I am very proud to have finally sprouted a banana from seed. It has been a very long time coming. I’ve tried various Musa varieties in the last 2 years. Just like the online forums will tell you, it is difficult to sprout Musa varieties of bananas from seed. But the Ensete Ventricosum or Ethiopian Banana is a great little seed to sprout.

Out of 5 seeds planted, I currently only have one seedling. There are no signs of the others sprouting at this time. Seed germination for all bananas are erratic. They do need allot of time and attention. I have mine in some seed starting compost locked in an air-tight large mason jar on a heat mat. This way (at least I hope) they won’t dry out and can take all the time in the world they need. I originally planted them in mid January 2014.

Cost wise, buying seeds and potting them on is always the most cost effective strategy. But when you take into account the time needed for banana seeds to sprout and the fact many seeds may not even be viable.. well.. you start looking for live plants to purchase. But in this case with the Ensete, I’m happy to say it is fairly cost effective for me. 5 seeds cost me around 5.50$ from Veseys.com. Even if I only have one plant, that’s a good price in my opinion.

Now, all that being said, I wanted to share with you some photos of my little seedling. I’m very proud of it. Hope you enjoy.