Musa basjoo
Dave Poole wrote:
> 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.
Hi Dave et al,
Thank you for your offer, but M. basjoo is common in this area and I already got
several clumps. It surprisingly grows very well in the foothills of the mighty
Pyrenees, in village with a nearly 'alpine' climate, we could say, subjected to
freeeeeezing winters.
I don't know if you all realize the VALUE of Musa basjoo seed. By all means try to
follow Dave's indications (good idea, Dave) as this seed should be precious to
finally enlarge the tiny gene pole we're playing with nowadays with this very
interesting banana species.
Have you ever seen Musa basjoo seeds being offered for sale?. I bet NOT!!!.
There is a venerable M. basjoo clump, very, very old, which sets seed when the city
gardeners left the fruits long enough to mature. All the trunks come from the very
same old clump, and cover a considerable area. I once harvested some of that seed
and made a very good profit selling it to a famous seed merchant. The seeds were
sold out very fast, at a horribly expensive price!!!
--
Jose
Basque Country, coastal Northern Spain, SW Europe
Z 9, humid oceanic climate
