam Ruby'. I don't see that happening any time soon, but I guess you never know! M. itinerans 'India Form' is very highly attractive as a young plant, but it has several obstacles to becoming widely used in cultivation. First, the older the plant gets, the less and less red shows on the top of the leaf until it is just gone on large plants. Second, and probably the biggest obstacle, is the rhizomatous habit of the plant. This makes it difficult to contain it, and eventually pups will start coming up where you really don't want them to.

I think that some of the banana cultivars that most people have never heard of, but are widely grown in other parts of the world, will be the next big thing among collectors anyway. 'Veinte Cohol' will be available in tc very soon I'm sure, so that will be a big seller when it does. If 'Senorita' ever becomes widely available, I'm sure that one will be pretty sought-after as well. But that's just among collectors and banana nuts like us. The general, plat-growing public won't care a single bit about those cultivars, and won't know tha difference between a 'Saba' and a 'Veinte Cohol'.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that 'Siam Ruby' is one of those once-in-a-blue moon type of plants that only comes around every 20-30 years or so. It broke the banana collector and banana nut barrier because it is so spectacular and beautiful that it appealed to "regular" plant people, and probably some people who aren't even "plant people." Now, if that glow-in-the-dark banana becomes a reality, that could be another one that people go nuts for!

Gabe15

At present I have 3 different Fe'i bananas in Hawai'i (one more, 'Kawaputa', in Denver but it cannot be distributed). I only know the name of one of them from Hawai'i, which is 'Poti'a'. The other 2 are unknown, I got one from the botanic garden where I got 'Poti'a' and the other I found in the rain forest near my school on a hike, but I think it might be the variety 'Aiuri'. I will be going back there in a few weeks and the one in the forest should be flowering and hopefully I can get an ID. I'll post some pictures later of the various types.

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

Bananaman88

Thanks! Keep me in mind if you ever get any to distribute, as I'd really be interested in trying some of those.

dablo93

I hope that they can make an edible musa basjoo!

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Gabe15

Here is a 'Poti'a' bunch from an old book.

(sorry for the delay)

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

Bananaman88

Those are so awesome! Like a 'Pitogo' on steroids! I'd love to grow one of those. I need to do some research on them. From what I remember reading on here (that you posted) they are primitive form of banana aren't they?

Gabe15

They aren't primitive really, they just evolved and were cultivated completely separate from the edible bananas we are most familiar with. These came from different wild species (not Musa acuminata and M. balbisiana etc..from Eumusa, but possibly from M. maclayi of Australimusa). Unfortunately, very little is know about them as there has not been much modern research on them. This book from 1947 is the most comprehensive info I've seen on them, but of course it lacks many of the modern information that would normally be associated with banana research.

In this diagram, Eumusa edible bananas are the pink spot and Fe'i is the brown one.

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

dablo93

that are some awesome bananas!

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Tropicallvr

I notice that there is 2 species of Musella on that chart. I guess the one from Vietnam might be a seperate species after all.

I'd like to see more different color on some ornamental banana flowers, like a blue color perhaps, or black, or some more multicolred ones.

Gabe15

As far as I've read, both species are still valid, and from talking with people who have seen both of them up close, they do sound different.

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