51st state

I know this info is around on the site but would anyone care to post a step-by-step guide to musa germination (with photos) using the heat mat, and ziplok baggie method. Erlend maybe?

and am I right when I remember that Ensete are norally germinated at a fairly steady 30 C? rather than the fluctuating temps required for Musa?



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Tropicallvr

I wish I would have taken some photos.
There really needs to be some kind of guide at the top of this page(that stays there) telling the basics to germinating musa, fluctuation, soil, ect.
You are correct about Ensete germination, although a little temp variation seems needed for the Thai E.superbum, and E.perrieri needs a seed bed, and needs a dry/then wet (neglected) to sprout.
The last Ensete I germinated was E.superbum India on top of the water heater for the house.

CookieCows

When soaking your seeds in warm water for a couple days ... are you setting up an fish aquarium heater or something in shallow water? Probably not that..... lol.... I haven't been able to figure out what type of container would be used and how the water is kept at a constant warm temp. Carefully set pie pan or something on heat mat?

Deb

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tropical-pete

Tropicallvr - I agree. At the top of this page, a detailed guide should be put on how to germinate both Musa & Ensete seeds, including specific requirement for individual species (for example, that Ensete 'Thai Superbum' requires a little temp. fluctuation, just as you stated). I myself am new to all of this, and I'd love to learn how to germinate my nana seeds successfully. I think it would be a great idea to post a detailed guide as people will only need to ask for specific information then, as a guide for sowing the seed will already be present. Thanks, take care

Pete

Richard

The "Bananas Wiki" might be a better location ...

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jason

wich 30c is 86 degrees for those of us in the usa!

tropical-pete

erm....well is anyone going to post a guide for general Musa seed germination? I have lots of seed awaiting sowing, but I just need to know how! What is the general reccomended planting medium, temps, light requirements etc. and that sort of stuff?

Thanks, take care

Pete

Tropicallvr

1. Get a soil that is bacteria free(cook in oven to sterilize) Or buy seed starting mix. Coco peat & perlite mixed togher is a good medium for sprouting. Get zip lock baggies to place the seeds in, the bigger the bag the better, I have cooked seeds in too small of a bag. Half gallon or gallon size I think is best.
2. Get a heat mat with an appliance timer(bought seperatly), and set up in a cooler room(60F) in your house. Put some sort of tray(seedling flat) on heat mat, so baggies aren't directly on the mat.
3.Soak seeds for about 24-48(or more) hours changing the water daily. Some seeds have alot of banana pulp and might need to be scrubbed a few times as they soak. After they are done soaking, give them a scrub and rinse with either diluted hydrogen peroxide, or a 10% bleach solution. Some bleach clings to seeds and makes them feel slimey, and if this is the case give them a extra dish soap wash to get the bleach off.
4. Hydrate your soil medium, just to the point of moist, but not dripping moist. I ussaly run a drip into the baggy as I stir it as the water drips in. Not too wet not too dry. Then sprinkle the seeds on the surface, and sprinkle a little soil on them, just so they are barley covered.
5. Set you timer for being on from anywhere from 5 hours on to 12 hours on. It's up to you I've had results with short and long, but now I do around 7-8 hours on.
6. Check regularly by hand or with an outdoor thermometer the soil to make sure it isn't getting too hot, and raise your tray off the heat mat if it is. I have lost alot of seeds from frying them. If your soil is drying out then it's probably too hot.
6. No need for a light to germinate them, they will do it in pitch black, but you'll need to check them almost every day, because if you miss a seedling that has sprouted and they stretch too much for light then they use all their reserves, and don't have enough energy to produce the first leaf, then they bend over and die. Be careful not to expose them to full sunshine too quickly either if they have been in a dark place.
Some species are fine to dig up out of the baggies and seperate from the soil before it has it's first leaf, and some are really touchy and you must leave them in the baggy till they have a leaf.
when they are ready just put new potted seedling in a warm well lit place(morning sun), or artificial light, and let it go to town, fetilizing lightly after 3 or so leaf leafs have been put out.
LMK if I missed anything that your wondering about. I HOPE YOU GET SOME SPROUTS!

