Musa itinerans var. itinerans is having a good year!
 

This Musa is the most vigorous Musa in my yard, hands down. This sping, 3 pups came up in the yard, but none since. Please excuse the mess in the yard and the unmown lawn! Lots of rain this year has been great for banana growth.

Frontside:


Backside:


More pics.


The green leaves are there as mulch, and are from my Musa basjoo. I had to massacre it yesterday, since we are painting the house next week. Oh well...it will grow back!


The tallest pseudostem is fast-approaching 9 feet!

Re: Musa itinerans var. itinerans is having a good year!
 

I just love it. It has certainly enjoyed itself. I want one. Do you expect to see a flower possibly this year.

alex

Re: Musa itinerans var. itinerans is having a good year!
 

Great job, Frank! Impressive grove.

Re: Musa itinerans var. itinerans is having a good year!
 

These returned after the winter with no protection?
Nice mat too!

Re: Musa itinerans var. itinerans is having a good year!
 

I did protect three pseudostems with bags of leaves, but all of the other pseudostems were unprotected and returned also.

Alex, I hope it flowers soon!

Thanks, Austin.

Frank

Re: Musa itinerans var. itinerans is having a good year!
 

Very curious about how the flower would look!
Nice pictures!
Kind regards,
Remko.

Re: Musa itinerans var. itinerans is having a good year!
 

Pretty impressive Frank. Personaly I'm hoping a LOT more come up in your lawn.:ha:

Re: Musa itinerans var. itinerans is having a good year!
 

Eric from Orlando has pics of the flower in his gallery.

Here's what the entire mat (LOL) looked like almost exactly 2 years ago, July 17, 2007:



And later on in September 2007, after a very hot and dry August that took its toll (look at the brown patches on the leaves). This year has been perfect weather for it, with temps in the low-mid 80s for much of the summer, and no 90+ degree days yet in July.

Re: Musa itinerans var. itinerans is having a good year!
 

looking Good Big dog nice Bananas Keep up the good work!

Re: Musa itinerans var. itinerans is having a good year!
 

They look great, just like my banksii!!! :2239:

Re: Musa itinerans var. itinerans is having a good year!
 

Looking good!

Calossamusa- how's yours doing that I sent you?

Re: Musa itinerans var. itinerans is having a good year!
 

That is such a awesome plant, makes me want to get rid of my basjoo's

Re: Musa itinerans var. itinerans is having a good year!
 

OOops! I apologize for not finding this post earlier!

The Musa itinerans itinerans is doing well. I think it likes partial shade. I'm trying to get more information on soil conditions in its natural habitat. It is doing well but not growing like my more tropical varieties.

Thank you once again Bananaman88!!! :2239:

Re: Musa itinerans var. itinerans is having a good year!
 

But do the pups emerge really far from the motherplant? It still seems to form kind of a group there right?
Kind regards,
Remko.

Re: Musa itinerans var. itinerans is having a good year!
 

Remko, the first pup that came up emerged 4 feet away from the mother pseudostem. Since then, pups have emerged anywhere from 6 inches to 5 feet away from the parent. But yes, it still forms a nice mat! I did remove 3 pups from the yard early this summer.

Frank

Re: Musa itinerans var. itinerans is having a good year!
 

Have you heard of how "hardy" this species has been outside of 7A?
I know it's not a Zone 5 species but maybe a 6??? I may have to try it along my pool in 5b to try it out.....do you remember where you got your original plant?

Re: Musa itinerans var. itinerans is having a good year!
 

Its curious the stem of your itinerans seems to have no wax Franck...

Re: Musa itinerans var. itinerans is having a good year!
 

Musa itinerans var. itinerans has no wax on the leaves or pseudostem.

Being closely related to M. basjoo, it could indeed be hardy to zone 5, but only with some good mulch for protection. I don't think you would have a problem at all in zone 6, as long as you gave an inch or 2 of mulch for protection in the winter.

Frank

Re: Musa itinerans var. itinerans is having a good year!
 

...and 4 feet is far enough to make it itinerans I would say right?

Kind regards,
Remko.

Re: Musa itinerans var. itinerans is having a good year!
 

