edible banana

I know that Musa basjoo will grow well in my area (Nanaimo BC, south east coast of Vancouver Island) but is there an edible variety that will do ok without frost protection?

Our local climate is a bit wetter and cooler than Victoria, drier and probably warmer than North Vancouver.

Thanks
BillJ

 

Musa itinerans is supposedly hardy, although my plants won't go in-ground until next year. It's being reported as root hardy from Yunnan province China, seedy would likely be the case, edible maybe debatable, and the true hardiness has yet to be determined. I'm afraid that's as close as we can estimate (so far).

Cheers, LPN (Lantzville)

 

Musa RajaPuri is quite hardy and can mature fruit in 9 months.
However, in your climate there may not be enough heat to ripen
fruit. http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/67518/index.html

HTH
Chris

 

There was a Musa sikkimensis or something like that I saw for a bit at Forestfarm.com (no longer there) that I thought was listed as edible and cold-hardy to zone 7a if I remember correctly.

 

Hardy? Yes. Edible, well no one to my knowledge has had fruit, or if they have, didn't report it as being edible. I travel in tight circles and have no confimation regarding "edible" fruit from M. sikkimensis. Web-site claims are often geared for sales.

Cheers, LPN.

 

I've never heard about them being edible either, but then my circle of growers is similar to LPN's.
What does bananaJoe grow?

 

Carol,
I've only seen (or noticed) Musa basjoo at Joe's place.

Cheers, Barrie.

P.S. I'm enjoying the thaw now. Snow still heaped on plants that I'll attend to ASAP.

 

He put bananas in the fall fair, thought that they were supposed to be edible.

 

Try a cold frame environment, for winters such as the current winter freeze that
settled over all of B.C.'s lotusland... my Musa b. is quite content inside a greenhouse.
This was by chance, as I never planted it out of doors along with the dozens of others.....
will see results late in the spring for budding and fruit set, but honestly folks, our climate likely never accomodate this "tropical decadence" to bear edible fruit, even though I have witnessed fruiting of this species this year and global warming is at hand.......

 

Forestfarm.com is pretty reputible...my memory of their catalog obviously isn't!

 

Here's one I'd like to try in my garden.
http://www.smgrowers.com/products/plants/plantdisplay.asp?plant_id=1065

Cheers, LPN.