How to produce the seeds of seedless bananas

15 years ago

I understand such seeds could be produced by cross breeding

between species.

Could anybody explain this subject theoretically and practically?

Thanks in advance.

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Comment (1)

tropicallvr
15 years ago
I'm not an expert.
Some edible bananas are more receptive than others for pollination. Some have viable pollen that can be used, others don't. Some that have viable pollen don't have viable female part, and vice versa. It's a mixed bag. Especially since some species aren't compatible with others. Example; M.basjoo seems best suited to M.initerans hybridization, but less so with other species.
If you wanted to try to pollinate one type that you have you'd have to have two stems blooming at the same time, but one would have to be producing pollen(later male flower stage), and the other would have to be in the female stage. But that wouldn't nessecarily mean that it would work, or if it did you might only get a couple of seeds. I have also heard that alot of the success depends on the time of day you pollinate, early morning being the best.
I'm not sure exactly how the banana researchers do it, but I'm pretty sure that the more chromozome count you have the better chances your banana will end up being seedless.
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How to produce the seeds of seedless bananas

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tropicallvr

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