paulpalm

Hello all, anyone ever hear of a basjoo/sikkimensus hybrid out there? That could be a good one

asacomm

I do think trying anything new is GOOD. But in this case I cannot figure out
plausible reason to do so because both are seedy, inedible and cold hardy.
So there will be no benefit of doing so because F1 cannot be any good than
the parents.
There is a reason if the parents have different natures and characteristics
because the child could be anything better than the parents.
So a cross breeding between Basjoo/Sikkimensis or Helen's and an edible
banana is worth trying.

turtile

I think a cross that can push the red coloring from some sikkimensis would be worth it.

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paulpalm

Thats what I thought, basjoo is/seems to be a bit hardier so if an f1 hybrid can get some red variagation along with improved hardiness,,,,,,wow.

RobG7aChattTN

I think basjoo does not hybridize due to a different number or chromosomes (but I could be wrong on that). I would like to try to cross sikkimensis with either yunnanensis or itinerans. Sometimes the hybrid is much better than the parents because they might be cold hardy for different reasons so the offspring might be even more so. Also, sometimes hybridization leads to sterility (like a mule) and therefore seedlessness. So, you could get a cold hardy seedless banana. Still, you need the pseudostem to survive or for the plant to produce in one season. I don't know if velutina would cross but that could give the one season. Basjoo would be great for the cold hardy pseudostem, but again I don't know of any crosses. If it were possible perhaps a velutina x basjoo would be the best with a cold hardy pseudostem and single season fruit.