Thats a real impressive clump Frank,no mistake
If you ever get any more pups sneaking into your yard,I'd be willing to try one over here in the UK.
Can't source a proper intinerans for love nor money here,which is a shame as I'm sure they'd be hardy enough to survive.
My yunnan managed it last winter,but got cut back to the corm by the real cold spell we had.So a proper itinerans var itinerans would breeze it here I'm sure
I'd buy you beer for your troubles :nanadrink:

Steve

Re: Musa itinerans var. itinerans is having a good year!
 

Well, not really. The description of Musa itinerans by Cheesman and Hakkinen match this plant, which is why it is M. itinerans. There are other Musa species that send rhizomes out in the same fashion, but aren't M. itinerans (M. laterita, M. siamensis, M. insularimontana, M. formosana).

Steve, M. itinerans would have no problem at all in your climate, I'm sure! Thanks for the beer offer...just make sure to send it here really quickly, LOL. I'll have to see what the mat looks like next year.

Frank

Re: Musa itinerans var. itinerans is having a good year!
 

Cheers Frank! :nanadrink:

Re: Musa itinerans var. itinerans is having a good year!
 

Good afternoon Frank!

What were your average daytime highs, and nighttime low temperatures during the growing season?

Thanks! :2239:

Re: Musa itinerans var. itinerans is having a good year!
 

The prolonged cold in January damaged all of my other Musa, but not this one!! My Musa itinerans itinerans is also having a great year!



:2239:

Re: Musa itinerans var. itinerans is having a good year!
 

That's awesome, Ken! Sorry I didn't see your request earlier, but here are the monthly summaries from 2009 for the growing season.

April 2009:
TEMPERATURE (F)
HIGHEST 89 04/24
LOWEST 30 04/08
AVG. MAXIMUM 72.4
AVG. MINIMUM 47.8
MEAN 60.1
DAYS MAX >= 90 0
DAYS MAX <= 32 0
DAYS MIN <= 32 1
DAYS MIN <= 0 0

May 2009:
................................................
TEMPERATURE (F)
HIGHEST 90 05/31
LOWEST 45 05/19
AVG. MAXIMUM 78.5
AVG. MINIMUM 60.7
MEAN 69.6
DAYS MAX >= 90 1
DAYS MAX <= 32 0
DAYS MIN <= 32 0
DAYS MIN <= 0 0

June '09:
TEMPERATURE (F)
HIGHEST 98 06/28
06/21
LOWEST 57 06/06
AVG. MAXIMUM 90.7
AVG. MINIMUM 68.8
MEAN 79.7
DAYS MAX >= 90 18
DAYS MAX <= 32 0
DAYS MIN <= 32 0
DAYS MIN <= 0 0

July '09:
TEMPERATURE (F)
HIGHEST 94 07/26
07/25
LOWEST 59 07/20
AVG. MAXIMUM 88.3
AVG. MINIMUM 68.5
MEAN 78.4
DAYS MAX >= 90 10
DAYS MAX <= 32 0
DAYS MIN <= 32 0
DAYS MIN <= 0 0

Aug. '09:
TEMPERATURE (F)
HIGHEST 95 08/10
08/08
LOWEST 61 08/31
AVG. MAXIMUM 88.9
AVG. MINIMUM 69.3
MEAN 79.1
DAYS MAX >= 90 19
DAYS MAX <= 32 0
DAYS MIN <= 32 0
DAYS MIN <= 0 0

Sept. '09:
TEMPERATURE (F)
HIGHEST 88 09/25
LOWEST 50 09/29
AVG. MAXIMUM 80.5
AVG. MINIMUM 66.0
MEAN 73.3
DAYS MAX >= 90 0
DAYS MAX <= 32 0
DAYS MIN <= 32 0
DAYS MIN <= 0 0

Oct. '09:
TEMPERATURE (F)
HIGHEST 83 10/09
LOWEST 34 10/19
AVG. MAXIMUM 68.3
AVG. MINIMUM 50.9
MEAN 59.6
DAYS MAX >= 90 0
DAYS MAX <= 32 0
DAYS MIN <= 32 0
DAYS MIN <= 0 0

Nov. '09:
TEMPERATURE (F)
HIGHEST 74 11/08
LOWEST 31 11/28
AVG. MAXIMUM 63.8
AVG. MINIMUM 41.4
MEAN 52.6
DAYS MAX >= 90 0
DAYS MAX <= 32 0
DAYS MIN <= 32 1
DAYS MIN <= 0 0

Normally I wouldn't add November as part of our growing season here in Knoxville, but as you can see our first frost was on 11/28 last year! Hope this helps.

