-Carrotcarp-

Where to begin, well I have a small Dwarf Cavendish Banana plant which I brought from the Eden Project, its very easy to look after and has tolerated a lot since I got it. For Christmas I was give a heated propagator a heat mat a non-heated propagator some Perlite some Vermiculite and some seed compost.The unheated propagator had a seed tray with (what i think) is rockwall. The next day I went back to the Eden Project and this time in the gift shop I saw a pack of banana ‘Musa Acuminata’ seeds (there was 5 seeds In the pack.) I felt inclined to buy them and have a shot at germinating (and perhaps with a little luck) growing them into plants. I looked on the internet about germinating them and after some research I found out that the plants were easy to keep and raise, but the seeds weren’t. Surprisingly enough I wasn’t discouraged but just more determined to propagate these seeds!
You can probably guess what I’m going to say next…HELP! -But its not all bad, I have made a start and I just want to know if what I’m doing will suffice
I soaked the seeds for 24 hours before putting them in-between two pieces of warm, moist tissue paper. I wrapped the bowl in cling film to raise the temperature and humidity, but the temperature was still under 15c, so I put the heat mat underneath as well and now the temperature is around 28-29c. WILL THIS WORK!!! That’s what I’ve done so far and now I’m waiting for them to germinate, im adamant on making this work and will appreciate any advice.
I am going to experiment with another pack of seeds and am open to new suggestions Thank You
(what soil should I use?) (Should I use vermiculite?)
Thank You All
Regards -Josh-

dablo93

I had the ensete ventricosum seeds at 26-30 degrees and 4 of the 6 are sprouted ()

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-Carrotcarp-

Cool, or should i say lucky What growing medium did you use? I am thinking about a 2/4 soil, 1/4 sharp sand, 1/4 vercumilite mix, any ideas?

dablo93

I did just use soil that I bought by a gardencentre here.

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-Carrotcarp-

Nice one, did you use a propigator or a heat mat-

-Carrotcarp-

For a whole forum on banana seed germination ther isnt much information here
This site: http://davesgarden.com/community/for...useplants/all/

Is much better for a whole array of other types of houseplant questions, i would strongly recomend it

Grog

I just planted some ensete ventricosum seeds yesterday. My seeds came with a little greenhouse about 3" x 6" . I use seed starter mix from the local garden store. I wet the soil down and put the top on my little greenhouse. I set it in the windowsill in the family room which is kept at 68F. It takes forever, like 4 or 5 months, but they grow. I started my first two last January and now they are about 3' high. I almost gave up on them, but left them alone after seeing some green shoots I thought were weeds. Good thing I waited, cause the next thing I know, there was a banana plant.

Lard Greystoke

Received E. ventricosum seeds 1 month ago. The seeds were light and floated on water, which I have been told is a bad sign; but after alternate soaking and drying, initial germination has been very good after 3 weeks at room temperature.

mrbungalow

Ensete-species seem to like more or less constant temps of 25-30 degrees and wet soil to sprout.

Musa-species are different; They need fluctuating temperatures to sprout.

I would use soil instead of paper-towels. I have heard of people trying wet paper-towels for ensete/musa, but I have never heard of anyone sprouting successfully in this medium. If you have success, please let us know.

Erlend

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scotty

i had three ensete seeds and i had them in a envelope for over a year, then one day about 4 weeks ago i decided to cut one open just to check whats inside, i cant say what i saw because i wouldn't know what i was looking at, anyway, I decided to plant the remaining three seeds in palm peat about half an inch deep and three weeks later they came up. i am in south africa and it is now starting to become winter and rather cold, my seed were just outside under a small shadenet.

just j

i just soak them for a day and plant them they r super easy to grow just keep them out of direct sun when they come up they like to burn up

Bob

Hi and welcome scotty. You should post something to say hello in the members introductions so folks here can welcome you. What part of SA are you from. Just recently a woman from Natal joined up. It would be great to hear more from growers in your part of the world. I was in free state and limpopo provinces a few years ago but unfortunately didn't pay much attention to the bananas. I was fascinated by your wonderful aloes there and some how a few camel thorn seeds came back with me by accident.
We'd all love to hear more about your bananas and those in South Africa.

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Tog Tan

Josh, your topic title says E ventricosum but you are talking about M acuminata....
So is it M acuminata? If so I have some views about it cos I come from the land of the Musa acuminata subsp malaccensis and the Musa acuminata subsp truncata.

This is one of the weirder sds as it does not respond to the normal method of sd germn. I have been very successful with germinating just about any musa or ensete sds by putting them in a sealed deli cup. With this species, it just does not work. I have tried at different times with more than 2,000 sds. Eventually I just threw them onto the shaded pots in my garden. I water my plants a few times daily and the sds just pop up after a few weeks. I guess the sds of the M acuminata sp need more moisture (water) but need to dry up well too before germinating.

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Tog Tan has sadly suddenly passed away 6/16/09. We will miss you Tog Tan.