Variegated Dwarf 'namwah Pearl'
 

anyone have any experience with these? i just ordered one from ebay

They're supposed to be as cold hardy as regular dwarf namwah, which can fruit in our zone. I might be getting these. costs $13.95 + SH of $5.75, not bad.

I bought a fishtail palm (caryota mitis) from the same seller in the past.

Anyway, I just ordered one also.
Really looking forward to the new addition.

as soon as it arrives and I get it in the ground i'll take some pics

Cool, we'll create a family portrait.

Waiting for mine as well. Mine will go in a pot when it arrives.

Alkaline soil?
 

Since Ae Ae can turn all white when give alkaline soil, maybe pearl will get more white if given alkaline soil.
Just a thought.

Dwarf Namwah Pearl
 

I bought two of these from the same seller. Got them about a week ago. Well packed, no damage in transit. The variegation is VERY light, more creamy yellow than white and very subtle. They are doing great and growing - new leaves on both already. Planning on putting them in the greenhouse so they can grow all year. Will post pics shortly.

Mine arrived today. It also was packaged well, came quickly and is in good shape. I will have photos in my gallery.

Tropicallvr said that Ae-Ae turn all white when given alkaline soil.

I'm curious - has anyone ever SEEN this happen or read that it really does?
I'm of the opinion that the white is a sport just like the varigated is of it's mother plant. I have had 14 pups from one Ae-Ae corm and 3 have come up all creamy white. Really wild looking. I let one get about a foot tall and severed it from the corm but otherwise left it alone. It immediately stopped growing and looks like it is dying. The others whites are all still growing fine. All the varigated pups keep right on growing when severed. I have also NEVER gotten an all green pup.

I have heard several people say they will turn all white but I wonder if this is true. Sure wish I could get one to stay alive by itself.

Curious minds want to know - Terry

Re: Variegated Dwarf 'namwah Pearl'
 

In the pic below, at left is variegated Namwah, at right is Ae-ae. This is a picture posted by Eggo over at gw forum.

Re: Variegated Dwarf 'namwah Pearl'
 

If you read it again, that is Eggos own non dwarf varigated namwah that he has had for a while. I don't think the pearl will be as nice.

Re: Variegated Dwarf 'namwah Pearl'
 

If you read it again, carefully this time, what I meant is that the picture was posted or linked by Eggo.

In the picture is a side by side comparison of a bigger (compared to the arlier pictures in pots) nice looking variegated Namwah on the left side and Ae-ae on the right. The picture of the Ae-ae do not belong to Eggo as he indicated that he got it from somewhere.

I don't care whose plants are in the side by side comparison. What I care is that variegated Namwah is truly beautiful, at par with Ae-ae for my eyes, only with thin pencil white streak as in the picture of the variegated banana on the left. This all depends upon the assumption that Eggo's picture and statements are true.

I have read carefully that particular post of Eggo that contained the picture of both variegated Namwah and Ae-ae.

Re: Variegated Dwarf 'namwah Pearl'
 

He also said that it was NOT a pearl but was a variegated Namwah

Re: Variegated Dwarf 'namwah Pearl'
 

Then I want to have that variegated namwah, i hope it is dwarf and variegation stable.

Apologies to all for the confusion.

Re: Variegated Dwarf 'namwah Pearl'
 

Yeah, me too, lol. I posted pictures of my namwah pearl that I recieved in the mail today in my album. Don't know how to get it on the boards.

Re: Variegated Dwarf 'namwah Pearl'
 

To post a photo from your gallery, visit the page with the photo, and underneath it, you will see a box like this:


Place your cursor in this box, right click and select "copy"
now you have the code perfectly formatted to post in your thread
Just visit the posting page where you want to post your message,
place your cursor in the wysiwyg (what you see is what you get) editor (the window where you type your message), and either click Edit -> paste
or hold the Ctrl key while mashing the letter V (Ctrl+V) to paste your image code.
Now click the preview button.
You should see your image appear in the preview. Now, if you are happy, click to post your message, or click to keep editing and previewing before you post everything the way you like it.


_______________________________________________________
Previous version of this message, (still applies, mainly for other sites where you may find images, but we since added this box we talk about above to make it even easier if your posting images hosted here at bananas.org):

To post a photo, you must get the url to the image on your clipboard. To do that, right click the photo, select 'properties' - then in the box that appears, you will see the direct link (location) of the image. Double click that link to select all, or drag your mouse across it to highlight it, then copy that link to your clipboard with a Ctrl+C or another right click and select 'copy'. Come back here and type out your post, then click the little icon that looks like a mountain range with a sunset. Thats the tool to help post images. It will prompt you for the address of the image, it's already copied to your clipboard. So Ctrl+V to paste it in there (or right click and select 'paste') and presto, your image is ready to post. Preview your entire post to make sure it formatted everything properly before you click submit.

