Re: Siam Ruby

alan · Post by **alan** » Tue Jun 03, 2008 9:54 am

I have been on the website this morning and found they have become available to order again so i did. The person who took the order stressed they were only small as they had come from miami and the english weather was holding there growth up

Eddy · Post by **Eddy** » Tue Jun 03, 2008 10:51 am

I bought one too with two plants in one pot. I got mine from a rack in the corner of the tunnel. That's where Simon said they were when I asked. But I know very little about them so I will be watching others comments closely.

Owen · Post by **Owen** » Tue Jun 03, 2008 12:17 pm

How easy are these plants going to be to grow here in the UK?

Id love to get one but £20 plus £18 p&p is quite alot of £!

Just wanted peoples opinion on them before i decide to order. Are they good growers? Colour up well?

How easy are they to over winter? Would they suvive inside as opposed to a heated greenhouse?

Thanks guys- am a bit clueless with this particular banana

Owen

MarkD · Post by **MarkD** » Tue Jun 03, 2008 12:27 pm

We got one indeed

Alan, Mark's Siam Ruby is an exception as it's multiple plants per pot, so does Eddie's (Scrimflicker)

Most of them are single ones of varying sizes and degree of redness on the leaves. The one I got is about 5'' tall and is one of the taller ones already, some are only tiddlers at 2''.

I didn't choose with the most red on it, I went for the one with some yellow stripes on one leaf, whatever that may be

Anyway, we'll just see how it develops and I've repotted it now on an ericaceous compost to encourage that yellow stripe, and it should get more of the red colouring as it grows on full sun. It was just starting to root out on the previous pot btw.

It's been very, very slow apparently. Looking at the PDN website they say it probably originated in Papua New Guinea, now wonder it's taking very slow in our cool weather

Sr.jpg

MarkH, what do you think of this marking?

Sr2.jpg

An older leaf developing the red colouration

Sr3.jpg

EDIT: Image attachments problem

Sorted out now

alan · Post by **alan** » Tue Jun 03, 2008 12:36 pm

Hope mine isnt one of the tiddlers as thats £10.00 per inch

Post by **Dave Brown** » Tue Jun 03, 2008 6:32 pm

I looked at the multistemed ones, there were a couple left but decided to stick with a single for the time being. I got it home and it has been in the conservatory, with very high humidity, well, it is humid everywhere at the moment, and it has grown a complete new leaf. now stands at 11 inches above the pot, so I reckon it could be a fast grower.

SteveW · Post by **SteveW** » Tue Jun 03, 2008 7:02 pm

My thai one came through the winter fine in my bathroom,didn't get Red Spider Mite just bloody aphids which being as it was in the bathroom got blasted by the shower on a regular basis.
Its now outside in the greenhouse patiently waiting for all this crappy weather to finally end.
Hope your ruby keeps those markings MarkD,and any future pups inherit them too,shouldn't have too long to wait til you find out as they pup quite quickly

The yunnan I picked up on saturday had some variegation on one of its older leaves,so hopefully that'll develop into something nice too

Ali K · Post by **Ali K** » Tue Jun 03, 2008 7:25 pm

OK Mark, here's a few pics of the little red fella that I MADE you give me! Sorry they're a bit pants, it's a bit dull in the greenhouse at the mo.

MarkD · Post by **MarkD** » Tue Jun 03, 2008 9:05 pm

Mark wrote:Mark its a virus It could be the start of something good

I hope so Mark and SteveW, be great if it keeps the markings!

With the P&P doubling the price it might be worth adding a bit more to buy petrol instead and pick it up yourself, so you could also see the other goodies there and get loads more plants

Or someone nearer to Amulree just buy a few for the others, especially if you'll all attend one of the meets? Hardypalms meet is the next one!

Mark · Post by **Mark** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 8:56 am

Thanks Ali. You have a small pup on it too ! So worth pestering me for it

They do seem to pup quite readily from such a small size. I am not sure if thats a good thing as It could be slowing down the main plant. I am going to blast most of the compost off mine to replace with Ericaceous and it will give me a chance to see how easy it will be to try and seperate some of them. I counted 6 in my pot

Ali K · Post by **Ali K** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 10:05 am

Pestering indeed! You practically forced it on me (ooer!) I should've forced you to buy a spiky in return.

Does the ericaceous compost make them colour up better then?

Don · Post by **Don** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 10:18 am

Ali-your plant is more advanced than the ones I got from Simon a few months ago, probably due to low light levels-ie lack of sun

.
Ericaceous compost or anything added to compost that lowers the pH seems to be a big help to maintain colour or variegation on Musa, so I assume the same is true for Ensete.

Ali K · Post by **Ali K** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 10:25 am

Thanks Don, I think I'll re-pot mine using ericaceous too then.

Adrian · Post by **Adrian** » Mon Jun 09, 2008 6:15 pm

Nice one! When do you start to see the colouration?

Mark · Post by **Mark** » Tue Jun 10, 2008 8:25 am

Some are starting to redden up already ( see Ali's Pic) If this sun keeps shining the way it has been then they should look pretty good by the end of the summer.

Oh and by the way. I will take you up on the bet for a Siam Ruby