AEAE BANANA

[sick1166]

supposed to be hard to come by 4 -5 ft for $85.00 dont know much about them easy to care for like a regular banana?

really worth that price he sells them for 100.00 but said i can buy them at this price for helping with his pool pump they look cool

Edited July 20, 2010 by sick1166

[cvb7873]

Jump on it. Mine melted this winter, I paid $100.00 for a three footer. They seem to burn a bit when exposed to direct sun, and they are slower then other bananas (I'm guessing from the varigation). Stunning looking plant. Hit me up when it throws up pups!

[John Case]

It is much more difficult than most bananas, especially if you live in a hot or cold climate. They like acid soil, lots of humidity, dappled light at most, and when you are successful, they are very large (over 21 feet), making it difficult to produce the conditions it likes.

I would like to have one but given the required conditions for success, I am reticent to put up a hundred bucks.

History tells us that this banana was only allowed to be grown by Hawaiian royalty (maybe that is a shaggy dog story, I have heard the same thing about Colocasia illustris which was at the Darian garden) but maybe that would help if you had that blood in you.

85 bucks is a great price for this plant if it is 4 feet tall.....and if you can provide the conditions.

[cagary]

Got mine to fruit here in southern CA without too much trouble. Grow them in the most sheltered spot you have.

Ae Ae

Pups at base.

Fruit

Pups grown up

[epicure3]

I, too, have them growing at my place. They get very tall. Mine lost their variegation after several pups so I took them out. Now, I have them growing in a different spot and they seem to maintain their variegation with more shade.

[sick1166]

thanks for the info gonna pick up 1 maybe 2 ahd give them a try

thanks again for the info

[palmislandRandy]

Decent deal as they usually sell for around a hundred bucks. He should give you a better discount than $15 for fixing his pool pump. Anyone know what "AEAE" stands for?

Randy

[virtualpalm]

I agree that $85 is a good price. We have a few here at the nursery where I work, and we get $250 for 7 gal. and $500 for 15 gal.

Jody

[JungleGina]

I find that the more I pay for a banana, the faster it dies. Good luck! Those are sooo gorgeous--especially that fruit!!

[ThunderSRQ]

I think AEAE stands for "Although Exquisite, Abnormally Expensive"...

[Moose]

Wow - I did not know they got so tall. Mine got hit pretty hard this winter but has recovered nicely. It is about 14 ft. tall now. When should it begin to fruit? Mine also blew over this spring. I was told they do not have a very strong root system. It is now strapped to a rebar driven in the ground.

Moose

[Eric in Orlando]

Anyone know a good mailorder source for these? Ours flowered a few years ago but never suckered and the squirrels chewed the fruits off before they could form.

What happened to Natural Selections website? Now you just get directed to a porno site.

[John Case]

Wow - I did not know they got so tall. Mine got hit pretty hard this winter but has recovered nicely. It is about 14 ft. tall now. When should it begin to fruit? Mine also blew over this spring. I was told they do not have a very strong root system. It is now strapped to a rebar driven in the ground.

Moose

The data show they reach over 20 feet in optimal conditions. Fruiting occurs spontaneously....watch for the flower as it grows pretty fast. You may have to brace the fruiting body from below with 1 or 2 inch PVC (use a goalpost form to support the fruit and take pressure off the p-stem). Usually fruiting occurs in their 3rd or 4th year....depending on many factors.

[cagary]

Mine got over 20 feet tall before it fruited.

[Dypsisdean]

Decent deal as they usually sell for around a hundred bucks. He should give you a better discount than $15 for fixing his pool pump. Anyone know what "AEAE" stands for?

Randy

aʻeaʻe (Hawaiian) - Mixing of a dark or brilliant color with a lighter one, as feathers in a lei; of dark hair of a young person with streaks of gray

It was the banana of choice (or possibly exclusively) for the Hawaiian aliʻi (royalty)

[cagary]

Decent deal as they usually sell for around a hundred bucks. He should give you a better discount than $15 for fixing his pool pump. Anyone know what "AEAE" stands for?

Randy

aʻeaʻe (Hawaiian) - Mixing of a dark or brilliant color with a lighter one, as feathers in a lei; of dark hair of a young person with streaks of gray

It was the banana of choice (or possibly exclusively) for the Hawaiian aliʻi (royalty)

I always wonder why. They certainly are attractive, but I would think taste would be the most important criteria when it comes to making a food item exclusively for the royals. Ae Ae fruit is pretty good if you let it get nice and ripe, but I have had tastier bananas.

[Dypsisdean]

Decent deal as they usually sell for around a hundred bucks. He should give you a better discount than $15 for fixing his pool pump. Anyone know what "AEAE" stands for?

