Sunday, February 28, 2010

Banana seedlings, another attempt.

pisang tanduk 
little baby on previous vegetable bed

 
pisang tanduk 
little baby on the ground


  
pisang tanduk
I hope it will grow and bear fruits like these.

We brought home 12 little banana seedlings recently. Ros and Din are staying in one of the residential area in Sitiawan , Perak. Rose is Kakdah's younger sister. They have three clumps of pisang tanduk, laden with fruits. Pisang tanduk is a popular banana, which is a delicacy when fried. The locals love pisang goreng as snack.

I choose two locations for them to grow in Putrajaya... the other 10 seedlings are left under the shade of papaya as reserves just in case the two fail to make it. Its going to be a year long adventure with this banana. What strike me most about this banana is that, it produces little babies only when it is fruiting, unlike our wild banana in the garden which keep on producing babies around them, forming a dense cluster.

I begin to understand their likes and dislikes after more than 2 years keeping the wild banana. They love;  fertile and wet soil,  with lots of organic matter and mulch,  steady moisture and a little bit of shade. But they hate: strong gust of wind, extreme variation of temperature and if  left alone with no other plants nearby.



Pisang tanduk is one plant at a time, whereas wild banana stays in a dense cluster, just like rhinoceros which love staying solo and  elephants in a herd.



~bangchik

18 comments:

  1. Pisang is my favourite.

    I buy a bundle of bananas everytime before I leave Cerok Tokun.

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  2. I do banana seeds...but I don't think they will ever fruit...or that they are edible...they do make an impressive plant in these parts tho!

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  3. We've attempted to overwinter our musa basjoo, we'll see how it did. It also hates strong winds. Unlike you, we get no bananas, just pretty leaves.

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  4. this is a very interesting special little baby. I hope it grows to a sturdy Banana "tree" actually is a herb! I would love to grow a different Banana like this one. We grow a hybrid between a lady's finger and a Cavendish B. It is very sweet and the bush does not grow very high it is easier to manage. We are very restricted what to plant because of the law of the banana growers. It is understandable because of diseases, but it is annoying too!

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  5. Good luck with your banana seedlings.

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  6. How long before a banana begins to bear fruit? Is it in one season or does the plant need to be mature? Is the banana self-pollinating? What fun to have such a great fruit.

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  7. Hello bloggers, friends and gardeners. I read somewhere about banana being a complete fruit, because it has everything in it. Hmm....

    rainfield61 ... Banana is my favourite too. Can always finish a comb!

    Tootsie ... Banana comes in many types, some are good looking, some less, some bear fruits a foot long, some just tiny things like pisang emas. The one just planted can produce banana minimum a foot long..

    Kim and Victoria ... The leaves are beautiful on their own but strong wind will break them. Kakdah does grilled fish wrapped in banana leaf. Exquisite !!

    Titania ... Sorry to hear about the control on banana. Good for production and profit, but they meddle with biodiversity by doing so..

    Joanne ... Thanks, But the babies really need daily watering to survive. Sometime we miss...

    Janet ... they will bear fruit the earliest after 9 months at favourable conditions. Could be longer... I dont know much about pollinating, but at times i can see insects hovering around the flowers... Very peculiar because banana has flowers, but propagation is through babies around the base, like suckers. Flowers are just for show and probably just to produce banana (the fruit). Someone else may know better, Janet.

    ~bangchik
    Putrajaya, Malaysia

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  8. Hi Bangchik, i thought bananasa are very common plants in our countries! In our property in the province they have just been growing unattended, as in really self supporting! We just cut the dried leaves flower which finished fruiting and just that. What i know is it grows well in sandy loam soil, not clay, because sandy loam drains well. If produces 2-4 suckers per plant, and if vigorous only 1-2 suckers are left per plant. Banana fruits are very dear to me because i worked with it for a long time in the lab, what you call pisang mas!

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  9. Andrea ... Many years ago, that's the way people handled banana; gardeners just come back when there are fruits around... Otherwise nature will hug and look after banana plants. But now banana are cultivated for serious production, acres after acres. Those keeping banana in their small yard in residential area are socially demanded to look after the banana plant and treat them well .... I still love the wilderness surrounding banana of the old days..
    Thanks Andrea.. ~bangchik

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  10. Would pisang tanduk tree size be much bigger than those pisang mas tree?

    Btw, from the pic, those pisang tanduk seem different from pisang mas. Do they form/grow in one 'tandan' like pisang mas?

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  11. I will enjoy following your progress with the banana plant. I hope you manage to get some bananas.

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  12. Oh is this how banana grows. I have always wondered about "Pisang takkan berbuah dua kali". Is this statement still true? And bananas do have seeds, very small indeed but still seeds. But actually they grow from babies what, ubi?

    I know you have showed the pictures and explained the process, and I got it, some, not quite all yet.

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  13. THANKS FOR THE VISITS AND COMMENTS:
    Stephanie ..... The plants that I have seen are about the same size as that of pisang mas. I just suspect, if the soil and surrounding are favourable and the plants are fed well, they may just grow bigger. The biggest I have seen is pisang abu... They bear fruits in "tandan" too.. but pisang tanduk has bananas drooping due to the weight.

    Jo .... I will do post regularly on this banana plant, as a record on my part, and for others to view...

    Ocean Girl ... That fruiting twice still holds, on banana, but on people and their maneuver I am not too sure. Some banana has black seeds. I don't think those will germinate. Ubi too don't produce seeds and bamboo and tumeric and ginger... they will run to thousands...

    Cheers everyone, happy gardening.

    ~bangchik

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  14. Hello Bangchik - I've been having trouble visiting your blog for a couple of days (it would open then crash), but I've finally sorted out the problem with my browser!

    Good luck with your precious banana - I hope it grows and fruits well!

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  15. Bangchik, how wonderful to be able to grow your own bananas. We have a banana plant; in fact we have four, all having been divided from the first as it grew, and one year we actually had a small "black" bundle of bananas form just before the frost. lol That was exciting for there is no expectation of bananas. ;) We are very satisfied with the beautiful foliage.

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  16. Bangchik, best of luck, those look like a wonderful plant to grow.

    Jen

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  17. I have never seen Banana seedlings. I hope they grow for you. it will be interesting to see their progress.

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  18. gippslandgardener ... Glad that you have solve the problem about crashing... The weather here is extremely hot right now. It has been that way for a couple of days. I just hope the banana seedlings will not dry up.

    Di ... Unless researchers can come up with a fast growing banana that grow and produce fruits within 3 or 4 months... then the new hybrid can be squeezed between winters.

    Muddy Boot Dreams ... Thanks, for the moment they are not about to give up yet..

    Melanie ... there will be updates on their progress. Lets hope the weather is favorable.

    ~bangchik

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