Frank

Re: Musa itinerans var. itinerans is having a good year!
 

Awesome! Thank you Bigdog!

Was there new growth out in April when the 30F was recorded, and did it effect the foliage?

My guess is that it did not.

Thank you for obtaining and growing this Goldmine of DNA, and data! :2239:

Re: Musa itinerans var. itinerans is having a good year!
 

After the hardest winter in terms of cold duration I have seen in Southwest Florida one cultivar really stands out. It is actually a musa species, Musa itinerans itinerans. Thanks to Bigdog and Bananaman88, I have been able to try my hand at this species and gain some valuable knowledge and insight!!!





Hopefully it will be a productive prodgenator!! Thanks Bananaman88 & Bigdog!!! :2239:

Re: Musa itinerans var. itinerans is having a good year!
 

Looks like it is doing well!

It is! If you notice the Banana mound in back of it in one of the pictures, and compare. The itinerans tolerated the freezing temperatures for hours. It was devastating to most of the other cultivars.

Thanks Brent! See PM. :2239:

:2200:This cultivar is a great teaching tool! I have observed many Extremes with this Musa. It has excellent cold hardiness, and It has the most strongly winged petiole of any Musa I've seen!





It loves winter and early spring weather in South Florida!!
:2239:

Re: Musa itinerans var. itinerans is having a good year!
 

Anyone want to trade a small pup for all my banana bucks ? :lurk:

Re: Musa itinerans var. itinerans is having a good year!
 

Good morning Blownz281,

See PM.

Good weather and good growing to you! :2239:

Re: Musa itinerans var. itinerans is having a good year!
 

Same too you! replied to your pm :2722:

Re: Musa itinerans var. itinerans is having a good year!
 

Old thread but I'm really curious how they look now @BigDog!

Re: Musa itinerans var. itinerans is having a good year!
 

Wow, it is so beautiful!

Re: Musa itinerans var. itinerans is having a good year!
 

Randy, I moved out of that house over a decade ago, and have been lugging the itinerans around with me in a pot ever since then, lol. It’s still alive, and I live in FL now, so it’s going back in the ground soon!

Re: Musa itinerans var. itinerans is having a good year!
 

hi bigdog!
thanks for replying
great to see you on here!

do you still have musa thomsonii?
any backstory or developments there?
i have a small plant started from seed and i have been comparing it to some of youre pictures
there are not many other pictures and info out there

thanks to youre threads i have been attempting to overwinter pstems dormant and hopefully i will get it dialed in and be successful at it soon

thanks again!

Re: Musa itinerans var. itinerans is having a good year!
 

I lost my thomsonii many years ago. I had it growing here in FL at my folks house (I was still living in TN) and it was severely neglected. I think Dad killed it with the lawnmower.

Re: Musa itinerans var. itinerans is having a good year!
 

thanks for the update
i guess it will remain a mystery until it flowers
here are a couple pics of my seed grown plant
i did mix up my seeds so the id of musa thomsonii is a guess at this point

as a side note, i have been watching a youtuber from gainesville who hunts for fossils and antique bottles in the area
keep an eye out for megalodon sharks teeth when you are driving the backroads!
especially where the rain has exposed the gravel (creeks are good too)

thanks again
its the one on the right... the last couple photos show how it grew out of the red underside to the leaf trait
it has the ear like lobes where the petiole meets the leaf blade

Re: Musa itinerans var. itinerans is having a good year!
 

Looks exactly like the one I grew as Musa thomsonii years ago. Beautiful plant!



I've seen people searching for shark's teeth in Hogtown Creek. You can find them there!

Re: Musa itinerans var. itinerans is having a good year!
 

Good post

Re: Musa itinerans var. itinerans is having a good year!
 

thanks!