Tropical Project

Well at least it's not just my soil then, maybe it's the general environment. A few folks here grow bananas, but I'd swear they aren't basjoo, so now I'm curious what they are. They aren't DC either. There's so many types of musa, I can't keep them straight. I don't even have a clue as to what the one I brought back from Kauai is, despite some interesting markings on the leaves.

I think placement has a lot to do with their size; the largest basjoo are all out in the yard or next to the house where they have nothing to compete with. Alice, didn't have you have a few basjoo? How tall would you say yours got? I know your weather is a lot more favorable there for them, but I'm curious how tall they can get if the trunk is well protected.

On another subject, I did achieve two of my "never been done" before goals this year. I got the orange Bird of Paradise to bloom, and finally I got that stubborn plumeria to bloom. I couldn't believe it. Seems like neglecting them does the trick. So now I've set a new goal for the next two years to see if I can get one of my heliconia to bloom - or if I'm feeling really lucky, maybe the torch ginger, LOL - yeah right.

LOL, I did have some but they got too tall for me to groom and my neighbors complained about how messy they were. It is windy here and the leaves were always shredded and turning brown. They were pretty tall; I would guess at least 12'.

They are growing in Bluffton now. :-))))

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/836671/

when i was in lexington, the basjoo pseudostems didn't die the first year i waited til after the first frost when the leaves got droopy and ben them nown and tied them around the pseudostems, and they even put out some green (tiny bit) during the warm spells in january.
if you want any more plumies, just tell me, and when i come to lexington i'll give them to you. i got my first bop blooms this year too. do you hav a picture ofthe plumeria blooms? i can help if you ever want info on them...

plumeria pudica..... blooms profusely, evergreen, nice shape to the leaves, and it grows fasrt, so prunig it down to size isnt a problem. its one of my favorites, but unfortunately, it has no scent

Wow that's a beauty. I'll take some pics once mine gets into full bloom, it just started. All three I brought back from HI bloomed, but usually that's all I get. So hopefully I've broken the curse and they'll keep blooming. Usually I loose any I bring back the first winter - but I think I have corrected all my wrongs of the past, like hibernating them.

Will try and use the basjoo leaves for insulation. I noticed last year they surrounded the trunk really well, but ended up cutting them off since it was in the front yard and looked a little messy. I probably will have to mulch the 4 in the front yard again this year. But in the back that'd leaf thing would work great - thanks for the tip on that.

here's a clump of tigerlilys basjoos

from what I've read, I think blue java is hardy to zone 8, I'm leaving mine out this year because it would be too big to overwinter anyhow

thanks Trop-those are the sikkimensis-the basjoos are down the garden to the right. Can you find a picture where its weeded more??? lol I just hired someone that loves to weed! And someone that loves to clean house-I am in heaven!!! lol

Show some of the heliconias that are blooming in the ground too-they are cool.

Thanks, I might have to try one of those. How tall is that fence for scale?

The fence is about 7' high or more

Thanks, I'll add it to the "acquire" list. As if I need another plant, lol.

Here's the plumeria, one of the best smelling I've ever had bloom. I just hope this blooming trend continues. Should I keep increasing the pot size, or let it get a little rootbound? It's in a 12" pot now I think - first time it's bloomed.

I have another question also while we're on the topic of Bananas. I don't know what made me notice this now, versus never before, but I noticed some of my basjoo have very different colors. So like last year when I discovered one of my "basjoo" was actually a Dwarf Cavendish, I'm sorta starting to wonder if I really have all basjoo now. The very lime green one (on the far left) is the first banana I put in the ground last year. I had been fairly confident it was a basjoo - but it looks lighter green than the others. It's grown slower than I expected in the second year and I'm starting to wonder if it's something else. The one in the middle is a supposed basjoo; I purchased it from Lowe's this spring. And the one to the far right is a basjoo I purchased online last fall. The two of them (along with the other dozen or so in the back) all look the same.Both the middle and far right basjoo are HUGE compared to the lime green colored one. So are they all basjoo and is the lime green one something else? Or am I imagining things?

The image I've uploaded may not provide detail on the leaves/stem, so here's a very large 3000px version with a lot of detail:
http://www.hawaii-guide.com/images/dg_plants/Basjoo.jpg

This message was edited Aug 17, 2008 4:11 PM

i think the lime green one isnt as healthy. same thing happened at my grandparents on park road in L-town.
that plumeria, i bet is "celadine". or aztec gold. does it smell like peaches or different? if you come on the plumeria forum, you could ask clare or hetty and they would know better probably, but its hard to identify through a picture. Celadine is the kind usualy used in leis because it has good keepi ng qualith and smells the best. can you tke a picture of the plant and pot, and then one of the roots? i'd be able to tell you better then

The one on the left has the trunk of a Basjoo, judging from the photo it appears to have that typical fibrous material. That middle one has a smooth green trunk and may well be something different. I can't see the trunk on the one on the right.

If you got the plants from Lowe's they may not be as labeled. Another thought - someplace else here on DG I recently saw a discussion about the variances in tissue cultured plants. That could be what you are dealing with. It seems some growers are not refreshing their mother plants on a regular basis. They are using the same tissue too many times causing the offspring to have weaker and/or different genes.

Thanks. I'll go take some shots of the plumeria stalk and the banana trunks to help compare. I may wait until the plumeria stops flowering to photograph the roots - I'm always so cautious around flowering plumeria (probably more than I need to be).

