The more I look at it, the more I'm starting to think it's something else. It just doesn't look like my other Basjoo plants I purchased online.
This is the one in question (more photos below).
Is one of my Basjoo's something else?
Another shot
This is the one I know for sure is a Basjoo. It looks totally different to me.
And these are hopefully Basjoo babies. I purchased these as small pups back early in the spring. I'm still debating putting one in the ground.
While we're at it... can anyone confirm this is a Dwarf Cavendish?
I have a hard time myself with some of them. All I can say is that Basjoos have a slightly red stripe running down the midrib when they are young. Not sure if they do when older, and it is not a obvious thing to see either.
i dont think it is a basjoo
Hrm, now I wonder if I need to dig it up. It almost looks like a larger version of my Dwarf Cav's. If that's the cast, it'll probably die if I leave it.
It's the one I bought from a local garden center. Sometimes I wonder if they really know what they're selling.
The Dwarf Cavendish looks about right, but because the leaves are coming out so closely spaced, it actually looks more like Super-Dwarf Cavendish at this point.
R.
This message was edited Oct 3, 2007 11:41 PM
About nine leaves showing and the red mid-rib is still coming on mine. Haven't had one before so I don't know how long the marks will keep being produced. Haven't heard anything related to that.
The light green foliage is on the thin side compared to other bananas. Much thinner than "Rojo", Dwarf Cavendish and Musella lasiocarpa, for example.
Here's my basjoo:
That's how my potted baby Basjoo's look.
So I'm guessing I have one Basjoo in the ground (third photo) and the top two photos are of a Dwarf variety. That explains why it didn't get any larger. The real Basjoo has pups nearly as large as the original, I just noticed that today. I bet it'll be huge next year.
I feel fairly confident the two potted banana's I have at the front of the house (photo 5 from the top) are both Dwarf or Super Dwarf. They've also remained very small, and I purchased them online thinking they were Dwarf's.
I also have a Pink Fruiting one, but it has lost all but two of its leaves - not sure why, I think it's the drought/heat. I've moved it into a more shaded area for now.
Not a very good picture of the basjoos, but they are behind the trachy palm. That fence is 8' high. The banana to the left of the basjoos is a Raja puri. They are not hardy for me, but I love them because they are really massive in person. The trunk on that one is very wide-even with the lack of water
Oh, that's pretty Tiger!!
Bravo!
ok-I screwed up-that banana behind the trachy was the raja puri. These are basjoo.
Thanks Raydio-but it is a mess in there, Next year I am not putting all the coleus and lantana in there-they are growing higher than some of the tropicals and shading them from the sun-esp some of my palms etc
this is a better picture of the raja puri. it is hard to see how large it really is-not the height so much, but the trunk. to me-this is a banana!
this was taken for the W. robusta, but you can see the trunk of the red iolone to the left of it. I started to clear the coleus etc out of this garden so you could see the tropicals better. The red iolone is a very pretty banana and is supposed to be hardy here.
Love your pics, tigerliliy
keonikale, I would totally agree with raydio that you have the Super Dwarf Cavendish--I traded mine away last spring (not hardy here, but a nice banana)----the thing that I remember is the way the leaves unfurl. Different. Pretty sure it produces edible fruit, I think?
Thanks guys. How can I protect it? I'm assuming it's not hardy here either?
Thanks Tropicanna!
Keonikale-dig it up and either repot it and put it in the grhouse or house, or garage/crawlspace under the house.
I thought the Super Dwarf was hardy to zone 8, but tigerliliy has a point...lemme go look up that thing
OK, here's the PF entry:
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/60087/
Says it is hardy to zone 8a but in the comments it is noted that in frost free winters the leaves still blacken....so I'd bring it in
It is very hard to ID most bananas. But if your interested in IDing a basjoo their are a few things to look for. Some other bananas have the same traits but most of the common forms sold do not share them. One is the red streak down the center of the leaf. But this is not alway noticable and sometimes does not show at all. The best way I can tell them apart is the stems. The stems have small wings on them rather than being closed up or just opened they have what looks like small flaps on each side of the petiole. This is the best way to ID a basjoo other than the flower. I have noticed that this trait seems to on most forms that are cold hardy.
