Tall banana, any ideas what it is? (pictures)
 

I frequently drive by this person's house and have been admiring their banana plant for a few years now. It finally bloomed and I had the guts to park in front of their house and snap a few pictures. Yes, most people would think I'm a robber, a weirdo, trying to collect on an insurance claim or something like that....what is the likelihood that I'm there just to admire their plant?

Last winter, most of the leaves on this plant got fried and turned brown when it hit 30F (unlike my american goldfinger, hehe). Now, why would I want to know what variety this is? Simple answer that many a musaphiles either have experienced or would do as well:I'm trying to determine whether or not to knock on their door with a pup of a different, proven variety in hand to work out a trade :)

Photos taken 10/18/16, looks a lot like the real Ice Cream, but that's really a wild guess. Unfortunately, these are the best pics I could get:




This thing probably has 15' of p-stem on it:

Re: Tall banana, any ideas what it is? (pictures)
 

It is tall...

Re: Tall banana, any ideas what it is? (pictures)
 

That stalk is huge. My guess is that is a regular basjoo. Stop, introduce yourself and ask about the plant and getting a plup. .... There should be several at the base now it the mother is flowering/fruiting.

Re: Tall banana, any ideas what it is? (pictures)
 

That stalk is huge. My guess is that is a regular basjoo. Stop, introduce yourself and ask about the plant and getting a plup. .... There should be several at the base now if the mother is flowering/fruiting.

Re: Tall banana, any ideas what it is? (pictures)
 

Basjoo, really? In zone 9b? I doubt that. There are so many edible varieties they could grow, why would they grow Basjoo?

Re: Tall banana, any ideas what it is? (pictures)
 

Flower is wrong for a basjoo. Looks like short fruits. Namwa maybe. I have no clue it's hard to tell from the pic. Nice looking plant. Man it sure is close to that house lol.

Re: Tall banana, any ideas what it is? (pictures)
 

If I was forced to guess, I'd say Musa balbisiana. Not edible.

Don't ask me why you'd grow a seeded variety in 9B, but plenty of people in So Cal do.

Re: Tall banana, any ideas what it is? (pictures)
 

Meizzwand did say the leaves turn brown at 30 deg F. I don't think a basjoo would have done that. ... From the pic, those garage doors are about 8ft high. I say the pstem is close to 18 or 20 ft. Those leaves look to be 8 to 10 ft long. That plant is 25 to 30 ft tall. This is one huge banana or plantation.

Re: Tall banana, any ideas what it is? (pictures)
 

Okay, slightly different topic but same idea: there's another banana plant in bloom right now at a Thai Restaurant that we frequent, but this time I'd like to arrive at the restaurant with a potted, known variety in hand, order a full meal, give a nice tip, and then (provided this turns out to be a variety I don't already have) try to convince the owner to trade a pup. A year ago, this plant fruited, but someone stole the bananas before they could taste it because it fruits at a very low p-stem height. What a bummer! I'd give them a pup from my real ice cream so nobody can just reach up and grab the bunch....

Photos taken 11/5/16, can anyone ID it? Sorry, these are some crappy phone pics, it seems to be fruiting at 4-5' of p-stem, but there is another established plant (not shown) that's about 6' of p-stem:

Re: Tall banana, any ideas what it is? (pictures)
 

Basjoo does that in Southern California. If frost forms on the leaves, they're toast.

Re: Tall banana, any ideas what it is? (pictures)
 

Looks like an ABB variety (based on what appears to be closed petiole canals in the photos). The flower has a "Namwah" look to it. But it is very slender for a Dwarf Namwah and very short for any the taller varieties, but might just be a plant that isn't all that happy.

Re: Tall banana, any ideas what it is? (pictures)
 

Purple flowers female flowers and all green no red on bottom of the pstem or wine spots. It looks like a tall Orinoco in a not so great location. Could also be namwa. Picture of under the fingers next time your there could confirm. There would be purple where they connect.

Re: Tall banana, any ideas what it is? (pictures)
 

It hadn't been long since I read that Basjoo could take frost down to 28 - 29 degrees and the leaves not burn. But I haven't been able to find any other collaboration of that fact. ... There is much miss information about banana plants on the internet. Anyway, I'm trying to work thought the info BS.

