Easier germination after eating by elephants, parrots, toucans and monkeys??
 

Hi,

I read that the fruits of Musa yunnanensis are beloved to eat by elephants and monkeys in the Xishuangbanna National Park in Yunnan/China. And my friend Helton told me that one wild banana species is recently discovered in the coastal forests in Brazil and the fruits are angular shaped and eaten by toucans and parrots.

I know, that is often difficulty to germinate banana seeds. I surmise that the banana seeds after eating become to soft by gastric juice of the elephant, monkey or parrot and are wandering through the intestine in the excrements outwards. The excrements with the seeds are washed out by rain and rotting. The seeds are then germinating quickly. Many plant species are dependent on animal species which are eating their fruits with seeds to propagate anyway.

Why not test by trials, without gastric juice and with gastric juice? Some hours or one day soaking in the gastric juice or chemical similar.

We must find out how to ease the banana seed germination with much higher germinate rates.

Best wishes
Basjoofriend

Re: Easier germination after eating by elephants, parrots, toucans and monkeys??
 

Gastric juices are a funny thing. It's 2 molar hydrochloric acid in the stomach for about 2 - 4 hours then it moves into the small intestine where bile is added, which is very alkaline. I think the trick is to try and match the bile pH and with what. I don't know of any alkaline chemicals that match bile. I think sodium hydroxide will be too agressive. I have kind of tried this, but with seeds of dubious quality.

I have tried concentrated sulphuric acid scarification, however. I wait with baited breath.

Re: Easier germination after eating by elephants, parrots, toucans and monkeys??
 

I plan to try feeding my first (if ever) banana with seeds to my local fructivore (yours truly).

I'll spread the seeds myself afterwards. :chefnaner:

Re: Easier germination after eating by elephants, parrots, toucans and monkeys??
 

ROFL!!! @ Jens!

To continue on.....

From my actual work with Sodium Hydroxide, If you can get a good solution of it worked up to about 180-200 degrees F lets say a 5 gallon bucket worth of water and roughly 1/2 pound of granuled caustic (industrial grade normally carried in 55 gallon drums). Put a 1" diameter rod about 18" long of any grade aluminum into the mixture and let soak for roughly 2 hours.... The medium should weaken to the point of where it is just barely beyond the bare-handed safe zone and let cool to 100 deg F. Soak the seeds for a yet to be determined time, and rinse with distilled white vinegar.

This is just an idea I had rolling around in my head for a while now, I just dont have the "connections" anymore to get "dead" caustic.
On the upside of that is, if you grow tomatoes, the crystalline scrape from the solution after the aluminum etching and subsequent cooling if wonderful in the home garden, grows wickedly large tomatoes and cucurbits.

Re: Easier germination after eating by elephants, parrots, toucans and monkeys??
 

Try getting a parrot (elephant if you have space) ;) Or just eat the seeds yourself and crap where you want the plant.

Re: Easier germination after eating by elephants, parrots, toucans and monkeys??
 

That would work

Re: Easier germination after eating by elephants, parrots, toucans and monkeys??
 

No, I think about taking a container full of gastric juices (chemical and synthetical made) or of one lotion of 3 percent hydrogenperoxide. No elephant, no parrot, no toucane, no monkey, only one small home laboratory!

And I read somewhere in the internet that bananas are also light germinators like grasses and coffee. This might also be one idea how to ease the germination of banana seed!

Best wishes
Basjoofriend

Re: Easier germination after eating by elephants, parrots, toucans and monkeys??
 

There may also be microbes beneficial to germination of certain seeds. I read about this once when researching M. ingens germination.

Re: Easier germination after eating by elephants, parrots, toucans and monkeys??
 

I know that studies have been done on the intestinal flora of Tapir vis a vis the germination of certain types of Heliconia that are part of their diet - doesn't work so hot without the Tapir's unique balance of bacteria, as well as the HCl and bile alkalinity balance.