Musa Rubinea.
 

Hello friends,
I have purchased this Summer a growing tuber of Musa Rubinea.
I have a modest collection of about 25 plants of various varieties but added Rubinea to my collection because the UK importers had obtained the corms from "Nature Products" in China and the plant looked spectacular and very deep red.
It cost ten times more than my previous most expensive plant but at the moment I find it somewhat dissapointing.
Its growth is slow even though it is in a large (12") pot, we have had a dry sunny Summer and it has been well fed and watered.
It is about 15" tall and shows no sign of ANY Redness in the leaves.
It looks more like Cavendish or Velutina.
Does anyone (Gabe) have any experience of this cultivar?
Am I just being impatient.?
Will try to send an image soon.
Thanks for your help.

Re: Musa Rubinea.
 

Gabe has it, and I got my start of it from him. In my experience, it is a very vigorous grower. It went from 3 stems in MAy to 9 stems at the present time. Gabe and I just had a discussion last night Re: rubinea. He can elaborate if he wants. I just know it is the best grower I have out of several species and varieties.

Zac

Re: Musa Rubinea.
 

Hi Bananaman and Zac,

If you get a chance, take a look at your Rubinea and see if it has a papery, looking piece of tissue that extends from the sides of the leaf petiole where it joins the pseudostem. Here is a picture of what I am trying to describe.



Richard

Re: Musa Rubinea.
 

Yeah mine has that. BTW, Gabe showed me the pic of the flower. Congrats on that.

Zac

Re: Musa Rubinea.
 

Thanks Zac. You mentioned the flower, here is the image.

Re: Musa Rubinea.
 

Richard- That is a great flower shot, although it was a shocker to me when Gabe showed me it last night. I was expecting red or orange, not pinky purple. Well, as Gabe said, it IS a vigorous grower and a nice looking plant, so I'll take it. Keep us updated on the flower as it continues to grow and develop. I will be interested in seing what the male bud looks like.

Zac

Re: Musa Rubinea.
 

I wish I hadn't killed mine :( . I would like to try it again.

Gee, I'm with you, Zac. I thought the flower would have been much more red! From the picture on the Nature Products website, it looks solid red:


Growing conditions, soil, or something else to blame there? What was your source, Richard? Did you pollinate it, and if so, with what?

By the way, is it just me, or is Nature Products very proud of their plants? Have you seen the price for a .5 kg (just over a pound) corm of musa rubinea??? 130 euros! That amounts to about $167 US!!!! :gifs_rojo

Re: Musa Rubinea.
 

Zac & Frank- I am very sure the bloom in the picture is actually a M. Mannii. (The plant was supposed to be M. Rubinea.) I have pollinated it using several different pollen sources on the various hands but it is too early to say how many of them took. I'll keep you posted.

I really like the contrast between the yellow/green of the fruit and the pink/purple of the stem on the plant.

Richard

Re: Musa Rubinea.
 

Hello again,
Thank you for that interesting note about those "papery things" on the stems.
Checked last night and they are there , indeed very pronounced.
So thats a relief ....
At least it looks like I have got the real thing.
Noted how much the tubers are likely to cost you guys over the pond.
Looks like my £40 ($26 ) was not so bad after all !!
Still dissapointed in it although as a tuber it might take a season to get going.
I was more interested in the reddish leaves than the bloom.
One day I will learn how to post pictures and let you see my collection.
I am particularly proud of a Basjoo as tall as my house....
Happy growing and thanks again for your expert help as always.

Re: Musa Rubinea.
 

Bananaman- Would you mind telling us where you got your plant?

Re: Musa Rubinea.
 

Richard, that makes sense. Looks like a very healthy mannii though, if that's any consolation :08: ! Good luck on getting some seeds. Beautiful picture, too.

Bananaman, I'm pretty sure that the leaves of m. rubinea are green, with red in the pseudostem and petioles. Here's another picture from Nature Products website, m. rubinea in the foreground:

Re: Musa Rubinea.
 

Yeah that was definitely a deal. Could we see pics of yours?

