Ensete ventricosum - Abbysinnian Banana?

Post by **Dave Brown** » Sun Aug 26, 2007 7:57 am

I grew this Ensete from seed, bought as ventricosum, last summer. It has done reasonably well growing apace with the Maurelii, I bought a month later. At the end of last season both were a similar size. This year the Maurelii (back) has romped away as Ensete normally do in their second year, but the ventricosum (front), although growing at the same speed, is not getting larger. The leaves seem to be all the same size at about 2 1/2 feet long. The trunk is also shorter than normal ventricosum.

The big question is.... is this just normal variation, or was the seed from a different type of Ensete, maybe superbum?

Libby · Post by **Libby** » Mon Aug 27, 2007 6:24 am

Lovely contrats of colour and leaves though!

My Abysinian Ensete I got from you is still really quite tiny, I'm presuming its because of the odd/cold/wet weather we have been having.

Sadly for the last 2 weeks my plants have been somewhat neglected as I have been in hopsital for one operation , which has created another problem and I am in extreme pain (this would floor my hubby)I manage to walk down the garden and instruct on watering and thats about it!!!!

SteveW · Post by **SteveW** » Mon Aug 27, 2007 8:31 am

Sorry to hear about your op and hope you recover quickly.As for managing to walk down the garden everyday,thats dedication and you're probably right inn saying a bloke wouldn't do it

My Ventricosums growing quite well,no setting the world alight but at a nice pace.Just aswell really as I've still got to house everything soon,and another large banana is the last thing I need.

pic taken a month ago,its not really got mch bigger than this.if I grt a chance I'll take a more up to date one
Steve

Post by **Dave Brown** » Mon Aug 27, 2007 9:16 am

Hi Libby,

Sorry to hear about the op and pain, and wish you a speedy recovery. You are now the garden supervisor

Just make sure hubby puts the greenhouse up before the cold sets in.

Enseste ventricosum would normally be around 2 to 3 feet by now but with still quite a narrow trunk. The second year they really take off if in a reasonable size pot, and would reach around 6 feet with a 6 to 8 inch trunk. That is why I am questioning if my (ventricosum) is actually a ventricosum, as it is so much more squat than I would have expected.

When I think about it the germination rate last year was much lower than I would normally expect with only 30%. This year has been 65% so far.

Libby · Post by **Libby** » Mon Aug 27, 2007 11:10 am

Here it is looking very sad for itself! Not really sure what else I can do, may move it into the greenhouse for a while and maybe warm it up a bit!!

SteveW · Post by **SteveW** » Mon Aug 27, 2007 1:54 pm

Probably be a good idea to put in the greenhouse,most of my small bananas have been moved about so much this year.A couple haven't even made it outside yet as they're very small and are doing much better inside than out.Maybe we'll have a nice long and warm Autumn

Well we can wish can't we?
Steve

Post by **Dave Brown** » Mon Aug 27, 2007 6:32 pm

Libby,

E ventricosum likes plenty of water in summer, but if the weather has not been summer, you may be overwatering it. They prefer well drained open compost and a lot of Multi-purpose is too stodgy. Allow the surface to dry out before watering, and don't feed if growth is slow. As Steve said try giving it a warmer position.