Randy

aʻeaʻe (Hawaiian) - Mixing of a dark or brilliant color with a lighter one, as feathers in a lei; of dark hair of a young person with streaks of gray

It was the banana of choice (or possibly exclusively) for the Hawaiian aliʻi (royalty)

I always wonder why. They certainly are attractive, but I would think taste would be the most important criteria when it comes to making a food item exclusively for the royals. Ae Ae fruit is pretty good if you let it get nice and ripe, but I have had tastier bananas.

I would assume the Hawaiian Royalty had a very limited selection of banana types to choose from. Things were very primitive and sparse on the most isolated land mass on the planet before Captain Cook showed up. Before that, the only bananas came thousands of miles in canoes. And no telling how many types were even available back then anyway. I don't know for sure, but I would bet big money there were none here when the first polynesians showed up.

I'm curious if they weren't a variety that started on Hawaii. In that case, it could have been seen as something special with magical properties, and the taste wasn't the deciding factor.

[sick1166]

they taste great when fully ripe they turn yellow

[sick1166]

thanks again for the info bought 4 of them if any one local wants 1 $85.00 what i paid 3 in the yard is enough

[metalfan]

Mine was over 20 ft when it flowered. It produced 7 pups, 2 of which were pure white and had to be discarded. A third took off and started growing like a demon, and after the mother plant died back, that one took over and the other remaining 4 pups were just resorbed into the ground, probably used for energy by the dominant pup which is now about 12 ft tall. They never got to the size or stage that I could remove them.

[Moose]

Mine blew over in heavy winds this spring. I staked it back up and it seems happy now. I threw all mangoes that had fungus or squirrel chew marks around the base for mulch. It seems to like it.

Ron.

[metalfan]

You know I hope that's in your BACK YARD away from view from the street. It's be sick if you came out one morning and it had been dug up and carted off by malevolent persons unknown...

[Jeff Searle]

Wow - I did not know they got so tall. Mine got hit pretty hard this winter but has recovered nicely. It is about 14 ft. tall now. When should it begin to fruit? Mine also blew over this spring. I was told they do not have a very strong root system. It is now strapped to a rebar driven in the ground.

Moose

Ron,

Come on, Rob and I saw this just 2-3 months ago and it was like 4' tall. Are you saying this is the same banana in the photo that is now 14' tall?

[Palms1984]

Got mine to fruit here in southern CA without too much trouble. Grow them in the most sheltered spot you have.

Ae Ae

Pups at base.

Fruit

Pups grown up

Great pics! Do you fertilize your Ae Ae Bananas? If so, with what type of fertilizer? Also, how long did it take to fruit?

I have one that's been in the ground for 3 years...it hasn't fruited yet...and has been trying to develop a pup since last year.

[pdleft]

We have a few Ae Ae around the yard and nursery. Yes, they are more difficult to grow than other bananas. They get top heavy and have to be staked when they are about ready to fruit then the squirrels find them and love the beautiful striped bananas. I have found that if I pot the suckers and add fertilizer, they lose the color. It takes quite a time to get it back so I don't fertilize if I want to sell it. They don't seem to be affected if they are in the ground although once in a while we get a green pup. I have one now that I potted up to see what will happen with it. It was right next to a beautiful colored pup that I also potted. I believe they do better in partial shade although my husband and I disagree on this. I am in Loxahatchee, Fl if anyone is looking for a pup. We do have them once in awhile.

[cagary]

Got mine to fruit here in southern CA without too much trouble. Grow them in the most sheltered spot you have.

Ae Ae

Pups at base.

Fruit

Pups grown up

Great pics! Do you fertilize your Ae Ae Bananas? If so, with what type of fertilizer? Also, how long did it take to fruit?

I have one that's been in the ground for 3 years...it hasn't fruited yet...and has been trying to develop a pup since last year.

Took about two years to fruit. I use a lot of Sul Po Mag ( 22% sulfur, 22% potash, and 11% magnesium ). I have heard banana plants like it and it seems to work for me.

[Palms1984]

Got mine to fruit here in southern CA without too much trouble. Grow them in the most sheltered spot you have.

Ae Ae

Pups at base.

Fruit

Pups grown up

Great pics! Do you fertilize your Ae Ae Bananas? If so, with what type of fertilizer? Also, how long did it take to fruit?

I have one that's been in the ground for 3 years...it hasn't fruited yet...and has been trying to develop a pup since last year.

Took about two years to fruit. I use a lot of Sul Po Mag ( 22% sulfur, 22% potash, and 11% magnesium ). I have heard banana plants like it and it seems to work for me.

Thanks very much for the information!

[Moose]

Wow - I did not know they got so tall. Mine got hit pretty hard this winter but has recovered nicely. It is about 14 ft. tall now. When should it begin to fruit? Mine also blew over this spring. I was told they do not have a very strong root system. It is now strapped to a rebar driven in the ground.

Moose

Ron,

Come on, Rob and I saw this just 2-3 months ago and it was like 4' tall. Are you saying this is the same banana in the photo that is now 14' tall?

