Does a banana have seeds? Seed location and reproduction methods explained clearly in one go
Bananas are the most common fruit in our lives, and also a very popular fruit. However, unlike other fruits, when we eat fruits such as peaches, plums, apples, apricots and so on, we find that these fruits have seeds, but with bananas alone we do not see where the seeds are. Do bananas have seeds? Where are they? What do they rely on to reproduce?
As a plant that flowers and bears fruit, the banana should of course have seeds. In fact, it is not that bananas have no seeds; we also often see some wild bananas that contain a large number of seeds, but this kind of seedy wild banana is basically inedible. The bananas we commonly eat, however, rarely show seeds, and it is not that this kind of banana has no seeds, but rather that the banana's seeds have degenerated. If we look carefully, we can see degenerated seeds in the middle part of the banana, so the banana is not without seeds, but rather its seeds do not develop.
Wild bananas have seeds, so there is of course no problem with their reproduction. The bananas we eat have no seeds, so what do they rely on to reproduce, and why do they have no seeds? Experts who study bananas explain it this way: tens of thousands of years ago, bananas in the Southeast Asia region underwent a gene mutation, and each of their chromosomes changed from 2 copies to 3, which caused their seeds to fail to develop. From then on, this kind of banana became neither male nor female, changing from sexual reproduction to asexual reproduction.
And this seedless banana became a delicacy for humans. After someone discovered this edible banana, various asexual propagation methods were used to plant it on a large scale, and only from then on did the banana's distribution range continue to expand. It is precisely because the banana's reproduction method is asexual, with no natural spread of seeds, and it can only rely on artificial cultivation, that its distribution range is not wide. Therefore, some people also worry about this neither-male-nor-female situation of bananas, believing that bananas may become extinct under the threat of pests and diseases.
Having said this, everyone should now know how bananas reproduce. There are mainly the following methods:
1. Tuber propagation
That is, using the banana's underground rhizome cut into pieces for propagation. The specific method is to cut the tuber into several small pieces with strong buds, then coat the cut surfaces with plant ash for preservation, place them flat on the seedbed with the bud eyes facing up at a certain plant spacing, cover with a layer of soil, and cover with rice straw. During this period, management should be strengthened, fertilizer applied in time, and pests and diseases well prevented. When they grow to about 50 cm, they are transplanted. This method is the most efficient way to propagate bananas and can cultivate a large number of sprouts in a short time.
2. Sucker division
That is, cutting the new shoots growing from the mother plant apart for transplanting. This method is a relatively common cultivation method, but it is not efficient, and it is difficult to cultivate a large number of seedlings in a short time. The specific method is to cut the new shoots off the mother plant with a tool, cut off the damaged roots, apply plant ash to the wounds, and transplant them onto the prepared seedbed.
3. Tissue culture
The above two methods are relatively traditional cultivation and propagation methods, while tissue culture is a propagation and cultivation technique newly invented under modern scientific and technological conditions. That is, under sterile conditions, a small part of the tissue of organs such as the banana's stem tip, roots, leaves, flowers and fruit is cultured in an artificially controlled environment so that it regenerates and forms a complete plant. The greatest advantage of tissue culture technology is that it can massively propagate disease-free, high-quality, strong seedlings in a relatively short time. For example, if a banana strain with excellent quality and high yield is found in production, tissue culture technology can be used to propagate a large batch of disease-free, genetically pure, uniformly sized healthy strong seedlings in a relatively short time, and it can maintain the excellent traits of the original variety.