Whoa, the trunks are different on every single banana I bought at Lowe's. How did I not notice that before. I'll post photos shortly.

My wife says the plumeria smells "lily-like."

OK, bananas first. The first three are from Lowe's and all have the sheath-like leaves that peel off. The next two are all basjoo's I purchased online (which is more legit apparently). The Lowe's banana's sorta look like Musa Ornata - but I'm guessing. Or, and how's this for ironic. They might be Blue Java's judging by other stem photos. Now that'd be almost funny.

Lowe's Musa one.

This message was edited Aug 17, 2008 6:33 PM

Lowe's Musa 2

Lowe's Musa 3

Basjoo (odd color)

Basjoo (correct color)

So does that mean I need to dig those Lowe's bananas up and put them inside or under the house? I'd hate to loose them and I can't mulch them like I can the one's in the back - all of those are in the front of the house.

And here's two shots of the plumeria. Thank you all again for your help.

Another plumeria shot.

there is no need t repot the plumeria, and honestly i really think that all the bananas are basjoos. the reasons they are not doing well like the other ones is the environment it is in. it could be a deficiency or not enough water or maybe even a variation. they dont grow as fast if you leave the pups on. the corm spends its energymaking a new plant instead of growing. they should be perfectly fine if left outside this winter

The stems are so different though, that puzzles me. I was trying to compare (which may or may not actually work) and I'm starting to think the stems resemble these:
http://www.gator-ventures.com/bananas/ice-cream/

How do folks ID these things in the wild? Glad that's not my job.

basjoos have a red midrib-esp on the younger leaves.

well, for bananas, their stems are actually just a bunch of leaf stems that are tightly packed together. these form the "trunk" or pseudostem. those things coming off the trunk are just the old leaf stems falling off, and eventually dying. this usually happens because the leaf is still attached and is pulling the lower stem away from the "trunk", or the "trunk" is getting too fat for the leaf stem. since the inside of the leaf stem is a smaller circle than the fatter trunk, it is forced off and just hangs there until it dies

for me, they have those red midribs on the younger ones early in the year, then it stops appearing in the middle of the summer

Must just be a different type. I knew the leaves grew up from the stalk, it's just how they're deteriorating and falling off the main trunk that is interesting. The two I know for sure are basjoo have that fiber-like husk that slowly breaks away from the trunk while the other three have very stiff sheaths that are split away as the trunk diameter grows. Interesting.

I think you got a bonus.

I don't trust the big box stores labels competely. The folks growing for them are out for volume and do things as cheap as possible. That farm very well may be growing 5 different kinds of bananas then some guy who doesn't speak English or who doesn't know plants goes out in a field, sticks a label on it and puts it in a truck.

You never know. I wouldn't worry about it. Worse case you have a dead banana or two and from the looks of things you will have more bananas then you need in a couple of years.

Figured it'd been another year and I got to thinking about this thread. Real life has kept me so busy I hardly have time to post anymore :( I miss all the garden talk. But hopefully things are getting back to normal around here.

Things surely did change for my project this past year. Thought I'd post some new pics... pretty wild when compared to just a year ago even. It's a jungle back there.

Another, lots of banana blooms this year too. And new gingers.

Last one

Nice, not to be critical but you have my problem. I've been trying to figure out what plants I need to put in to break up all the green. Had some issues with the EE's being so tall they block out the sunlight so a couple of plants I tried stayed green instead of changing to red or other non green colors. LOL> Good job though and I'm surprised in how good of shape those plants all look. I guess I'm a little lazy.

Yeah I definitely have to get some color in there next year. Maybe with more cannas or daylilies I'm thinking - but something to break the green.

I like to use lantanas a lot in my beds-they break up the greens and they are so drought tolerant. Blue plumbagos will also bloom all summer, and I am starting to have my heliconias bloom quite a bit this summer. All of these have to be planted in the spring-but they do bloom a lot. Cannas are good, but I am so sick of the canna worms eating them if I don't remember to treat with Merit-they look like crap if I don't!

Wow, it really did well! Looks like Costa Rica, not Columbia. :)

Was it just me or were the canna worms really bad this year? They even went after some of my bananas, especially the Red Abyssinian. I would love to get some heliconias blooming, but I think my plants have a few more years yet. Do any of you put them in the ground? I've kept all of mine in pots thus far.

I noticed some leaf rollers on a new ginger and thought that was strange.

I put some of my heliconias in the ground for the summer and then dig them up for the winter and keep them in the grhouse. Others I keep in pots all year. I try to go for types that will bloom more and faster such as psittacorums and small blooming types. Distans blooms alot for me, also dwarf jamaican.

Looks great! Come over next June and you can pick some daylilies to put in there. I've just planted my seed crop of 2,200. I'll only keep 200 of them so I'll need some good homes.

Oh these photos are awesome! truly inspiring what y'all have done!

have you tried looking through the Plant Delights Nursery catalogues? they are having an open house sometime soon, too, where you could go see things. I volunteer there in the botanical garden side, and often work in the colocasia/allocasia test beds.

you might want to look at their stock. because as nice as your tropicals are, I'm not seeing the variety of colors I'm used to seeing.

Tony Avent works with the best breeder in Hawaii testing crosses the Hawaiian has made here. the colors they've got going are awesome. would like to see a bit more color in your beds== but that's just me. I LOVE COLOR.