Yes Jeff - it is the same plant. As a matter of fact if you enlarge the photo, look at the leaf on the left side that is drooping a little more below horizontal. You will see a bunch of little holes in the leaf. That was caused by snails munching on it when it blew over and was lying on the ground. That was the spear leaf when you and Rob visited.

I think it may be happy now!

[Alicehunter2000]

I have a chance to buy a 8 ft. tall beautifully variegated AeAe from a local guy. It is already in the pot and was a pup from his mother plant growing in his yard. The price is $125. The stem is bigger around than my forearm and the mother plant had a beautiful cluster of variegated banana's that he recently cut. They were laying on his porch. My wife says that it can be my Christmas present.....should I get it? Are they really that hard to grow? If it freezes to the ground will it regrow the next season? I have a shady backyard and dappled sunlight...perfect for growing these right? I really don't want to dig these up every year so I would probably leave it in the ground, provided that it comes back.

[_Keith]

I have a chance to buy a 8 ft. tall beautifully variegated AeAe from a local guy. It is already in the pot and was a pup from his mother plant growing in his yard. The price is $125. The stem is bigger around than my forearm and the mother plant had a beautiful cluster of variegated banana's that he recently cut. They were laying on his porch. My wife says that it can be my Christmas present.....should I get it? Are they really that hard to grow? If it freezes to the ground will it regrow the next season? I have a shady backyard and dappled sunlight...perfect for growing these right? I really don't want to dig these up every year so I would probably leave it in the ground, provided that it comes back.

I have killed a couple of these, and they are expensive, so I am done. One I bought near you. I think it was the nursery on the road from Navarre up to I-10.

[Alicehunter2000]

Hmmm...really....were they larger?....what do you think went wrong?

[dalmatiansoap]

125$ for 8" is a fair market price. With some protection U will return that money soon. But on the other side I wouldnt choose that one for the "first" banana.

[JEFF IN MODESTO]

Bananas are funny creatures.

Some are weeds ...you couldn't kill if you wanted to. ( I have a fruiting variety like that)

While others die at temps above freezing!

Anyway,

That's an excellent price.

I've heard of one gallon going for more.

Only problem I've heard that they are very sensitive to cold.

Still the price is right to give it a chance.

[Moose]

Read this bumped topic - then checked out my AeAe - viola, its fruiting. Never had it happen this time of year. From a sucker whose Momma fruited in July.

[_Keith]

Hmmm...really....were they larger?....what do you think went wrong?

I think this banana in particular is just really found of dying.

[Funkthulhu]

Been fiddlin' around over at bananas.org, apparently if you're really careful you can get one of the full albino pups to produce fruit if it has a thick mat of siblings to give it food (no chlorophyl of its own). That is something I would like to see. Albino bananas. . .

David, I think if you're careful someone like you could make it work. I would definitely treat it like an out of zone palm and give it as much protection as I could. (I would also harvest pups as soon as I think it's safe and keep a couple potted inside just in case.)

[Alicehunter2000]

Ahh...I'm no banana expert....just about talked myself out of it...don't really want to dig up every year. Instead, I just ordered a bunch of Dypsis decipien 1 gallons from Floribunda....probably alot more likely to make it here and it would be the only crownshafted palm that might be halfway reliable once it gets size.

The same guy has some other varigated banana that he says is easier to grow and is even more rare. Forgot what he called it but it sure didn't look as cool as the AeAe.

[Thanawut]

On 7/21/2010 at 5:23 AM, cagary said:

Got mine to fruit here in southern CA without too much trouble. Grow them in the most sheltered spot you have.

 

Ae Ae

 

 

Pups at base.

 

 

Fruit

 

 

Pups grown up

 

Do you have this pup more ? Please sell for me 

[Ivoivo]

On 8/3/2010 at 11:18 AM, pdleft said:

We have a few Ae Ae around the yard and nursery. Yes, they are more difficult to grow than other bananas. They get top heavy and have to be staked when they are about ready to fruit then the squirrels find them and love the beautiful striped bananas. I have found that if I pot the suckers and add fertilizer, they lose the color. It takes quite a time to get it back so I don't fertilize if I want to sell it. They don't seem to be affected if they are in the ground although once in a while we get a green pup. I have one now that I potted up to see what will happen with it. It was right next to a beautiful colored pup that I also potted. I believe they do better in partial shade although my husband and I disagree on this. I am in Loxahatchee, Fl if anyone is looking for a pup. We do have them once in awhile.

Let me know if any pups are available. I’m on the gulf coast; Spring Hill, Fl. It will be a hike for me but I can probably set something up. Thank you. 

[Silas_Sancona]

5 minutes ago, Ivoivo said:

Let me know if any pups are available. I’m on the gulf coast; Spring Hill, Fl. It will be a hike for me but I can probably set something up. Thank you. 

Others in S. FL. may have pups to share, but this user hasn't been active in a few years..