PR-Giants

Why?

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Jeff zone 8 N.C.

Because that worked for me before and most of the info on line said so and no one else offered any better advice. Also many places where bananas grow wild seem to get plentiful rain. Would appreciate it if you could share a better way. I'm always willing to learn.

PR-Giants

I look to Nature for information before looking online. Fossil records have shown that bananas were growing in the Americas over 165 millions years ago and it's doubtful someone was soaking the seeds for 3 days prior to planting back then. And most people that grow seeded bananas that produce fruit know that seeds that fall to the ground will grow like weeds without soaking.

Moisture is very important, but 3 days of pre-wetting before wetting seems unlikely to be helpful. If there is a study that shows 3 days of pre-wetting before wetting improves germination rates then I wouldn't be surprise to find a study that shows 4 days of pre-wetting before the 3 days of pre-wetting before wetting improves germination rates even more.

I focus on maintaining a high soil moisture with high soil aeration and do not recommend the first technique I used that accidentally produced my first variegated banana seedling. I buried the banana fruit deep into an active compost pile hoping the heat would kill the seeds. One day I was turning the pile and noticed these long sprouts well underground and decided to plant one to figure out what kind of plant they were. It turned out to be a banana plant, which was surprising but even more surprising was the plant was variegated. The original plant I grew that produced the fruit I composted was not visually variegated.

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Jeff zone 8 N.C.

Agree on all you say here. I also try to take natures way into account. But which nature? Here is my thought process. There are many regions, of the world, that grow bananas, naturally, from seed. I think all (?) have warmth and moisture in common. There are banana regions with monsoons that soak banana seeds for more than 3 days so I guess nature takes care of that in some way. At least I hope so. It has always seemed to work on other seeds before. In my case getting these seeds at the beginning of winter forced me to either wait for spring (too impatient) or do the best I could with indoor artificial conditions. Since I had no instructions except the internet then I tried what I hoped would work, based on my research. I also have been altering temps and dryness to simulate nature. We have been having very warm days for some time now but nights in the high 50'sF, till now, when they have run in the 60'sF at night. I will be moving them outside soon to experience more natural conditions. Your above instruction is helpful. I have had things pop up in compost piles too but no banana. I wish! Any instruction is appreciated.

PR-Giants

I didn't have any information from clients in North Carolina so I used information from a client growing in the banana region of South Carolina that said the fallen seeds grow like weeds.

You bring up a good point that bananas seeds will germinate in regions with monsoons and without monsoons. Based on that information I concluded that soaking seeds is unnecessary but also that soaking is not detrimental to germination.

Here's a photo of some a'ea'e rhizomes I sent to that South Carolina client, who runs a large online tropical nursery and also a member of this great website.

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Jeff zone 8 N.C.

Beautiful in a group together like that!

Jeff zone 8 N.C.

A couple weeks ago I had my 1st seed of the PR-Giants variegated seed batch sprout in their outdoor conditions. Have seen no other movement until today when 3 more sprouts came up. These sprouts were not showing yesterday. I guess they are liking the dry, low humidity, warm 70s to 80sF days and nights in the higher 60sF low 70sF and me sprinkling a little well water on them to keep them moist. I have run out of rain water as it has been so dry. The planting medium has been having some dry and wet cycles, but never completely dry. The planted seed are in dappled sunlight for part of the day now too.

PR-Giants

Any updates?

This is a message sent to an eBay customer and might be informative to members here.

"Congrats, the process is a learning experience and your technique should improve with more experience. The leaves will unfurl very quickly, be sure you have enough sunlight you do not want long stem seedlings that can't support their weight. If the leaves of the seedlings unfurl in full sun they will immediately be acclimated to full sun. If they are grown in shade they will need to be acclimated later. Remember that any green seedlings will produce variegated offshoots so don't discard them.

I'm glad you were successful."

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Jeff zone 8 N.C.

I now have five sprouted seed. None have stretched yet. All seem ok but am trying to keep them dry now as we have had some heavy rains. They are getting more sun than when they 1st sprouted. Appreciate the tips on growing them. I will put new sprouts in full sun.

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patches016

I think I have finally gotten over the learning hurdle with these seeds. Growing in the AZ desert, I have to take a different approach to what has been recommended due to our heat. I was running an experiment with various growing mediums to see how that affected the germination rate but unfortunately we had a microburst that blew everything over. Currently, I’m growing half the seeds outdoors and half indoors with grow lights and a humidity dome. The indoor seeds have sprouted in record time for me. None of the outdoor have sprouted yet.

PR-Giants

I'm guessing it's more difficult to maintain the proper moisture for the necessary period on your outdoor seeds because of your heat. Moisture is super important and I like to keep that part of the equation simple. With enough aeration there's no such thing as too much moisture. When I'm planting important seeds I place them on a bed of clean coarse sand, this supplies plenty of aeration, then I cover them with a slurry of horse manure a couple inches thick. With all the fibers in the horse manure it acts like a mat or big sponge that I just have to keep wet. As long as it doesn't dry out the moisture level for the seeds stays perfect.

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Jeff zone 8 N.C.

Will definitely use this method on my next batch of seed. Even though I had good success with my banana seed before, I had even better success after several days of rain that did not let the surface of my well drained medium dry out. Before that the sun would dry the surface during the day.














It makes sense as I had some seed sprout better after having several days of heavy rain where my medium did not dry out on the surface at all

PR-Giants

The goal should be 16 days to break ground.

Horse manure can be substituted with most fibrous materials. I use horse manure because it's easy to work with, the slurry can be poured to fit any shape and it expands and contracts as one mass depending on it's moisture content.

And it's high in potassium.

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PR-Giants

I get a lot of these ...



because I have some of these ...

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PR-Giants

I potted some variegated Tani seeds today.

First photo, seeds placed on some clean coarse sand.

Second photo, a slurry of fresh horse manure poured on the seeds.

Now I just have to keep it wet.

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