Originally Posted by PR-Giants

Seed squeezing is an important method I used to test seed viability. A bad seed will crush with less pressure than a good seed.

When I sell seeds I always send plenty of extras. Extra seeds give members the opportunity to crack a few open to see what the inside of a good seed looks like, this will help to later identify what bad seeds look like.

Yesterday I harvested seeds from some variegated Tani fruit. All the seeds immediately sank when placed in water, a good sign but not that important. Next, to check for leaky plugs, I let the seeds dry for about 12 hours and then placed them back in water and they all floated initially but eventually all sank after a few hours. Then I applied pressure to each seed and they crushed with less pressure than what it would take to crush good seeds of other varieties. All seeds were bad and failed visual inspection for viability. I've learned it's quicker to skip the water test and just do the pressure test, especially with Tani.

Originally Posted by Jeff zone 8 N.C.

Do you think the seeds did not get good pollination, were not mature, or something else?

Originally Posted by PR-Giants

I really don't know and it seems unlikely that a wild banana is female infertile but that's what I'm leaning towards. I've harvested well over a million seeds and not to get one good seed seems impossible for a wild banana.

Originally Posted by PR-Giants;

Hopefully you can help with this. Over the years I've harvested hundreds of wild balbisiana Tani and have never collected a single viable seed. Is there anything I can improve or is the variety sterile? If it can't produce viable seeds can the pollen be good? I haven't been successful using the pollen.

Is it possible for a wild banana variety to be female infertile?

Originally Posted by Gabe15;

The name 'Tani' is used for all types of M. balbisiana in Thailand and Laos, and there are various forms

almost all of them are cultivated to some degree, but there are types which are basically classic wild types, but there are also cultivars which are domesticated.

the fruits of these types is much larger that the wild types typically, and although they must be pollinated to make fruit, the seeds do not develop fully, and remain soft at maturity, it sounds like you have one of these types. The black pseudostem balbisiana that is common in the horticulture trade now is one of these domesticated types

I have used the black one as a male parent, and i got normal seed set in other wild-type balbisianas

I've also planted the seeds, knowing they are typically sterile, i did in fact get 3 seedlings once from a batch of many hundreds of seeds, but they did not make it long

these bananas represent an interesting niche, they are not wild, but also are not parthenocarpic/edible, but the fruit is in fact commonly eaten, both green and ripe, though seemingly more common green. and also the plants are used for many things beyond the fruit, such as animal feed, and the seeds, even though they are not properly formed, are used medicinally extensively in Vietnam


the smallest fruit in these photos is a true wild balbisiana, the larger fruit are from the domesticated forms

Originally Posted by PR-Giants

Here's a Tani grower with a beautiful plant. Hopefully member WildernessGreen will have viable seeds in the future.

More members should grow this variegated variety because it's green and white pattern is beautiful and it's easy to overwinter.

Just received the photo ...

3/15/25