Just keeps getting bigger

Other plants we have or landscape elements like ponds.

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Mark_NoVA
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Re: Just keeps getting bigger

Post by Mark_NoVA »

That is Siam Ruby! Great by itself but even better in contrast with other plants. That does sound annoying. At least the bananas and elephant ears size up fast! I'm unaware of that nursery in Hawaii--please mention the name if you recall it.
Steve in France wrote:Mark, I see a nice Siam Ruby there :D , lost mine , must get another . I was thinking the other day that I need to restock some of the smaller Musa, like Zebrina and such. I need to order a few Ornata types from the nursery in Hawaii, never remember the name but they always ship top quality plants. I've lost so much stock , from a guy who had just about everything to just having two Musa is a bit annoying.
Best of Luck for the Winter
Steve
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needmore
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Re: Just keeps getting bigger

Post by needmore »

Are they still able to ship? Bunchy top virus is doing a number on the banana industry in HI and I'll be surprised if they can legally ship to the mainland?
Brad Salmon, zone 12B Kea'au, HI
http://www.needmorebamboo.com
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foxd
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Re: Just keeps getting bigger

Post by foxd »

ghmerrill wrote:Dan,
are those winter hardy, or do you have to greenhouse them?
More a case of basement them under growlights. They took this surprisingly well.
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Steve in France
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Re: Just keeps getting bigger

Post by Steve in France »

Here is a link for AlohaTropicals , http://www.alohatropicals.com/MusaBanan ... nanas.html
I've bought a bunch of plants from these guys over the last two and half years and they ship great plants.
Very small divisions or tissue culture plants bought in the Spring will do very well through the season. The Ornata types of Bananas/Musa are normally small , about five to eight feet. I've had these flower in there first season after about four months growth. Basjoo is about the only hardy Musa for most of the colder US Zones, all other Musa need to be indoors or in a heated greenhouse. I store cut down Musa indoors, this means I cut he top of the plant off at six feet or so and remove all the leaves. One can get them through the Winter this way and they will grow again come Spring.
I may try a few grow lights this Winter but normally it's just a matter of holding the plant more or less dormant for the Winter. Little water and low light low temps will stun the Musa down to a crawl. The only edible Musa I grow at the moment is the Banana ' California Gold' , California Gold is a hardier form of edible Musa. Still hardy is relative , it's hardy in California to perhaps 28 f or so. For me here in South Maryland/D.C. it's treated as a very frost tender plant. There is a lot of good info at Bananas.org , I'm a member but do not post there because of one person, they are on the whole a great bunch of people and very helpful.
Googling any of the names like California Gold or Musa Royal Purple will bring a bunch of good results and info.
Musa are generally not to hard to find or buy at reasonable prices.
The big Musa Thai Black is at about 14 feet tall at the moment, I expect it to get a lot taller before bringing it in.
One can get as crazy about Musa and Ensete as one can get with Bamboo. I've been growing all kinds of Tropical plants in the garden for about 7 years now. Pushing the limits on a gardening can be a lot of fun but it's a sharpe and expensive learning curve. Best of Luck
Steve
Always experimenting to get Timber Bamboos Timber size :-)
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Steve in France
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Re: Just keeps getting bigger

Post by Steve in France »

A few comments on Tropicals
I find that some plants are much easier to grow than others as one would expect. Colocasia and Alocasia offer a lot of fun and normally good results. Alocasia Portadora, Calodora , Borneo Giant are three good options for easy Alocasia. Most Colocasia will do well, after growing just about every named type for years now I've come down to just growing two of the best , Colocasia 'Jack's Giant' and Colocasia 'Diamond Head'. Colocasia can be Winter stored as tubers and restarted in the Spring , Alocasia I tend to keep them growing indoors for the Winter.
The gingers are fun but I only grow one called 'Vanilla Ice' and 'Dancing Crane' these days as a lot of the others just look like corn plants until they flower.Gingers can be stored as tubers and restarted in the Spring. I normally grow a lot of Tropical Water Lilies and I get mine from Utopia Aquatics , Lorenzo has the best and his prices are very low.
I sometimes propagate Tropicals in the Winter from tubers, this is a bit of work and setup but worth it.
I grow a few Hardy Water Lilies they are all Kirk Strawn hybrids as he made the best hybrids there are.
Plant Delight Nursery is a good source of Tropical plants but I find them expensive and some of there plants are good value some are small and should be cheaper than they are.
Later
Steve
Always experimenting to get Timber Bamboos Timber size :-)
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Re: Just keeps getting bigger

Post by foxd »

I was given the Zebrina Banana about a year ago as a single small plant. It has been good practice to start learning about bananas and has done well.

For growlights I settled on four foot fluorescent light fixtures using grolux bulbs. They have a purple tinge to the light, but the plants seem to like it and the power requirements are low.
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The legal issues that will arise when the undead walk the earth are legion, and addressing them all is well beyond what could reasonably be accomplished in this brief Essay. Indeed, a complete treatment of the tax issues alone would require several volumes.
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Mark_NoVA
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Re: Just keeps getting bigger

Post by Mark_NoVA »

Thanks for the excellent overview Steve! Even though I grow a lot of tropical plants, there was lots of good new info for me.
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