bigdog

Kyle, that was a fantastic how-to tutorial! The only thing that I would add is that some may want to use plastic storage boxes with a tight-fitting lid instead of the baggies. It seems to me that sometimes there isn't enough air in the bags when the seedlings germinate, or sometimes they germinate right up against the bag and get too wet. Both work fine if you leave enough air. In any event, you do want to start checking daily after 2-3 weeks for germination.

When using a box, and transplanting a seedling from the box to a pot (try to use a sterile medium when they are this young to prevent fungal attacks!), I use my finger to gently push down into the medium with one finger about 1/2 inch from the seedling. Hook your finger underneath the seedling as deep as you can. Then grab the seedling with your other hand, and lift it up with the finger that is in the medium. Do not pull it up by your other hand, or you may risk damaging the roots! You might damage a root or two anyway, but I've not lost one yet doing it this way. The rule of thumb is to be gentle! Seedlings are very fragile, and won't easily recover from too many roots being damaged.

I have given up on using flats and trying to germinate in the greenhouse. Invariably, fungus gnats become a problem quickly. If you do want to germinate in the greenhouse (or outside), make sure that the cover of the box has holes in the top of it! Either that or set it where the sun won't hit it. I have lost one seedling in the greenhouse from cooking it the day after it germinated, on a cool, sunny winter day, where the temperature under the humidity dome must have been into the 100s Fahrenheit.

I have not had any luck with non-sterile medium, although there was a study that had better germination with it. I can't stress enough how important it is to start out with a sterile mix, sterile box (or bag), and to sterilize the seeds (like Kyle said) before sowing. If it isn't a sterile medium, you don't know if there are any pathogens in there just waiting to attack your seeds/seedlings. Especially if it is a rare seed or seedling, you want to give it the best chance possible. I'm sure some have had great success just throwing some seeds in a pot of old soil, LOL, but I'll bet it was a pretty common seed like Musa velutina or such.

Tropicallvr

Yes, the finger hook method! Were getting really down to the details here, I almost forgot about that.
Good point about having enough air in the baggies, that's another reason why the large baggies work better than the small ones.

bikoro child

thanks for all these explanations here are 3 pics to show you how I do

mrbungalow

I will come back to this soon, I will try to put in a little effort in presenting my technique.

Cheers
Erlend

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bigdog

Yes, you had a great tutorial in another thread, Erlend, and it would be great if you could post it again here.

tropical-pete

Thanks very much for posting there guides guys - I really appreciate it, and I'm sure everyone else will. I know have a good idea on how to sow my Musa seeds, so I'll get them going right away

Thanks, take care

Pete

mrbungalow

Here's a little video I worked on this weekend. Hope you'll like it, and that it could come in useful!

Musa germination guide

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the flying dutchman

Thats awesome, thank you Erlend. I made this a sticky thread because
there is so much valuable information in it.

Ron

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tropical-pete

Thanks Ron

I have a bunch of banana seeds ready to plant, but I was reluctant to plant them. The amount of different ways of germinating them out there are so numerous, I simply couldn't decide which would give me the best change of germination. I was worried that my seeds wouldn't germinate, and then (even though Musa seeds are one of the hardest to germinate) I would lose all confidence in my germination skills and never plant another seed again! However, I now have a few different ways to pick from, and I know that all of them should yield good results.

Thanks so much! Take care

Pete

Tropicallvr

very cool video Erland! Nice sound track!
One thing that I forgot to mention is that if you try with the plastic "tupper ware" storage boxes instead of the baggies, make sure you get ones with very tight fitting lids, fungas gnats wiped out my seeds because the lids weren't tight fitting.

51st state