Domesticated bananas, unlike many other fruits, are primarily grown not from seeds, but from cuttings. This is because modern cultivated bananas are largely sterile and contain only tiny, residual seeds that are not viable for propagation.
Propagation Method: From Cuttings
The most common method for growing new domesticated banana plants is through asexual propagation, specifically using cuttings or sections of the parent plant. This process is often referred to as planting suckers, pups, or using tissue culture derived from the parent plant.
Why Use Cuttings?
- Sterility: As the provided reference states, modern bananas are sterile, a result of ancient crossbreeding between wild species. They contain only tiny residual seeds and cannot be reliably grown from these seeds.
- Genetic Consistency: Growing from cuttings ensures that the new plant is a genetic clone of the parent, preserving the desired characteristics (taste, size, disease resistance) of the specific banana variety.
- Efficiency: This method allows for faster establishment and production compared to growing from seed (if viable seeds were available).
The Contrast with Wild Bananas
It's important to note the difference between domesticated and wild bananas.
- Wild bananas are packed full of bullet-like seeds and contain very little edible fruit. They can propagate from seed.
- Domesticated bananas, through selective breeding and hybridization, have been developed to have abundant, seedless fruit, but at the cost of their ability to reproduce sexually via seeds.
The Process
Growing domesticated bananas typically involves:
- Selecting a healthy "sucker": This is a shoot that emerges from the base of a mature banana plant.
- Cutting the sucker: The sucker is carefully cut away from the parent plant, ensuring it has some roots attached.
- Planting the sucker: The cutting is then planted in prepared soil.
- Growth: The sucker grows into a new banana plant genetically identical to its parent.
Alternatively, plants can be grown from tissue culture in a laboratory setting, producing large numbers of genetically uniform plantlets.
In summary, domesticated bananas are propagated from cuttings because the cultivated varieties are sterile and their tiny seeds are not used for planting, a stark contrast to wild bananas which are full of large seeds.
