Author Topic: Who's growing Musa Helen's Hybrid in USDA 7 or less?  (Read 5192 times)

Delvi83

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Who's growing Musa Helen's Hybrid in USDA 7 or less?
« on: July 04, 2015, 05:29:38 AM »
Hi,

I was wondering if there are some "Edible" Bananas bearing from a frost-resistant Musa ?!
Everyone of us knows that Musa Basjoo resists down to 0° F, but it doesn't bear edible fruits....

I read that Musa Helen's Hybrid might be a good compromise between frost-tolerance and edible fruits...


Does someone grow this plant? How is it resistant to frost ? Do they flower and bear fruits even if the die-back during winter? How does the fruit taste?


Thanks

Pancrazio

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Re: Who's growing Musa Helen's Hybrid in USDA 7 or less?
« Reply #1 on: July 04, 2015, 06:12:53 AM »
I should get a pup this summer. If everything goes well i should be able to answer to such questions in about 3 years.
Afaik, however, this hybrid is a sub-optimal choice for growing edible bananas, because it's seedy. There are better cultivars around, even more considering that this plant isn't even that small, so even for those who are zone-pushers, i guess that you can search for better stuff around. Unless, of course, you are forced to grow bananas in ground year long (for example if you can't deal with lifting heavy objects, or you don't have a suitable place to overwinter your bananas into). But even in that case, i see this cultivar as some kind of last resort.
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Delvi83

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Re: Who's growing Musa Helen's Hybrid in USDA 7 or less?
« Reply #2 on: July 04, 2015, 07:17:04 AM »
I should get a pup this summer. If everything goes well i should be able to answer to such questions in about 3 years.
Afaik, however, this hybrid is a sub-optimal choice for growing edible bananas, because it's seedy. There are better cultivars around, even more considering that this plant isn't even that small, so even for those who are zone-pushers, i guess that you can search for better stuff around. Unless, of course, you are forced to grow bananas in ground year long (for example if you can't deal with lifting heavy objects, or you don't have a suitable place to overwinter your bananas into). But even in that case, i see this cultivar as some kind of last resort.

Yeah, we discussed in our italian forum....If I remember correctly, there was one guy from Veneto that had this plant...I guess you'll get good results in Florence and you'll share them with us....

Maybe here someone has already done this experimente and he/she could have even a colder climate than Florence...let's wait if someone will answer  :D

Pancrazio

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Re: Who's growing Musa Helen's Hybrid in USDA 7 or less?
« Reply #3 on: July 04, 2015, 07:37:09 AM »
I think that my city winter climate is comparable with Vancouver on the pacific, and Virginia Beach on the Atlantic. This gives you a rough estimate if you intend to do any comparison. Just sayin.
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Delvi83

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Re: Who's growing Musa Helen's Hybrid in USDA 7 or less?
« Reply #4 on: July 05, 2015, 06:00:27 PM »
Yes, thanks.....let's see if someone is growing this Musa somewhere out of frost-free area....it seems that is very unusual plant...i'd like to see photos of the fruits...

TriangleJohn

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Re: Who's growing Musa Helen's Hybrid in USDA 7 or less?
« Reply #5 on: July 05, 2015, 07:45:54 PM »
I got an 'Orinoco' to fruit but I had to dig it up one very cold winter and keep it in a pot that I moved in and out for a few years. After harvesting the fruit (two clusters from two different stems) I cut the tree back and buried it in mulch and leaves for the winter. We got very cold last winter and it did not survive.

I want to try the smaller trees with smaller bananas that ripen quicker - like Viente Cohol. My plan is to grow them for a couple of years in pots, shelter them in the greenhouse for the winter and then plant them outdoors in the spring when they are large enough to fruit and hopefully get ripe fruit before first frost in the fall.

Our local university is working on breeding a seedless Musa veluntina which is hardy here in zone 7b. The bananas are small and waxy but supposedly edible.

Delvi83

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Re: Who's growing Musa Helen's Hybrid in USDA 7 or less?
« Reply #6 on: July 06, 2015, 06:07:50 AM »
Musa velutina is the "pink" banana? Does it do well in frost climate? Is it similar to Helen's Hybrid? do you have experiences (also indirect) with this last Musa?
Thanks

mikkel

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Re: Who's growing Musa Helen's Hybrid in USDA 7 or less?
« Reply #7 on: February 01, 2018, 03:05:39 AM »
Any new experience about its fruit and cold hardiness?

simon_grow

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Re: Who's growing Musa Helen's Hybrid in USDA 7 or less?
« Reply #8 on: February 01, 2018, 11:50:18 AM »
If you guys/gals are serious about growing Bannanas in very cold zones, perhaps you would consider indoor culture. Select an excellent tasting dwarf variety and grow it under lights.