An easier way is to paste the URL to the image and surround it with [ img ] (means open image) and [ / img ] (means close image), like this:
[ img ] http: // www. path-to-your-image.com/image.php?image.gif [ / img ]
(but remove the spaces, I had to use spaces so that it wouldn't parse the example)

Hope this helps!

Re: Variegated Dwarf 'namwah Pearl'
 

he has 3 more up on ebay 1 buy it now and 2 on bid..


sg

Re: Variegated Dwarf 'namwah Pearl'
 

I just bought the buy it now. (I couldn't help myself! :))

Re: Variegated Dwarf 'namwah Pearl'
 

Therese! Congrats!

Re: Variegated Dwarf 'namwah Pearl'
 

Shame on you Theresa, you are out of control. HA HA
So far I have resisted the urge.

Sent you an e-mail.

Terry

Re: Variegated Dwarf 'namwah Pearl'
 

Hey everybody, be careful with those things - they are pretty sensitive to too much light!

I came home the other day and found my wife had "helpfully" put mine where they got at least 4 hours of direct morning sun! Both of them have some burning. Jeez! I hope they don't stay quite so delicate. I do eventually plan to put them in one of the big mats outside.

Re: Variegated Dwarf 'namwah Pearl'
 

Getting burnt leaf should not be a big deal for bananas. They quickly recover and during the very active growth in the warm season, those leaves will be history. Even if all banana leaves get burnt, you should not worry as the newer leaves emerge, they get acclimatized to the new area you moved them. You can also simply chop off the top part of the trunk, and this way all your new leaves will be acclimatized. The area of the pseudostem is more than enough for bananas to photosynthesize food for maintenance and helping in the growing of leaves. The pseudostems and the corm have also a lot of stored food and nutrients to easily replace leaves. Remember that most of banana's native habitat in the tropics are prone to typhoons, hurricanes, and they have evolved to quickly recover from these very frequent natural disasters.

Re: Variegated Dwarf 'namwah Pearl'
 

Keep inmind that this plant has way less chlorophyll then any other banana so it will not be able to absorb as much light, so I would think it would do best in mostly shade anyway.

Re: Variegated Dwarf 'namwah Pearl'
 

Ok, trying to see if I can post my picture.

Re: Variegated Dwarf 'namwah Pearl'
 

Bananas have really a big leaf area index compared to some plants. Even the sheaths underneath the pseudostem are photosynthesizing up to several layers deep. So variegation should not slow down its productivity. I have variegated citruses and bougainvilleas. They are exposed to the scorching sun without burns. White or yellow color doesn't mean there's no cholorphyll, they still have some active chloroplasts even if the color is near white. I have yet to see burnt leaf on my established variegated plants.

I have to admit though, all of my variegated citruses tastes bland and have fewer juices on them compared to their non-variegated counterparts.

Re: Variegated Dwarf 'namwah Pearl'
 

Ive seen the white sections of Ae Ae (pure leucoplasts, no light absorbtion) burn like a match in full sun, this new one will need some adjusting to full sun and I gaurentee it will not grow as fast as other bananas, because even though it has lots of chlorophyll and chromophyll still, it does not have nearly as much as green bananas which can throw out leaves every 4 days or better, this plant wount be able to keep up with the big guys. It will still grow and produce but at a slower rate for sure.

Re: Variegated Dwarf 'namwah Pearl'
 

Gabe,

I'm not disputing what you have observed about Ae-ae, it is interesting to note that is the case with your ae-ae's, and me not growing one. I just don't want to generalize that this is true for all variegated (white or yellow) plants, as I have grown side by side on the same tree, variegated and non-variegated counterparts and have not found any problems yet. I always respect anybody's observations in here, knowing that we have multitudes of other factors that could interact in the way we grow our plants, so what results we may have obtained could be different than others. It is however very good to know how each of our observations go, along with other factors that could come into play. I have my full respect for you and everyone else, novice or veteran, so please don't get offended even in the slightest way if sometimes I will have to disagree with some of our findings, observations, or speculations. That's what forums are for, and I promise to be more civilized here compared to the superthrive citrus forum thread at garden web. Just remind me when I go out of line. Feel free to disagree with what I sometimes say, my memories could be faulty and my comprehension shorthanded. Science is not etched in stone either, and as far as banana growing in the US, it is really more of an art than a scientific technology, we are in its infancy, faced with entirely different problems than in the tropics.

We call Manila hemp as abaca. It has tons of uses, from strong ropes, to clothes, to papers, to envelopes, to file folders.

Joe

Re: Variegated Dwarf 'namwah Pearl'
 

Im not offended at all, Im just stating what I have observed, sorry if it came off a little defensive, that was not intended. The same banana cutivar or species will react and grow very differently depending on what climate you are growing it in. I know that there are other variegated plants that grow just as well as there green counterparts, but in the case of bananas in specific, I have not seen this.

