Musa sp. (Helen's Hybrid)

Musa sp. (Helen's Hybrid)
Helen's Banana

An interesting new discovery from the foothills of the eastern Himalayas in the Darjeeling district, home to so many fabulous plants. This beautiful banana seems to be a hybrid between Musa sikkimensis and Musa "Chini-Champa", a cultivar with very sweet and tasty fruits, popular in this area of India. While Musa "Chini-Champa" seems to bring some of the fruit quality and color, namely the red leaf-midribs, reddish leaf undersides, waxy white leafstalks and reddish stems into this marriage, Musa sikkimensis must be responsible for the cold-hardiness that enables it to grow here between 1400 and 1700 m (4700 and 5500 ft.). The fruits of course do have seeds, but otherwise their quality is quite agreeable, perhaps as close as one can get to a cold tolerant edible banana.

germination comments by our visitors
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Also see plant cultivation comments below.

Seeds from this species ...

... are easy to germinate and need up to 3 months to sprout.
I found these quite easy by soaking for 4 days in warm water and then planted in potting compost in a sealable container placed in the airing cupboard with temps around 30-35°c. About 75% have germinated.
Submitted on 22/08/2006 by jon jonkelf@lycos.co.uk

... are easy to germinate and need up to 3 months to sprout.
I got 1000 seeds last winter and didn't plant them til late spring. Used seed starter mix in 170 cell seed flats in an unheated greenhouse. About half are up with more poking up all the time. Beautiful seedlings!
Submitted on 31/07/2006 by William Read weread@mac.com

... are very easy to germinate and need up to 1 month to sprout.
These seeds are the easiest banana-seeds i have sprouted so far.First I soaked the seeds for 2 days.I used a plastic container with a lid. Used 1 part potting soil and 1 part medium grained sand as medium. Planted the seeds about 1 cm deep, and put the lid on to prevent it from drying out.The container was placed on a reptile heat-mat, which caused fluctuating temperatures. 10 hours of 25-32 degrees C and 14 hours of 15-18 degrees C.I went on vacation for 2 weeks, and now most are sprouting!
Submitted on 10/02/2006 by Erlend Sorli sorlifish@hotmail.com


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plant cultivation comments by our visitors
Also see germination commnets above.

Plants from this species ...

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	• • • Write a plant cultivation comment and enter to win Euro (€) 50 worth of seeds • • • Please note: These comments are on how to cultivate the PLANTS once the seeds have germinated.

If you wish to read more on palm cultivation, we highly recommend Ornamental Palm Horticulture by Timothy K. Broschat and Alan W. Meerow, available in our bookshop.

Ratings and comments reflect individual experiences and the views of our visitors. They do not necessarily describe the most appropriate methods, nor are they necessarily valid for all seeds or plants of this species. Germination and plant cultivation success depends on many different factors; nevertheless, these experiences will hopefully aid you in your effort to get the best germination results from our seeds and the best growth results from your plants.

We recommend:

Martius, Book of Palms
by H. Walter Lack

Hardcover - 450 pages
19.8 x 13.5 inches!
11.1 pounds!
50 x 34 cm, 5 kg

Our Rating:

Suitable for: all

Martius's magnificent work on the varieties of palm tree. This epic folio was based on Martius's expedition to Brazil and Peru with zoologist Johann Baptist von Spix. From 1817 to 1820 the pair travelled over 2,250 km (1,400 miles) throughout the Amazon Basin, the most species-rich palm region in the world, collecting and sketching specimens.
In his epic work, Martius outlined the modern classification of palm, produced the first maps of palm biogeography, described all the palms of Brazil, and collated the sum of all known genera of the palm family. For apart from his own collection of specimens and notes, Martius also wrote about the findings of others.
Martius's folio is unusual in its inclusion of cross-sectioned diagrams, conveying the architecture of these mighty trees. Equally remarkable are the color landscapes showing various palms—often standing alone—which have a simple and elegant beauty. This famous work is an unrivaled landmark in botanic illustration and taxonomy.

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