I found a male banana on my plant that is 7 weeks into flower. I removed it, but I’m worried there may be more I’m not seeing. I have seen some people say these late bananas are not viable, some say they are. I have also read that this can be normal as the plant tries to fertilize itself before the end. If there are others that drop pollen, should I worry that my crop is going to be all beans, or is it too late in flower to cause any real issues? I do not think this is stress related, as my heat/humid/light distance is all within the safe range. Also, if I do get seeds from a late banana, will the seeds be mostly female or will they be prone to hermie?
Thanks in advance
Some genetics, a lot of the “elite” strains have a tendency to shoot a naner or two *cookiescoughcough. This late, you should be fine, there isn’t much time for it to pollinate and form seeds before the harvest.
When you are trimming your plant up, be extra meticulous and search for naners. Sometimes it’s the lower branches / lard you gotta watch for.
I have a Wounded Warrior strain right now that will always produce 5-6 naners per cycle. No more, no less. I keep it around because it is amazing smoke and there haven’t been anything more than two seeds pop up in the whole batch. To me, the risk is worth it, although I’ll unfortunately never make seeds with her, damn I love her too.
Your seeds will have the genetic capability of herming in the future. But is it a homozygous dominant / recessive or is it a heterozygous recessive trait? Thats where the breeding comes in, but you could also be wasting time on a plant that will always herm. Hence, me not making seeds with her.
Week 7 is early for my liking, but I wouldn’t stress about it. It’s not unusual for a plant to kick out a few nanners late in a last ditch effort to reproduce. If they start clustering you’ve got a problem, but usually nothing to worry about in late flower.
I grew Cherry Cordial from TGA which was a problem free plant throughout flower and showed a few nanners at week 8, finished in 10. Only 2 seeds out of about 14oz’s …no big deal.