TRZ131 Musa Ensete

This bush type banana is cold hardy into and north of USDA Hardiness Zone 8. Regardless of your climate, you can always enjoy banana type bushes in containers or in greenhouses or as tender perennials. If you crave amazing, tropical, bold-textured foliage and exotic flowers in your garden, you should try growing your own banana bush!
Musa ensete is one of the hardiest types of the Musa family and has very large seeds. This small tree is ideal for conservatories, patios, or as a large potted plant. Only grows about 6 feet tall and is grown for its foliage; unfortunately, no bananas on Musa Ensete. Decorative, huge leaves rivalling any expensive mature house plants. Grows 3 feet in the first four months after seed germination!
Sow anytime of year after soaking the seeds for 24 hours in lukewarm water. Use a peat based seed compost and sow 1/4 inch deep. After sowing, seal the seed container inside a polythene bag in order to keep the compost moist. Germination is slow and erratic and can take 1 - 6 months at 80F. As each seed germinates, transfer it to a 3 in pot of good free draining compost, taking care not to damage the fragile roots. Pot on as required, the larger the container the larger the plant will grow.
Grow Musa ensete bush in warm, well lit conditions. During summer they can be stood outside or planted in the border but should be brought into well lit frost free conditions for the winter when it should be kept moderately dry. Some discoloration of the leaf ends may occur through the winter months but this won't harm the plant.
Zone 8 or higher outside, but often grown as a houseplant or patio plant.

  5 seeds per pack. Price per pack: $3.95

  25 seeds $12.95

For more banana seed varieties, all in stock and ready to ship, visit our Banana Seed Page .

If you want to grow banana plants from seed, be aware that the resulting fruit will not be like those you buy at the grocers. They will contain seeds and, depending upon the variety, might be so large that the fruit is difficult to get to.
Bananas grown from seed are normally for ornamental purposes, we do however offer a few varieties that will produce edible bananas ( with seeds of course ), and they have a wonderful flavor superior to store bananas.

Bananas are one of the more difficult seeds to germinate in terms of time and effort required, especially compared to vegetable and flower seeds most gardeners are familiar with, but they can be germinated at a decent rate if one is diligent.

The first thing to understand is that banana seed take a long time to germinate! Nature has built in natural germination inhibitors to insure they do not germinate in the wild too soon.

We have been germinating banana seeds in our germination trials for over 25 years. The normal germination range in our greenhouse trials varies from 1 to 6 months. We have had some varieties germinate in just a few weeks, only to have the same variety take several months during the next germination trial, you cannot predict how long they will take to germinate.
The basic things to remember if you are germinating banana seeds are:
1. Always soak seeds before sowing. We recommend 24-48 hours.
2. Use a well draining soil mix. A mix that holds water will rot the seeds in place.
3.Soil temperature must be at least 68 degrees or warmer for part of the day. But, seeds need alternating temperatures for germinating. We found that just putting a heating mat under the seeds and leaving temperature constant was not nearly as effective as heating the soil for a few hours a day, then allowing it to cool.
4. Keep soil damp, but not wet! Wet soil will rot seeds quickly. Placing the seed tray inside a plastic bag is a good way to keep moisture constant.
5. Be very, very patient. Seeds can easily take several months and in most cases will. We only offer seeds from the latest harvest and have them tested before making them available to our customers. Due to the long germination time of these and the difficulty germinating them, we do not offer a replacement guarantee on these seeds, please consider this before purchasing.