Re: Bananas and Gingers
Jose wrote:
>I don't know if this question was posted, sorry... Did you notice if the
>fruits contained seeds or not?. I think it would be most interesting to
>raising Musa basjoo from seed. I'm afraid we're all playing with much the same
>clones...
Jose, the main problem is that most folks' plants are derived from the
same source and as such, tend to flower at the same time. Basjoo
produces nearly all of its male flowers first in order to prevent self
pollination. What is needed is several plants from different sources,
with some flowering earlier than others so that pollen can be
transferred over. The form I grow comes from the very old colony at
Overbecks and I tends to be a regular early flowerer. From what I've
seen, a lot of the micro-propped plants which are available throughout
much of Europe appear to be later flowerers so in theory I could I
could get my plant to set viable seed if I was prepared to give over
yet more space to basjoo. As it is, I'd rather use the room for
velutina and the ornamental ensetes. If you want to try, I could lift
a piece of my basjoo for you next spring. There are several 'pups'
coming on which are probably too large to send, but I did notice a
couple of smaller ones poking through the other day.
Dave Poole
TORQUAY UK
http://www.ilsham.demon.co.uk/gardenviews.html
