Trying To Grow Banana Plants From Seed

[@kathleenebsen2659]

I was able to germinate Ensete ventricosum seeds by soaking the seeds in water as you did. I laid the seeds over a shallow layer of vermiculite in a pie pan on a heat mat. Kept a little water in the pan and covered with plastic film. I have two well grown potted plants now.

[@Gardeningat58N]

Well done, it can be a little tricky to get them to germinate. They grow so fast though once they get going, mine grew huge in their first summer.

[@historyfan-cg3zp]

Are you at 58 degrees north latitude @@Gardeningat58N

[@RoseThistleArtworks]

This is so cool! I have wondered about banana plants. Thank you so much for sharing this.

[@_Happysowinghappygrowing]

A brilliant video I can't wait to see them growing

[@Gardeningat58N]

If you search my channel you should find a few videos about them. I'm going to upload the latest one later this month, they are now 2.5 meters tall.

[@PaulWinters328]

You're the same as me mate. I much prefer to try and grow everything from seed rather than buying plants.. I'll use cuttings but prefer seeds. Very interested in this video as I've been looking at the more tropical plants for my flat. Can I ask where you got the seeds from?

[@gartmorn]

I have bought banana seed from Chiltern seeds in the past. Don't expect 100 germination! 🤣

[@Gardeningat58N]

Cheaper, more rewarding and free from pests or diseases. I bought mine from rarepalmseeds, but I've not used them for long enough to say if they are good or not, I think it depends on how fresh the batch of seeds are.

[@GraftingTactick]

What a great tutorial vid , thank you for sharing 🌿🌱🍃☘🌴

[@Gardeningat58N]

Thanks, I will be uploading an update video about the bananas soon, they have grown well considering they are growing in north Scotland.

[@natashabrooks8735]

Brilliant thankyou I have musa sikkimensis ..very well explained 👏

[@RoseThistleArtworks]

Do you think some willow bark tea would help germination? Also, I heard somewhere that a small amount of hydrogen peroxide mixed in with lots of water is good to mist with the help prevent mold. Have you heard that?

[@Gardeningat58N]

Willow bark tea might work, I tried to read as much as I could about banana seed germination and there are very few scientific journals about it, probably because most bananas are propagated by division. But most papers said that there was no innate dormancy and that speeding up germination is not easy. As I would expect in the wild that the seed would be eaten by an animal and passed through their digestive system I think weak acid or hydrogen peroxide would help. They have very thick seeds, I nicked two of the larger seed coats and it was very hard and thick, which would make sense if it has to survive going through an animal. I think because the main plant dies after fruiting it releases all its seeds at the same time, so it would make sense for the seeds to slowly germinate over the course of a year instead of all at once in case there is a sudden drought, or fire that could kill off the young seedling.

[@lorrainebirks2815]

Thank you so much . Excellent information xx

[@EddyFeyen]

Hi there it can take up to 2-4 months before the first ones germinate or even longer. You are a lucky one if germination start at 2-3 weeks :-) You can check my video's about it out. Not as great filmed as your sadly enough but you get the point. Oh and Ensete prefer still higher temps around 33-35°C .

[@Gardeningat58N]

I actually watched a few of your videos last month, you seem to be the most experienced person I've found so far on youtube when it comes to banana germination. How big does Ensete ventricosum usually get in its first year? My Ensete ventricosum 'large seed variety' is already 70cm tall and 80cm wide between leaf tips. The growth has been really fast so far, but it has been under grow lights and kept around 20C constantly. Does it slow down much in cool cloudy weather? My summers in Scotland are cold and cloudy, with the average maximum temperature in July being only 18C. I had two more Ensete germinate yesterday, but I still have no germination from the Musa yunnanensis. So far my Musa sikkimensis is growing well but its so much slower than the Ensete.

[@EddyFeyen]

@@Gardeningat58N First of all thank you for that compliment. Well if you have thoe under grow lights don't put them strainght in full sun. The leaves will burn but in the end ne will form. Outside the ensete willl be getting "fatter" then under the grow light and growth really varies. Depending on heat, fertilizer and water But it can add a 50-100cm in one year. You just have to be lucky with the weather as when your soil is cold when planting out the growth will stop. Scottish weather not easy then for these plants. And my yunnanensis ddn't grow either 2 time i tried those. I had germination today after 4 months from another ensete glaucum. What i do is after 3 months i get the seeds out of the ground and leave them out one day, then i put them in water for 24-48hr again and try again :-)

[@Gardeningat58N]

Interesting, I'm hoping by June I can put my Ensete outside, I'll probably grow them in large pots so I can bring them inside on stormy days. I'm hoping that if I grow them against a south facing wall in pots and water with warm water that they might grow ok here. I searched google maps and I found several Ensete ventricosum growing up hill from Chencha in Ethiopia at around 3000m, the climate there is only around 20C in the day and 10C at night and in winter they get close to freezing. I think there is the potential for some varieties to grow well in cool weather and even survive light frosts, but I don't know if anyone has collected seeds from the top of these mountains. I also saw on google maps many Ensete ventricosum growing at 1000m in tropical conditions, so there seems to be a lot of variation of the species. I'm looking forward to seeing how your bananas come back from last winters big freeze.

