Musa zaifui brought in for winter

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Dave Brown
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Musa zaifui brought in for winter

Post by Dave Brown »

Having successfully removed pups from the clump back in August and these have taken well, I am preparing the mother plant for planting outside next year. The reason for planting the mother clump rather than one of the pups is the thicker pseudostem should be able to take more cold than younger thinner ones.

The main mother clump is now inside the conservatory due to accommodating it's height, and the 3 pups are in the Lunar module. Temps in the LM have been 9 to 21C and the conservatory 12 to 25C over the last week. As a result the mother clump has grown a complete roller and opened a leaf in 6 days :ahhh!: which is more like summer growth rates.
Attachments
2013-11-06 14-26-44 M zaifui in cons.jpg
2013-11-06 14-27-36 M zaifui in cons.jpg
2013-11-06 14-29-38 M zaifui in cons.jpg
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Dave
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fern Rob

Re: Musa zaifui brought in for winter

Post by fern Rob »

Looks a fantastic plant.
GREVILLE

Re: Musa zaifui brought in for winter

Post by GREVILLE »

Can't be bad, Dave, preparing a plant for its new home six months in advance and all the while it's a scene stealer in the conservatory icon_thumleft
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Dave Brown
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Re: Musa zaifui brought in for winter

Post by Dave Brown »

Yes, really is a looker, and the leaves are proving to be more resilient than M basjoo.

Pics are from 10th April and 27th August just before dividing, same plant 4 ½ months apart so is going to be a rapid grower in summer.
Attachments
2013-04-10-19-36-52 Musa zafui.jpg
2013-08-27 10-32-38 Musa zaifui clump.jpg
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griphuz

Re: Musa zaifui brought in for winter

Post by griphuz »

Very nice indeed!
Do the leaves feel hard like sikkimensis of soft like basjoo?

Kind regards,
Remko.
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Dave Brown
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Re: Musa zaifui brought in for winter

Post by Dave Brown »

griphuz wrote:Very nice indeed!
Do the leaves feel hard like sikkimensis of soft like basjoo?

Kind regards,
Remko.
It is certainly thicker than basjoo, Remko, feels about the same as Ensete ventricosum
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Mr List

Re: Musa zaifui brought in for winter

Post by Mr List »

when are you going to outside winter trial it dave?

hopefully it will prove itself hardy enough for outside then gain some popularity.
flounder

Re: Musa zaifui brought in for winter

Post by flounder »

I planted mine in the ground start of summer. Growth has been steady, but not spectacular. It hasn't suffered from wind, rain or excess sun but it still hasn't pupped! I'll dig it up this week some time rather than risk it without any back ups.
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Re: Musa zaifui brought in for winter

Post by Dave Brown »

flounder wrote:I planted mine in the ground start of summer. Growth has been steady, but not spectacular. It hasn't suffered from wind, rain or excess sun but it still hasn't pupped! I'll dig it up this week some time rather than risk it without any back ups.
Odd, yours has not pupped flounder icon_scratch Mine has had 7 so far, but the 3 I have removed were an absolute pain to remove :roll:
Mr List wrote:when are you going to outside winter trial it dave?

hopefully it will prove itself hardy enough for outside then gain some popularity.
I'm planting the mother plant outside next spring.
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GREVILLE

Re: Musa zaifui brought in for winter

Post by GREVILLE »

Are you going to trial this for wind resistance, Dave? (Daft question, as there is probably no such thing as a wind-resistant banana.) In other words to keep it to a minimum.
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Re: Musa zaifui brought in for winter

Post by Dave Brown »

GREVILLE wrote:Are you going to trial this for wind resistance, Dave? (Daft question, as there is probably no such thing as a wind-resistant banana.) In other words to keep it to a minimum.
Was trialled for several weeks before being brought in, and was moved under cover only on the eve of the St Jude's Day Storm. It was in an exposed position on the deck, was the tallest plant, and withstood 35mph gusts.

This is zaifui after several weeks of wind exposure. Ok it has shredded to a certain extent, but basjoo was shredded to ribbons and many of those ribbons broke off leaving mostly midribs.
Attachments
2013-10-17 16-12-26 Musa zaifui on deck.jpg
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call

Re: Musa zaifui brought in for winter

Post by call »

if anyone has any spare pups I will be happy to take them off your hands icon_thumright
GREVILLE

Re: Musa zaifui brought in for winter

Post by GREVILLE »

Hmmm. So could we be looking at a Musa that does a dirty double on the weather demons: Turns its nose up at Jack Frost and blows raspberries at Howling Gail?
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Re: Musa zaifui brought in for winter

Post by Dave Brown »

GREVILLE wrote:Hmmm. So could we be looking at a Musa that does a dirty double on the weather demons: Turns its nose up at Jack Frost and blows raspberries at Howling Gail?
Hopefully icon_thumright

I might try more than one outside if they have grown enough by planting out time, protecting one with the wire cage/straw and another with fleece wrapping.
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GREVILLE

Re: Musa zaifui brought in for winter

Post by GREVILLE »

.....And perhaps a third virtue for zaifui, Dave, that it pups prolifically?

If it does and no major online nursery is selling it, one hopes there will be an orderly queue...... :lol:
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