Re: Variegated Dwarf 'namwah Pearl'
 

I think it will be very interesting for us to see how we grow our Namwah "Pearls". Right now I have mine in the greenhouse with the other new plants. The greenhouse is fairly shaded right now and so far I have nothing to report on it. I watered it once when it got here and that is it. I will tell you all when it starts growing or if it burns etc. I have a picture I will load of it by my new dwarf orinoco.

Re: Variegated Dwarf 'namwah Pearl'
 

Here is my dwarf namwah pearl and my dwarf orininoco just for comparison on color.

mph]http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=85&size=1[mphl]

Re: Variegated Dwarf 'namwah Pearl'
 

Ok that didnt' work like I wanted. Try try again.

mph]http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=85&size=1[mphl]

Re: Variegated Dwarf 'namwah Pearl'
 

am still waiting on mine :(

Re: Variegated Dwarf 'namwah Pearl'
 

Ok, that should have worked but didn't seem to. One more time or you can look in the gallery, lol.

[mph]http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=85&size=1[mphl]

Re: Variegated Dwarf 'namwah Pearl'
 

I give up! Sean it will be there soon. Mine came fairly quickly!

Re: Variegated Dwarf 'namwah Pearl'
 

should be [ img ] , where did this [ mphl ] come from?
here, let me try

Re: Variegated Dwarf 'namwah Pearl'
 

here's my pearl,

did you notice that fruit is variegated too??
6-7' perfect for my 13' center height gh, to fruit..

Re: Variegated Dwarf 'namwah Pearl'
 

Bought one of these too.Will add it up to my gallery soon:cool:
tropicalkid

Re: Variegated Dwarf 'namwah Pearl'
 

I just bought one too! I'll try adjusting the ph and see what happens.

Re: Variegated Dwarf 'namwah Pearl'
 

Just got mine an hour ago. It is sitting on my desk, I have them ship it to my office.

Don't massacre me for what I have to say folks. Honestly, it looks really pale green, looks more like a canna than a banana. And if it were a banana, it looked like inflicted with bacterial or viral leaf streak, or suffering from nutrient deficiency. :D :D :D

Here's hoping that it will change as it grows bigger. I am going to separate a pup from my regular Dwarf Namwah and will plant them side by side this weekend.

Re: Variegated Dwarf 'namwah Pearl'
 

I dont know if some of you guys realize this, but 'Dwarf Namwah Pearl' is not supposed to be variegated like 'Ae Ae', its just supposed to be lighter with some minimal variegation, not huge bands of dark green and white like 'Ae Ae'.

Re: Variegated Dwarf 'namwah Pearl'
 

Shall we sue the seller then? It has fine cream colored variegation according to its description.

Here's the exact (my typos forgive) wording from the enclosed document that came along with my plant:

DWARF NAMWAH PEARL

THIS IS A TOTALLY DIFFERENT BANANA. -PALE GREEN WITH FINE CREAM COLORED VARIEGATION, A REAL SHOW STOPPER.......

Re: Variegated Dwarf 'namwah Pearl'
 

Well, the fact is that the picture I have is the original plant that all of these TC's came from, so thats what its going to look like. It's nice, but as we say "It ain't no Ae Ae" : )

Re: Variegated Dwarf 'namwah Pearl'
 

I didn't expect mine to look anything like Ae Ae. I just like it because it is different but then again each type of banana I have I like because it is different, lol.

Re: Variegated Dwarf 'namwah Pearl'
 

So where's the picture of the original? Will truly appreciate something we can salivate over ;)

Re: Variegated Dwarf 'namwah Pearl'
 

California Gold is quite different in it's own way as well.
Mike

Re: Variegated Dwarf 'namwah Pearl'
 

think it might be this

Re: Variegated Dwarf 'namwah Pearl'
 

ooops!, sorry, i just had it as a link. I found that picture on the Agri-Starts website about a year ago. I emailed them to ask if they had any available or if they were able to TC it. They told me that was ther eonly one and they weree working on trying to TC it, so now, a year later, apperently they cracked the code!

Re: Variegated Dwarf 'namwah Pearl'
 

OK, wayyyyyy back in this thread was a side by side pic of a variegated something next to an Ae-Ae. I now gather that the other plant was a variegated Namwah (not Dwarf) but NOT the variegated Dwarf Namwah "Pearl". Am I right? So where did the one that looks almost like Ae-Ae come from, who has it and is it available? Just trying to get this straight in my mind.
The above pic of Pearl is really a neat looking plant although totally different from the other 2.

Terry

Re: Variegated Dwarf 'namwah Pearl'
 

The other one is a variegated 'Namwah' like 'Ae Ae', its origin is a random mutation, not from TC like the 'Namwah Pearl'. A guy called Eggo over on GW has that plant, it is completly different from 'Dwarf Namwah Pearl', I thinks thats where the confusion was at.