Musa sikkimensis 'Darjelling Giant' "Amazing night banana"
 

This has been hands down the fastest Musa I have grown from seed. The ones pictured are from the 6 to the 7 month stage. It is also one of the darkest, and most waxy. If I could only grow 1 cold hardy type this one would most likely be it.

It's the dark waxy one in the middle. Seeds were form seedman.com.

Here's a shot from underneath. Check out the WAX! Wax in some plants protects it from tempature extremes like intense heat.

One night I went out with my headlamp on and the Dar Giant just seemed to glow with all it's wax! The other bananas didn't do that at all.


One white pic is with an LED light, and the other more yellow is with a regular flashlight.
I sold this plant, but have alot of seedlings, and if I have the means will definatly install some night time lights that shine upwards on the stems. Imagine a 20 foot tall clump of Dar giant lit up like that!

Re: Musa sikkimensis 'Darjelling Giant' "Amazing night banana"
 

Very nice shots, thank you for sharing.
I fell in love with the pics BigDog had of this guy. I have 1 seedling getting ready to put out its second leaf. I hope it will be able to take my winters, and next year I just may find that out ;)

Re: Musa sikkimensis 'Darjelling Giant' "Amazing night banana"
 

That night photo is great. I am hoping to branch out next year with more varieties of cold hardy bananas and I appreciate the suggestion.

:gif_esqui :gif_esqui

Re: Musa sikkimensis 'Darjelling Giant' "Amazing night banana"
 

:2711: Tropicallvr, that is way too kool !!!!!!!!!! I must get that variety in my front yard before I install some spot lights. The set only has 8 lights so only neat stuff can be a spot in the show.

Thank you for posting those pics. They are a real inspiration for people like me who like to drive around at night to see what plants get the attention.

Re: Musa sikkimensis 'Darjelling Giant' "Amazing night banana"
 

I guess I'm not alone in going out at night, and checking out bananas. Some plants seem to be alot cooler to look at at night for some reason.
I hope you get ahold of some Daj Giants!

Re: Musa sikkimensis 'Darjelling Giant' "Amazing night banana"
 

Where did you get the seeds? Thanks, Austin.

Re: Musa sikkimensis 'Darjelling Giant' "Amazing night banana"
 

The one in the pic was grown from seedman.com seeds. I have since got some more from bananatree.com, maybe there will be a difference, but to hard to tell right now, they are only 7 inches tall.

Re: Musa sikkimensis 'Darjelling Giant' "Amazing night banana"
 

Thanks, Tropicallvr.

Re: Musa sikkimensis 'Darjelling Giant' "Amazing night banana"
 

I've noticed my Ice Cream glows very white underneath at night with my florescent porch light on and my Goldfinger does too, though somewhat less. I'm not sure how an incandescent spot light would look on them though...:10:

Re: Musa sikkimensis 'Darjelling Giant' "Amazing night banana"
 

Yeah a couple of my lighter colored waxy Musas glowed also. They didn't seem to glow quite as vibrantly as my dark waxy one(M. daj giant). Just having that dark color underneath the wax really made it stand out. I'll bet there are a few others that would make same effect too. What about that new Musa black balbisiana.
The one form of Musa nagesium might also stand out.
True? Musa nagesium pics- http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~dr...siumimages.htm

Re: Musa sikkimensis 'Darjelling Giant' "Amazing night banana"
 

Tropicallvr, how dis you germinate the seeds? I got seeds from them and others and have ha no luck germinating banana seed.

Re: Musa sikkimensis 'Darjelling Giant' "Amazing night banana"
 

The one in the picture germinated on a heat mat set at about 7 hours on and 17 hours off in a room that got down to the mid 60's F. I had them in an uncovered tray mixed with 75% coco peat, and 25% perlite.
I also ordered 100 seeds from banana tree dot com, and placed them in a LARGE zip lock baggie (coco peat, perlite), and set them outside in a shady spot on my deck. About 25 germinated within a month. I don't use SMALL zip lock baggies anymore, and have had alot better success.
What methods are you using?

Re: Musa sikkimensis 'Darjelling Giant' "Amazing night banana"
 

:basketbalhooplnaner Thank you for the advice. I got two sikki pups off ebay last fall. One developed the red tiger coloration. I planted the pups in the ground this may and they grew like wildfire. really out paced basjoo planted at the same size. the red tiger stripes disappeared as it grew. They are now protected and hope they come back this spring. I got aton of inquiries from passersby. I am in zone six so heres hoping.