We have members growing tropical/subtropicals in places like New York, Ohio and even in areas of Japan where it snows. Members have harvested fruit from Lychees, Mangos, Citrus as it was snowing outside.

This is only feasible if you have enough indoor space but if you are going through all this trouble to grow Bannanas, you might as well grow one with top quality fruit.

Simon

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Re: Who's growing Musa Helen's Hybrid in USDA 7 or less?
« Reply #9 on: February 02, 2018, 07:16:57 AM »
Musa velutina is the "pink" banana? Does it do well in frost climate? Is it similar to Helen's Hybrid? do you have experiences (also indirect) with this last Musa?
Thanks

Yes, Musa velutina is the small red/pink banana. The one's I've had, I'd rate as only barely edible. Once peeled, the fruit is maybe the dimensions of my thumb, and probably 80% of the volume is seeds. And what flesh is there, is just mediocre in flavor. So you pop one in your mouth, suck a bit of vaguely sweet flesh off the mass of seeds, then spit out  that bunch of pebbles. I don't know if there are better forms in existence, but the ones I've tried would take a LOT of breeding work to become evenly remotely desirable as a fruiting plant. 

kernol

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Re: Who's growing Musa Helen's Hybrid in USDA 7 or less?
« Reply #10 on: February 10, 2018, 05:43:56 AM »
I've been growing one since last year. Had to dig it up in autumn - if it survives the cold storing, I'm going to plant it outside again in spring and will try to overwinter it outside.

I doubt that it will survive here in southern Austria, since we have temperatures below freezing for most of the nights since November/December.  It is supposed to be less hardy than Musa Basjoo and Musa Sikkimensis, but it probably does well in regions with a milder winter and a shorter freezing period.

Pancrazio

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Re: Who's growing Musa Helen's Hybrid in USDA 7 or less?
« Reply #11 on: February 10, 2018, 07:13:42 AM »
If you guys/gals are serious about growing Bannanas in very cold zones, perhaps you would consider indoor culture. Select an excellent tasting dwarf variety and grow it under lights.

We have members growing tropical/subtropicals in places like New York, Ohio and even in areas of Japan where it snows. Members have harvested fruit from Lychees, Mangos, Citrus as it was snowing outside.

This is only feasible if you have enough indoor space but if you are going through all this trouble to grow Bannanas, you might as well grow one with top quality fruit.

Simon

I managed to fruit a dwarf namwah outside, with a absolute minimum winter temperature of -6°C. Leaves went to be toast but stems survived. I think that some limited success can be obtained also outside, if you are lucky enough to have short cold spells. Also, I'm further north than New York, so my winter nights are pretty long. I say that much depens on how well you plan winter covers and how much care you are willing to give during winters.
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mikkel

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pineislander

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Re: Who's growing Musa Helen's Hybrid in USDA 7 or less?
« Reply #13 on: February 10, 2018, 10:00:12 PM »
Outside of zone you folks who want to fruit bananas might consider making a deal with a large shopping mall, hospital or office building to overwinter your tree. many of them pay interior landscapers to bring plants in, have plenty of space, warm temps and light.

You might get in touch with one of those landscapers about loaning them a well-grown tree for the winter, and just pick it up up and continue in springtime.

kernol

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Re: Who's growing Musa Helen's Hybrid in USDA 7 or less?
« Reply #14 on: June 05, 2019, 12:59:05 PM »
I've tried to overwinter my 3-year old Musa Helen's Hybrid outside this winter. The winter was exceptionally mild this year in southern Austria. The temperature minimum was around -10°C. From November till February/March most night temperatures were below freezing temperature ... the freezing period is rather long here.
I overwintered it together with a Musa Sikkimensis in a compost pile filled with leaves. The Helen's Hybrid did not survive the test while the Musa Sikkimensis did survive (but most of the pstem did freeze back). My Musa Basjoo barely showed any damage at all.

On the other hand cold storing in a dark room seems to work well for the Helen's Hybrid and seems to be a better option.
« Last Edit: June 05, 2019, 01:01:54 PM by kernol »

mikkel

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Re: Who's growing Musa Helen's Hybrid in USDA 7 or less?
« Reply #15 on: June 05, 2019, 03:11:33 PM »
Thanks for report. I always wondered.

lebmung

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Re: Who's growing Musa Helen's Hybrid in USDA 7 or less?
« Reply #16 on: June 05, 2019, 05:32:01 PM »
I grow 10 varieties of bananas.
The fastest to flower but also cold sensitive is leb mu nang.
The most cold sensitive is siam ruby.
The hardest basjoo, and next balbisiana which is very strong.
Orinoco grows well as long is frost free, even in cold weather.