Musa siamensis
 

hye folks, i'm new to this forum and have been growing banas for a couple years now in tropical singapore, when it is summer all year long.

well recently, i've gotenthsi banana, identified as Musa siamensis, from thailand and its been growing to about a foot tall and [producing many suckers, but its not getting much taller... the 'internodal spaces' seem to be all concentrated at a point... and all the plants, including the mother, seems to be synchronised to grow at the same height, they are only 1-2' tall.

i've been feeding my plants a whole lot of bonemeal... any hypothesis on its behavior?

well anyway, here's a pic of a newly planted one at the Singapore Botanic Garden. it is indeed very pretty.


at my place, they are at the bottom right hand corner next to the billbergias...

Re: Musa siamensis
 

Wow...thank you for the pictures! Please send us many more pictures of bananas from there, ornamental and otherwise. I love to see what bananas people are growing on the other side of the world.

Hmm... maybe your plants are getting shaded out by those amazing licualas and billbergias, and that spectacular tropical setting there. I don't know enough about the species to comment, other than to say that it is supposed to reach 6'-9' tall. Beautiful plant too!

Ryan - More Pictures Please! :04:

Re: Musa siamensis
 

As bigdog said, would love to see more pictures from your location!

Re: Musa siamensis
 

the musa siamensis is relatively new here. only abt 2 or 3 people have it here and we're all trying to get ours to flower. it seems to pup prolifically :) will get a better shot of mine in the garden. i guess i will arrange an order of whatever u guys need at the end of the year and send everythg out since there's so much response! i'm currently preparing for my exams :(

Re: Musa siamensis
 

btw. could a mod. move this thread to main discussion and not identification, thanks :)

Re: Musa siamensis
 

Hi Ryan,

Moved!

:03:

Re: Musa siamensis
 

I acquired an 18" Siamensis in late March or early April from Stokes Tropicals. I am close enough to drive there.

This banana is already blooming and has put out 7 pups. I uploaded a picture in my Gallery this morning.

Steve

Re: Musa siamensis
 

Wow. I love that bed though. With the Plumerias and the Licualas, you have grabbed me. I was a palm nut first, and the bananas came later. Please share more pics of your area. It looks beautiful.

Zac

Re: Musa siamensis
 

hey steve,

love your pic of siamensis. grew mine from a rhizome so its still pretty slow. thanks for giving me the motivation to wait!!!!
btw, the sumatrana cross looks very promising... we dont have that one here in singapore, but the sumatrana is everywhere and really easy to grow here.... along with ornata. velutina is a littlemore tricky (although it is still common here) as it leaves tend to burn more easily under the hot tropical sun. any experiences with that hybrid (think u have to start another thread)

will see what other pictures i can dig up. its so intersting to see what of tropicals are growing on the other side of the world. :)

Re: Musa siamensis
 

Zac and Ryan,

Thanks for the compliments.

Zac, I'll try to upload more pictures. Have more heliconia and plumeria pictures along with some gingers. I've got Zingiber Neglectum Jewel Pagoda blooming now but it's not in its red color phase which is much more dynamic than the green phase.

Ryan, the Siamensis was planted in my new front bed. I had to remove all of the plants from the front of the house as Hurricane Rita tore everything up. I installed automatic sprinklers in the beds and have been watering the hell out of the plants. The Siamensis likes that a lot. Have not fertilized once.

Steve

Re: Musa siamensis
 

Here is Musa siamensis currently flowering at Leu Gardens. The clump is about 5ft tall and is 2 years old from seed;

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/leu451...e2.jpg&.src=ph

Re: Musa siamensis
 

wow eric. that's a lovely picture.

i've been compaining that my siamensis only produces kids but not flowers :( let's just say that my friends will be very lucky!

i've recently taken out the babies which appear on elongated rhizomes quite far away from the mother plants... kind of reminds me of Heliconia psittacorum.

Re: Musa siamensis
 

Same thing as Musa laterita, the pups emerge far away from the plant.

Carlos

Re: Musa siamensis
 

Hi Ryan, you seem to know lots about bananas. Where can i find out more about the species you mention? And where in Singapore can i get some to grow? Do any of them produce viable seeds?