PureVision

So I've registered a long time ago, and i get a lot of information from here.
So I figured it's about time i finally placed an introduction post.

I've been growing bananas and various other exotic plants (palms, amorphophallus, tetrapanax, ...) for the past 5 years.

At the moment i have in my collection Ensete Ventricosum, Ensete Ventricosum Maurelli, Ensete Glaucum, Musa Basjoo, Musa Dajao, Musa Balbisiana "thai black", Musa Velutina, Musa sp. Tibet.

The summers are great in Belgium to grow banana plants, but the winters not so.
I have to dig everything out and overwinter them in the dark basement.

I'm going to try and participate some more in the discussions in the future

kubali

Welcome aboard,
pull up a chair and have some fun learning.

JP

About time! Lol!

PureVision

Héhé, yeah... registered in 2011... lol

Forgot 2 bananas in the list, i also have some rajapuris and sikkimensis red tigers.

Thinking about buying some variegated ones at the moment.
I can get aeae and tanee, but they come at a steep price, about 120€ a piece, shipping included...
Not sure if I should go for it at such a hefty price :/

JP

I sure wouldn't. I'm not sure the taste is worth it. I'd open my wallet for a couple of varieties; Namwah, Sweetheart, mysore and one I used to eat in Mauritius. Probably a few others too! Lol! Always looking to add to my collection!

PureVision

Over here we don't grow them for the bananas, just for the looks of the plant itself.
The summers are too short here, it takes about 4 to 5 years to see the plants blooming if you're lucky.
Most of the time the bloom appears more towards the end of the summer, so the bananas don't have enough time to develop before winter sets in...
Ofcourse if you have a nice heated greenhouse you might have a chance to stretch your summer a little bit

Red Sky

As someone lucky enough to live somewhere "warm" I can't imagine the work it would take for winter care of even a modest collection of bananas. That's dedication!

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KahikiSam

It is a lot of work here in Ohio moving the plants into the ground for spring and out of the ground for winter. I guess my weather is similar to that of Belgium.
I can not see paying such a high price for your bananas. I like to trade and give them away. Some local garden centers let me dig up their summer landscape in the fall and i have been able to get a number of ensete and different cannas that way.

JP

I sold 1 so far on ebay for 0.99$. It didn't even cover the price of packaging. I gave and traded a few. You meet nice people along the way. It's all about sharing the passion!

JP

I don't have a greenhouse yet. I do bring them back inside when cold arrives and this year, under the T8's. I thought I would have a flower this year but it seems I'll have to wait until next year. Still worth it.

Mark Dragt

I haven't sold any. I will not sell any. Trade and give away at my house. Share the fun. Share the experience. And like you said JP, share the passion.

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Mark's Banana Forest Paradise

PureVision

Here in Belgium we have a nice community of exotic freaks, and we also have gettogethers where we do trades and exchange bananas, palms, cannas, ...
But some things are just really rare and difficult to get, even in our small community of exotic freaks.
Variegated bananas and variegated palms are almost nonexistant here, and we have to find/buy them online.