Ensete Tandarra Red

Ensete 'Tandarra Red'

Summary

Colour wise almost indistinguishable from the more common Maurelii. Shape wise it seems to have a maximum height of 6-7ft but it is a much wider plant than Maurelii. It is nice but I consider it inferior to its more common counterpart. I have kept it alive since January 2011 though unlike many others.

2011

January 2011, I bought it as a small plant from eBay, seen here after potting up

It grew quickly, seen here a short while after, still in the same pot (the Big one on the left, the similar one on the right is a Canna)

It was planted out in late May 2011

Reaching 6ft by the end of the season

It was dug up in October, dried out and stored in the loft in a cardboard box and plenty of newspaper to absorb any moisture

2012

It came out of the loft in March and started into growth in the warmth of the hallway

April: It has grown a few leaves but still has minimal roots, hence the chairs propping it up while it is hardened off

It was planted out a few days later

At the beginning of September it has  Grown to about 5ft

Notice the colour change as the temperatures dropped, here it is on 30th October, it has also spread much wider

Minutes later t is dug up for winter

The stem is now very large

It was again stored dry in the loft

2013

Here seen in early March after it had been removed from the loft. It is very large and quite awkward to get into and out of the loft

It was planted out in the middle of May

October

After being dug up it is drained before dry storage

2014

March again, im not sure which of the two large bananas it is here as they both look the same

The other large Maurelii didnt survive the waking process and rotted, by May the Tandarra is being hardened off, on the left next to the Bird of Paradise

September 2014

2015

May

July

November 8th

Dig up day

hasn't got very big this year at all, probably due to the awful summer we have had, 5-6ft is all

Leaves stripped and laid down to drain water from the leaves. smelt of stagnant water which I've not had before, hopefully will be OK

I have put it in the shed in a similar position, after a few days it will go in the conservatory in a pot

2016

As this plant is so similar to the standard Ensete maurelii, and you cant actually tell the difference until about October (as this one is shorter) I am going to discontinue this page and post future updates on the ensete maurelii page