[@EddyFeyen]

@@Gardeningat58N at the moment they are pulp lol. You can feed your ensete with dried cow manure. Doesn't harm it at all and hope they do well otherwise give them a shot of good whisky there :-)

[@michaelpond813]

These. Banana trees grow good in zone 7. North Carina in America. Just cut back to one ft abouve ground and add 5 inches of much. They get 9 ft tall here even though we can get snow and ice. Good luck. All these varieties can take cd winters. Fetilize heavily and lots of water. Loves sun.

[@angrybees8122]

So the bananas grown from this tree will have seeds inside??

[@Gardeningat58N]

Yes, they will be full of large seeds and the fruit will not taste very good. There are many bananas and most have seeds, but the ones without seeds are most popular as they are much easier to eat. I will probably never get my plants to flower up here in Scotland, but if I have a mild winter followed by a hot summer I may be lucky.

[@angrybees8122]

@@Gardeningat58N then why are you planting them if they won't taste good?

[@Gardeningat58N]

@@angrybees8122 I'm just growing them for their tropical appearance, they are the most tropical looking plants that will grow in my climate.

[@langustajableczna]

super interesting

[@grantgilliham804]

Hello mate, Wicked video. Slightly different topic, but have you tried to grow Joshua trees?

[@Gardeningat58N]

Thanks, no, although I might try some other yuccas in the future, the Joshua tree is a little tricky unless it's kept dry over winter.

[@gartmorn]

I grew musa glauca from seed in my last house and they were growing ok but I moved house before they had established so don't know how they got on! They come from the Yunnan District of China also. Sent for more seeds to try here in Perthshire! Also trying monstera from seed, a first!

[@Gardeningat58N]

Was your last house also in Scotland? if so how well did they grow? I've only ever seen Musa basjoo and Ensete ventricosum in Scotland, both of which were always below 2m in height. Did you over winter your glauca inside? I think they are not supposed to be frost hardy.

[@gartmorn]

@@Gardeningat58N I was in Wemyss Bay which is on the gulf stream and is in a wee microclimate. I grew them indoors from seed and had just planted them out when we moved so don't know how they got on! If I can get another lot to grow (only two germinated last try) I'll definitely need to have some method of frost protection as I'm in Auchterarder!

[@gartmorn]

Trying ensente and musa glauca seeds this year. No luck with glauca seeds last year! I also got some phormium seeds from a plant growing locally which had been on the plant over winter. I planted them in a pot and quite a few germinated! Have you tried these as they must be fairly hardy to survive here in Perthshire!

[@wesleyhackney]

I’ve had better success either soaking seeds for 48 hours or scuffing up the seed with a file to improve germination

[@ThamArtist]

I just can't believe all bananas without seeds will be gone not too long from now. Why don't these taste good though? I mean, how many seeds will be there? Isn't it just possible to get rid of the seeds and then enjoy the banana still as we know it? In what way they don't taste good?

[@Gardeningat58N]

It varies between varieties, some are less sweet, or bitter or have other less favourable flavours when compared to edible bananas. Some bananas with seeds do taste good, but they can be 50% seeds and the seeds are rock hard so eating would be unpleased as you could hurt your teeth and would have to constantly spit out seeds. The seeds are too numerous and small to easily pick out, its possible, but most people won't like the extra work involved. As for the good news, its only really the Cavendish banana that is at risk in the near term, we used to mostly eat Gros michel, but that was nearly all killed by panama disease last centaury. Gros michel is actually probably better tasting than the cavendish that most people eat now. There are also several other seedless bananas that are good for eating, we just don't usually eat them because cavendish has become the the 'standard' bananas for most places away from the tropics. There is also a lot of people breeding new varieties which should be seedless, taste good and can survive panama disease, so in the future we will still be able to enjoy bananas, but they will taste a little different and we may no longer be able to enjoy the cavendish banana.

[@ThamArtist]

@@Gardeningat58N Wowzers what a great reply! Thanks for all the info. I was thinking like that yeah, if we were able to breed seedless bananas in the first place, why wouldn't we able to do that again? Bet it was a bit of a KZbin hoax I found myself in, yesterday. HAHA. And I actually dreamed a little bit about the great banana loss, and I felt quite sad when I woke up. But now no hope is lost! I should get out way more often in stead of being on KZbin. Sigh.

[@zindrato]

Comment imaginer que de telles graines existent dans une banane. Beaucoup de gens ne savent pas que les graines de banane sont minuscules. La raison en est la modification génétique des bananes vendues sur le marché, de sorte qu’il n’y a pas de graines. Pour cette raison, les gens ne savent pas que normalement les graines de la banane se trouvent effectivement dans la banane.

[@the.crazy.german9173]

Hi I've just got some Darjeeling seeds

[@Gardeningat58N]

Good luck with your banana plants.

[@opawauben6822]

the bigger seeds 20 sec in boiling water

[@toddkyle3691]

Status update?

[@Gardeningat58N]

There are two updates so far which you can find on my channel, and I hope to upload a third update later this week.

[@krishnachandrashastri4193]

Please हिंदी में।

[@djames2377]

20 minute video with no outcome wtf is this

[@Gardeningat58N]

This is just the first video of several, if you want to skip ahead you can find my video where they are over 2m in height by their second year.