Zac

Re: Musa Rubinea.
 

I made contact with a UK importer of Musa Rubinea via the "Nature Products " website.
Their agents in UK are called "Orchid supplies / Worldwide Exotics"
They can be contacted at www.info@orchidsupplies.co.uk.
I found them to be a good supplier and the plant was sent promptly and well packed in a large enough pot to keep the plant going all this Summer.
I will be studying how to post a picture over the next few days (I know its easy but I am not a young man !!!).
If you need any more help then I will be more than pleased....its nice for me to help you guys rather than the other way round as is usually the case.
Best regards and thank you for your enthusiasm.
Sidney Parker.

Re: Musa Rubinea.
 

Bananaman, I wish I'd run into you when I was trading dollars for pounds last May. Check your rate of exchange. It still looks like a good deal, however.

Re: Musa Rubinea.
 

OOPS,
See what you mean regarding my maths....
Current exchange rate = $1.82 per £ which makes $72.80.
This is why you are rich and I am but a poor Englishman.!!!
Maybe I can use some of these strong pounds to obtain an AE AE.
(My lifelong ambition!!)
Thanks for your note ,
Best regards.

Re: Musa Rubinea.
 

One interesting thing about the bloom in the picture. There are no male flowers. After the female flowers opened, the rest of the bracts are empty.

First time I've seen this in an ornamental.

Re: Musa Rubinea.
 

Well, that is weird. The plot thickens....

Zac

Re: Musa Rubinea.
 

Below are a few pictures of the bloom that show the absence of the male flowers.

I have never seen this before this early in the bloom.

Re: Musa Rubinea.
 

Well that is interesting. I do recognize the leaves on that plant. I wonder of they all look like that, or if it is just the clone Gabe has. I know my plant came from him. Thanks GABE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It quickly climbed my ladder of favorite bananas. It is just that vigorous. I think mine is between 1/3 and 1/2 grown. I have about 16 inches of pseudostem. How much does yours have? Just trying to gauge how big they are when they reach blooming size.

Zac

Re: Musa Rubinea.
 

That is strange. Maybe the male flowers are further on up the inflorescence? Maybe those were supposed to be more female flowers and were aborted very early? Just conjecturing here. Let us know if you do indeed find any male flowers!

Re: Musa Rubinea.
 

Regarding the papery petiole wings, its common on a few bananas, including M. mannii, neither of these species are distinguishable by foliage alone. I have 2 different plants, I think I know which one most of the plants I sent out came from, it will be interesting to see when they flower and compare them together.

Re: Musa Rubinea.
 

Zac-Mine is in a 7 gallon squat container and has about 10 pups in the pot. (I do not thin them very often in containers and it is pretty crowded in there.) It is 37 inches from the top of the soilless mix to the bottom of the inflorescence and the pseudostem is about 1.75 inches in diameter at ground level. I got my plant about a year ago and it spent the winter in the greenhouse under poly which tends to make them stretch a good bit in height when compared to being grown in full sun year round.

Bigdog-It certainly is possible that the male flowers will show up later in the bud but judging from the diameter of the inflorescence, I don't think there is too much under the remaining bracts. Although, it could be hiding them well.

Gabe- Which other bananas have you seen with these petiole wings. (BTW, I like that terminology much better than my original description.)

Re: Musa Rubinea.
 

Mine is in a 3 gallon container and I have it in partial sun most of the day. I have it in a pot so I can bring it in if hail threatens. Thanks for that information

To Gabe: you know what I meant. Gah, you young whippersnapper. JK, Peace out though. :ha:

Zac

Re: Musa Rubinea.
 

Richard- Did the rubinea ever produce male flowers? Just curious.

Zac

Re: Musa Rubinea.
 

I have just bought 3 pots of Rubinea from mick (the uk supplier ) he is selling them at £10 per pot and each pot has several stems. We have just had very high winds in the uk and they have ripped his polytunnels to bits and there is a band of cold weather coming in so he has reduced the price to try and sell them quickly before they get turned to mush. They have all been cut back but they are showing signs of life. I think they are a bargin:2704: