Probably a stupid question but.....
 

I know its probably a stupid question, but how come you never see Musa Basjoo seeds available? I always read how the fruit is " inedible and chalk full of seeds".

Re: Probably a stupid question but.....
 

The main reason is because it is such a popular plant that it is easily available as tissue cultured plants. It is not so easy to produce seeds of it in the US, as it would have to be grown in the right climate and managed just for seeds, which is a lot of work for a rather low value product. Other species such as M. velutina are easy to grow seed and very prolific, still yet other species are collected from the wild. I suppose also there is no one in the banana seed collecting business in the native ranges of M. basjoo.

If you grow one, most often they actually do not have seeds the fruit, and the fruit never develops at all. This is rather normal for wild species in cultivation as they just don't get pollinated, but also there may be an issue with the common M. basjoo clone being a sterile plant as well.

Re: Probably a stupid question but.....
 

THanks Gabe

Thats something else that I have read. It is rare for it to flower in the States, just due to the places where they are growing. Not enough heat, warmth etc.

I guess theres no point in starting from seed. IT is popular, and is picking up in popularity in Canada as well. It could be that there are very little native popultions left, due to people taking them. And if the seeds are as hard to come by as you say, then this makes even more sence.

For some reason i never thought they TC Musa Basjoo. Then again, the demand is so high, dividing clumps just wont cut it.

I wasnt expecting fruit here at all, and Ill be VERY lucky to even get a flower here.

Thanks again gabe

Re: Probably a stupid question but.....
 

Canadian

If it is a sincere, honest question, part of a real quest for knowledge, then it is not a stupid question. Asking such questions enriches everyone. All of us started with little or knowledge, and most of what we now have came through hard won experience, or by acquiring someone else's hard won knowledge and experience through questions and reading.

Keep asking.

Re: Probably a stupid question but.....
 

I think its a really good question! Which does bring up the question as to why musa velutina seeds are so available. My guess is that its because the demand isnt as high and they are suppose to be very easy to germinate.
Musa basjoos seem to fruit pretty well in the right climate. Ive seen some pics of people getting them to flower (And even fruit) in the ground in a zone 7 and 8 without digging them up and as long as you have a nice and hot growing season, you can probably get them to fruit or at least flower by digging them up every fall. I hope to see fruit from mine one day, but they are only about 4 feet tall right now.

Re: Probably a stupid question but.....
 

Pit - I definelty agree with what you say. I like to think I know something, when in reality we all know almsot nothing to some degree. Its funny to, becasue i NEVER call a question stupid, and 90% of the time, its ME making the same comment you did to me LOL. I appreciate it :D

I think Gabe hit the nail on the head. Most Musa Basjoo we have are Tissue Cultured. And if i remember correctly, its rare to get a banana to reproduce by seed that is TC ( some plants arent as finicky with it, like bamboo apperanlty will flower when its a TC specimin). While most other banana species in question grown and sold are grown from wild collected seed. ( rarepalmseed.com for example)

After thinking about it, its almsot like the common banana we eat. Much easier to reproduce by TC, then from seed ( because they dont have any).

I wasnt to sure how well theyd survive here ( its a real challenge here im assuming). The Basjooi aquired last year, were small TC plugs, no more then 5 leaves tall. I dug one up, potted it, and its been in a south facing window all winter. ITs doubled in size over the winter, ITs almsto 2 feet tall now, not including the new leaf ( almsot 3 or 4 feet if you include the growing leaves !!!!!) Im tempted to bring it in every winter seeing how well it did. As well, I might be able to get it to flower ( weas an afterthought of it surviving the winter LOL)

Thanks again for the info guys.

Re: Probably a stupid question but.....
 

From my understanding, timing of blooms has alot to do with seed availability. When a basjoo flowers, you have incomplete female blossoms, and after the last hand appears the flower produce incomplete male flowers. For example if you had one basjoo starting to bloom and another that has already bloomed but is now only producing male flowers you could take the pollen from the latter and dab it on the pistols of the former and then get seeds. Velutina produces complete flowers from the get go and in turn the fruits are very seedy.

Re: Probably a stupid question but.....
 

AAAAhhhhhhh that makes ALOT of sence.

So is Basjoo the only Banana that has incomplete flowers? Are you saying you need MULTIPLE Basjoo to fertilize?

Re: Probably a stupid question but.....
 

Jeff is right about M. basjoo needing hand or natural pollination whereas M. velutina self pollinates. To address the other question above (why M. velutina seed is easily available), is partly due to it being self pollinating, so every time the plant flowers it always produces seed, but also because the plant is very small and quick growing. It may take as little as 4 months for the plant to flower from seed, and it is typically only 2-4ft tall and so it can even be grown for seed production in containers or greenhouses relatively easily.

Re: Probably a stupid question but.....
 

The typical arrangement of flowers on a wild banana is female basal flowers followed by male distal flowers, which do not overlap temporally so as to promote outcrossing. With this arrangement in cultivation, you can sometimes hand pollinate the last hand of female flowers with the first hand of male flowers, but the other female flowers will have been inactive by then, and so it have the entire bunch be pollinated, you would need a different plant in the male the stage for the entire duration of the other plants female stage in order to collect pollen and do hand pollination.

However, there are quite a few species and varieties of species which have hermaphroditic/perfect/complete/bisexual (all referring so the same thing basically) basal flowers which routinely self-pollinate.

Re: Probably a stupid question but.....
 

Every day, believe it or not, I do learn something! Today you made it easy, Thanks!

Re: Probably a stupid question but.....
 

We all stand on the shoulders of giants!

Re: Probably a stupid question but.....
 

Well, now it makes sence why we get TC or divisions or BAsjoo. Thanks again gabe.

As for outcrossing. Ill use Basjoo as an example again. Does this mean that they are waiting for another species of bananas pollen? Would this not create some hybrids?

Re: Probably a stupid question but.....
 

Outcrossing/outbreeding just means it is trying to make seed with another individual of the same species. It is the opposite of inbreeding, where a plant fertilizes itself. It could be with a different species, but the assumption is that it is with a different individual plant of the same species.