siege2050

I have a small bunch of what I think are Orinoco (Hey its Oklahoma, I am lucky I got any fruit lol) That I pollinated with my Musa Velutina, that just happened to be blooming at the same time. The question is, the little skinny fruit on the top left are the ones I think I crossed the pollen with, there are some more to the right front that are hidden a little by the fatter fruit, and I made sure I pollinated a few off of each hand. Could a successful cross change the shape of the fruit, or is this something that is just normal? Also will removing the remaining male flowers speed up the ripening process?

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cincinnana

I do not know the answer however I am trying to come up with a name for your cross.

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Mark Dragt

I would think if you had seeds developing they would be in the fatter fruits. This is very interesting to me. If your cross works, can I cross my Orinoco with my Basjoo?

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Mark's Banana Forest Paradise

Kat2

Crossing fruits in the first generation will not alter the current crop.

ETA: Corn crosses are the exception.

chris_zx2

I didn't even know you could cross polinate. Musa's are self pollinating right?

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--Chris
So far:
Dwarf Cavendish -- Basjoo -- Bunch of Truly Tiny

Kat2

Edible bananas aren't pollinated; those boy flowers on a DC are just for show. Or a glimpse of a memory of what was...

But of course you can mix up different varieties as long as the seeded papa Musa isn't shooting blanks.

Edited to better explain. A mule (male) is sterile; a jenny (female) is not nor are most male equines (studs). Orincos are jennys; Velutinas are studs. With help they should be able to mix it up.

siege2050

I would think that the seeded fruit would be fatter, but I am not sure about that. I have read some about other plants being cross pollinated and the fruiting pods etc. appear a little different, or the seed size is different because it contains a different type of embryo. I am pretty sure the skinny ones are the fruit I pollinated, and I hope this thing hurries up and ripens before frost so I get to see. The self pollinating thing seems to be true because my velutina will form fruit, and I just harvested seeds a couple of days ago, but I imagine they are receptive to outside pollination. Thats the reason i was curious about the small fruits and wondered if that is a normal occurrence with bananas. I for sure got some pollen off the velutina, and you could see the powder on the pistil of the Orinoco flowers. I think a Velutina x Orinoco would be pretty interesting with the cold hardiness that both have. I ate some of the Velutina and tastes like a tart store bought banana, but very seeded.

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siege2050

I have another Velutina fixing to bloom in a few days so if not successful, I will try to figure out how to freeze the pollen to try again next year maybe if the timing is right, and I get another Orinoco bloom. Basjoo seeds dont seem to be viable as they are, makes me wonder if Basjoo is not already a hybrid. A lot of hybrids are more cold hardy to start with than their parents, bigger, and stronger due to hybrid vigor, etc. but I am not knowledgeable enough about the subject.

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Kat2

Fingers crossed they all ripen; I love botanical experiments.