Quote:
Originally Posted by LilRaverBoi
Honestly, (and to be honest, I don't know what parthenocarpic even means LOL) I've never heard of a banana that REQUIRED external pollination to get mature fruit. Pretty sure all the edible types have sterile male, female or both male/female flowers and that is how they get edible (unseeded) fruit. For the seeded varieties, it is my understanding that they are monoecious plants, meaning both male/female parts are on the same plant simultaneously and can self-pollinate (possibly insects are required). But I've never heard of any banana plant that NECESSITATES human interaction for pollination.
Edit...just looked up parthenocarpic and yes....I believe all edible banana types are indeed parthenocarpic. Otherwise, my above statements still stand.
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The reason why bananas are edible and do not have seeds (2 different things) is rather complex goes beyond simple sterility. I've written about it many times elsewhere on this site, I'm not sure exactly where, but if you search around enough you may find it.
Wild bananas, although monoecious, form the male and female flowers at different, (mostly) non-overlapping times, so in fact they generally require out crossing unless the basal flowers are hermaphroditic instead of female as is true for some species. If you notice how a bunch of bananas develops, the female flowers (which turn into fruit) are completely dried by the time the male flowers begin to develop, leaving only the ovaries to develop into fruit which are no longer receptive to pollen.
Asacomm,
To get the answers to your's and everyone else's questions, this is what I recommend you do.
1. When the first hand of female flowers is showing, clip off the floral parts on half of the fruit at the ends of the young undeveloped fruits, leaving the ovaries intact. Mark which ones you did this too in case you cannot tell later on.
This will show whether or not it is truly vegetatively parthenocarpic.
If the fruit develops and there are no seeds inside, it is parthenocarpic. If the fruit does not develop at all, it is non-parthenocarpic.
2. Leave the rest of the first hand alone, and whatever remaining hands are formed.
This will show if they are seeded by selfing or outcrossing, or parthenocarpic.
If seeds form in these untampered with fruits, then it is self pollinating. If no seeds form, regardless if it is parthenocarpic or not, then it needs outcrossing to form seeds.
3. Check every day for male flowers (which will have significantly smaller ovaries), and when the first hand of those open up, try to collect pollen from the anthers (if there even is pollen) and see if there is enough overlap to hand pollinate the last hand of female flowers that formed right before it.
This will show if they are seeded by outcrossing.
If these are the only fruits that form seeds, we will know they do not self pollinate (with hermaphroditic basal flowers) and based on the info from the other fruits, if they are parthenocarpic or not, seed forming or not.
Hopefully in some of these fruits there will be seeds, and some others without seeds. If you do it like I outlined above, we can learn a lot about it.
Also, if you can, take very detailed, closeup photos of the flowers, and also if you can, describe what parts you see, and how many parts of each type you see.