Thanks for the info.

Re: Tall banana, any ideas what it is? (pictures)
 

thanks guys, next time I go there I'll snap a better pic of the petiole canals to verify if they're open or closed and see if there's any red where the bananas attach to the stem. that would be a dead giveaway....

Does the red color persist even as the hands mature, or does it fade away like in the american goldfinger? In any case, I'll probably visit in a week or so, so stay tuned!

Re: Tall banana, any ideas what it is? (pictures)
 

Okay, finally got a chance to snap some more photos of this shorter bananas variety at the thai restaurant near my house. Petiole canals are as closed as can be. Is there a way to get a for sure positive ID yet? Photos taken 12/6/16:


Here's a shot of the petiole canals:



It sorta has that red "namwah" coloration where the bananas are connected to the stem, but it's not well colored in like all the pictures I've seen online. nevertheless, I know environment plays a huge role on anthocyanin production, so whether the red color is well pronounced or not doesn't necessarily mean anything:


No idea what I was thinking when I took this shot:



One last picture of the fruits and inflorescence:

Re: Tall banana, any ideas what it is? (pictures)
 

So any verdict as to what type of banana this is? So far, we have either orinoco,really stunted regular namwah, or something namwah-like. There's another bunch fruiting at about 10' tall that's not pictured.

Okay, so crazy story, my wife and I went back to this thai restaurant last weekend and ordered a meal. I pre-empted her asking if she would be embarrassed if she saw me digging up one of the banana plants while everyone watched, and she didn't think I was serious (only you guys truly understand how serious we are about these sort of things). At the end of the meal, I went up to the owner (wife) and asked her if she would be interested in trading one of their bananas for an American Goldfinger. She at first said no, but I thought this one through way in advance and prepared for such rejection: my immediate response was, "well, I have this extra plant in my trunk, can I just give it to you?" Keep in mind, she has a business to run, who has time for this crazy customer with such a strange request?

She told me to hold on and went into the back of the kitchen, and out came the main chef (the husband). He asked me to take a look at the pup I brought him, and after he saw it as well as photos of the plant with fruit on it, he told me he'd love to trade! Turns out, the husband was the one growing the bananas! He then asked me how I was going to dig up a pup, they're difficult to get out. Well, I had brought a shovel and some potting soil...I even offered to plant the american goldfinger in place of the plant I was going to dig up, but the owner told me the restaurant is sadly going to turn into a condo pretty soon. He said he's going to move all the plants and plant them in their restaurants down south.

I tried to dig up one of their small plants, but the corm was planted so deep, I severed the p-stem and for the life of me couldn't find the corm! The chef dude told me I was making his wife nervous, but he then let me try to dig up a pup from the main plant. The soil was ROCK hard, no organic matter, and bone dry! I wasn't able to get any roots because of how rock hard the soil was, but got the corm fully in tact! In the end, the chef dude was happy and so was I, we chit chatted for a while and shook hands before parting.

On the drive home, I told my wife this was literally a dream come true, as I had been thinking about this ever since I made this post and had several dreams of successfully acquiring a corm....big mistake, LOL "So you dream about digging up bananas from a restaurant, but don't dream about how we got married?" Ouch....ummmm. so it was a sunny day today......

Here's me digging up the pup successfully, can anyone ID this plant now with that male flower?


My daughter helping fill up the hole with soil:

Re: Tall banana, any ideas what it is? (pictures)
 

Well, with the clean rachis, it's not Dwarf Namwah. The appearance of the fruit makes me think it's a regular Namwah that has been poorly cared for and so is fruiting short and making small bunches.

Re: Tall banana, any ideas what it is? (pictures)
 

The only problem with that is that Namwah plants characteristically have a distinctive pink midrib, especially when young. (Mauve is more accurate, but most people don't know what that is.) Anyway, those leaves have a light green midrib so it is doubtful it is Namwah unless it is really sad.

Re: Tall banana, any ideas what it is? (pictures)
 

Looks like Musa "Orinoco" to me. That's all I grow and that looks like my plants look. Being in zone 5 mine don't get that tall, but my brother in Arkansas had Orinoco's that tall.

Re: Tall banana, any ideas what it is? (pictures)
 

Fruit shape and color are wrong for Orinoco.