Bananen-bananas Musa itinerans "Forma India" - Red-striped Banana

• Article number: MUSCHI01

There are a lot of Musa species in the world and of many of these there is plenty of information and knowledge available. This species does not belong in this group. It is a reasonably unknown species that is mostly multiplied trough seeds. The bananas that grow on this plant are full of seed and this is one of the reasons it's not interesting for consumption. This is also one of the reasons why this banana is not propegated a lot.

When you are however not looking for a fruit bearing banana tree (in the northern European climate this can be tricky anyway) this variety could be very interesting. The "Forma India" is beautifull in colour. The leaf is bright green and across it runs a red stripe. Unlike other bananas this stripe remains visible year round and also keeps visible when the plant grows in size.

The itinerans species as a whole comes from south east Asia, China and India. This variety comes, as the name suggests, from India. More specific it comes from the Sikkim region where the well known sikkemensis comes from as well. Temperatures in this mountainous area can regularely get below zero and the Forma India is with some protection relatively winter resistent.

Winter protection is to be recommended for more bananas. We suggest placing a basket around the banana and to fill this up with old leaves. These old leaves will slowly digest and the heat produced in this process warms the banana. Make sure to keep in mind that air should always flow trough. Wrapping the plant in plastic is a guarenteed failure. In spring when there will be no more frost the basket can be removed. When the banana is then cut it will continue to grow from here. This way it is possible to (with the help of a high basket) give the banana a head start of about 1,5 meter. This way the chance of flowers increase but the banana itself will grow better/faster/stronger.

Winter hardness zone 8 (-5ºC).