PlantFiles: Darjeeling Banana, Hooker's Hardy Banana
Musa sikkimensis

I just received this plant from Agristarts so I can only give it a neutral until I actually experience growing in my gardens. According to the seller, its zone hardiness 5-9. Sounds like a great cold weather tolerant banana plant. Its wind tolerant and needs full sun with no less than 30% shade. Foliage growers should use 30% to 60% shade. Soil requirements: need good water holding capability so I will use water sorb crystals in my planting hole. Mature height is 15'. ‘Sikkimensis’ is the same cultivar a hookerii according to the description on Agristarts.

15 seed bought from jungleseeds in UK, selected from plants with most red in the wild 6,000 feet up in the Himalayas. Soaked 5 days, sowed I think in April/May 2004, kept in sunny greenhouse to start, when got too hot moved to shaded greenhouse. 4 germinated mid July in cooler spell around 17C, another 4 germinated late September when cool. Compare the two lots in photo, 2nd lot slow to catch up. Kept in spare bedroom over winter 16 -18C, then cold greenhouse, and outside in summer. Cool summer 2005 they grew very well whereas musa basjoo hardly moved. Leaves also much broader, darker, stronger. 4 colour-ways in both lots, green top/light maroon flush back; green top/maroon midrib on back; some colour on top and back; very strong colour on top and back almost purple and covering most of the leaf. Sikkimensis also continues to grow through the winter inside, basjoo halts until spring. Yet to be tried outdoors, basjoo overwintered in a pot in my shed with south facing sunny window with 5 frosts to -5 and -6C, maintained stem, but was a little larger so may not risk sikkimensis this year, build an extension to the house instead! I grow in a very free draining mix of leafy compost, leaf/soil mix from our brick lined beck, and Irish moss peat, no extra fertiliser given so hardiness likely increased. Leaf colour starts to develop when plant stem around 9-12", and gets better the following season.

I have managed to grow this plant from seed, but my success rate was only 1 seed out of 8. I soaked the seed for 2 days in tepid water on a radiator, then transferred it to a propagator. The seed germinated in about 6 weeks in a 3 inch pot. I was very careful not to damage the root system or over water it until it became established. Once it was growing well, it could be potted up without any worries. It is a wonderful plant, with slightly reddish undersides to the leaves, and is growing nicely outside in Shropshire, UK.

This banana is one of the more exciting ones in the nursery trade as it is probably one of the most cold hardy species available, and it's relatively new. Some forms have very ornamental reddish to maroon variegation on the leaves. It is a tall banana and it's a fairly rapid grower. Not sure if the fruit is all that edible but it gives a great tropical look to those gardens that see a lot of frost that otherwise couldn't support bananas. From the high elevations of India and nearby.