I have seen many posts over the years predicting a precipitous drop in Ae Ae prices, personally I do not see this happening anytime soon. Some of the posts compare Ae Ae’s to Musella Lasiocarpa or Basjoo. This plant is different than Basjoo, Siam Ruby or Musella lasiocarpa, all of which have sold for very high price at one time or another, in that it has maintained this rarity and been priced very high (in relation to other bananas at the time) for over 25 years (to my recollection...most likely longer as this is when it first appeared on my radar).
Some posts have stated that there are groves of these bananas in Hawaii and that they are available for $10.
I have been to many of the large public gardens and many smaller gardens in Hawaii and the only garden I saw Ae Ae’s at was Waimea Falls on the North Shore of Hawaii and they were in a
secured area behind a fence.
Where in Hawaii are there groves of this plant?
If I ever see a grove of Ae Ae's I am taking a picture so fast...
What nursery sells them for $10??
Post from 2007:
ae ae banana arrived
This banana is rare even in Hawaii.
This is evidenced by the fact that someone broke in to the Maui Nui Botanical Garden and stole some of them:
Rare Hawaiian banana plants stolen from garden
By LILA FUJIMOTO, Staff Writer
POSTED: September 13, 2006
KAHULUI – After losing about $1,000 in landscaping tools and supplies during break-ins over the Labor Day weekend, Maui Nui Botanical Gardens was hoping Tuesday to get back a half-dozen rare native Hawaiian banana plants.
The keiki plants of the manini variety, which has green-and-white striped leaves and fruit, were dug up from the garden at Keopuolani Park during the first break-in on Sept. 4, said Executive Director Lisa Schattenburg-Raymond.
After spreading the word about the thefts, she said she learned Tuesday that someone had sold similar plants to a local business. She spoke with a Maui police officer who planned to investigate further and recover the plants Tuesday afternoon.
“They are just so ornamental.
People just go crazy over it,” Schattenburg-Raymond said. “They are the Hawaiian variety, which makes it even more interesting.
It was reserved for alii.”
The garden had offered limited quantities of the banana plants for sale for the past three years, Schattenburg-Raymond said. She estimated the thefts had set back the sale production for two years.
The plants are difficult to grow, with some plants not surviving and others turning albino or all green, she said.
“What we’re trying to do is preserve these
rare Hawaiian plants,” she said. “Even though we’re trying to make these available, people are stealing them.”
Because the rare and valuable banana variety was targeted, along with hand tools and pesticides, Schattenburg-Raymond said she suspects the thief was someone familiar with the garden and involved in the landscaping industry.
Also taken during the first break-in were five 70-pound bales of Sunshine No. 4 potting mix, some large pots and a large container of Roundup herbicide.
The following night, thieves broke through the doors of the garden pesticide shed and the tool shed, damaging the security gates, and stealing herbicide and pesticides, a drill, a new LL Bean camouflage wind-up radio and a wagon. An alarm at the gardens went off at 3 a.m.
Some of the stolen items were found in the wagon in bushes near Keopuolani Park and the Maui Arts & Cultural Center the next day, Schattenburg-Raymond said.
She said she has heard about other thefts of plants taken from homeowners as well as businesses.
Anyone with information on the break-ins and thefts is asked to call Maui Nui Botanical Gardens at 249-2798 or Maui police at 244-6400.
Lila Fujimoto can be reached at
[email protected].
Rare Hawaiian banana plants stolen from garden - Mauinews.com | News, Sports, Jobs, Visitor's Information - The Maui News
The nurseries that grow these bananas know the value.
I have contacted several Hawaiian nurseries that advertise them ($125 to $175 over the last 20 years and they rarely if ever have stock and when they put me on the wait list I never heard from them again. In 1994 I purchase an Ae Ae ($150 or so..can’t quite recall) from Pacific Tree Farm just outside of San Diego (it met a dire end from my dog). In 1995 I purchased an Ae Ae from Gong Bananas ($150 or so can’t quite recall). At the time they had a nice planting in a raised bed; they have since removed the Ae Ae from their catalog and reduced their planting to one large matte. In speaking with Don Chafin he has said that they are just too difficult to grow and that many of the pups turned green. Don actually gave me a green Ae Ae that I potted up and amazingly it went variegated. In 1998 I made a trip to San Diego and visited the only two nurseries that I knew of that currently or had stocked Ae Ae, Pacific Tree Farm and Exotica. All of the Pacific Tree Farm’s bananas were in pots, they had just one Ae Ae matte growing in a single pot. The person I spoke with said that they did better in the pots due to the poor drainage of the soil where the nursery was located (California clay). Exotica did not have any Ae Ae’s. Yes I know this was a loooonnng time ago and there are other Southern California nurseries that offer them (kudos to Andrew for his awesome fund!); they are just not commonly for sale at nurseries (California, Hawaii or Florida).
Going Bananas Ae Ae matte (April 2008).
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Going Bananas Raised Ae Ae bed (Fall 1994)
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My first Ae Ae pup
Going Bananas Homestead, FL Fall 1994
Going Bananas had a raised bed with Ae Ae's. They actually still had them in their catalog with a manageable wait list (about a tenth of the size of today's Viente Cohol list). Each pup was labeled with nursery tape with the future owner's name on it.
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Ironically all of the Ae Ae’s I have purchased (three) died. I have had the most success with the two that were given to me. The green one Don gave me eventually died (it made it through several generations over six years the last plant had bananas and no pups). The one I am currently growing I need to return a pup (or two/three) to the member that passed it on to me and hopefully one day participate in the expansion of the plant within board membership.
I hope the board members’ successes continue (come on Richard and JNS!!) and that every board member that wants to grow one has the opportunity to. I just do not see this banana becoming readily available in large quantities (at any price) anytime soon.
Thanks to all the great tips (Richard, Nanaman, JNS and others) that I have recently read on the board I am hoping to improve my plants and expand the planting of this great plant.