I might regret this but this is the only photo I have of a basjoos stems. On here you can see the stems are winged. This is not as easily noticable if the plants are very small but after about 1 to 2 feet tall you see it. And yes this is a variegated basjoo.
Thanks everyone. Looks to me like it is indeed the Super Dwarf. That explains the rapid growth, but no change in height. It just keeps putting out the leaves, but never goes up.
I see the variegation on the stems of that basjoo...cool, but are those pretoria cannas in the background? I thought those were the basjoo leaves at first
I am pretty sure this is a Basjoo bc I believe it has the wings. But I'm totally missing the red stream if it's there (though I am red/green colorblind).
http://pics.davesgarden.com/pics/keonikale_1191451995_446.jpg
I just looked at my basjoo and the last leaf that has emerged, maybe #11, doesn't have the mid-rib streak. The streaks have faded from those that had them. There is some faint color on the mid-rib on the reverse of the leaves.
Will have to see if the upperside color returns when it leafs out next year.
The last pic you posted (above link) really looks like basjoo to me, too.
R.
This message was edited Oct 6, 2007 1:15 PM
I think Brian said a few posts up that the red streak is not always noticeable..the last one looks like a basjoo..lol
Whew, I'm glad to hear that. It's ironic that everything I've bought off line has been labeled correctly, and in local stores/garden center's, well, not so much.
I am fairly positive then that the babies I posted the picture of are also Basjoo's.
Did anyone ever have a guess as to what this one was:
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=4046052
I think it's another Dwarf variety, I believe I was told Dwarf Cavendish?
Yeah, that last one is the one that is the Super Dwarf Cavendish :) See how the leaves unfurl...kinda like they unfold..
So I have three of them? The last picture I posted are supposed just be Dwarf's - got those online. Luckily they are both potted. This photo below is apparently also a Dwarf then. Arg, and this one is in the ground. Woodley's told me it was a Basjoo.
http://pics.davesgarden.com/pics/keonikale_1191451939_610_tn.jpg
In any event, I thought I'd note I did get 4 new baby Basjoo's (around 1 ft) in the mail today, and sure enough, all have that red stripe starting to show.
alright, officially, I think the confusatron has been spun on the bananas..maybe I should wait until I'm more awakw
OK, I looked over and over and can't say I'm positive..lol but from the top of the thread-
1st pic I think is Dwarf Cavendish-they get bigger than the super Dwarf
2 & 3 --basjoo
4--Super Dwarf
does that seem right to everyone else?
Thanks Tropicanna
I had dwarf cavs in when I lived in Columbia and they were hardy for me. My neighbor, who had a mystery banana used to just cut his back to about 18" and put a wire cage around it and filled the cage with leaves for the winter. His grew and fruited for him.
Tigerlily, your Raja Puri is gorgeous; does it fruit for you? I have got to dump my Basjoo, which I find very unattractive, and find a RP.
I will try and protect the Dwarf this year and see what happens. So when folks cut these back to 18", they just cut the top off?
That is it. The first few years he dug it up and put it under his house for the winter, then it got too big to keep doing that so he cut it off and covered it with leaves for the winter and it did fine.
Cool, sounds simple enough. Thanks.
Ardesia-I have had one two summers in a row-it did not come back for me over the winter, so I planted another one. I think I will always have one, I like them so much :)
It has never bloomed, however Rajas bloom faster than anyother, I have read-in 9 months from the start of the plant. Come to think of it-this one is 9 months old-but it didn't get planted until late May, and the growth process probably got stunted a bit from being in a gallon cont
Not to mention your drought conditions up there.
I am going to FL in a couple of weeks, will try and find one then. My Basjoo is so ugly and why have a nana that doesn't make edible fruit.
Haave you tried ice cream bananas? I think they are hardier than most, and the banana is pretty good. You are right-the drought would not have helped-I try not to think of it-except that I just heard that if nothing changes in terms of rainfall, the city of Raleigh will be out of water by January 20, and Durham sometime in Dec. I am on a well-but that is scary. It has never been this bad.