We two seem to be the only people on the forum that have the banana plants identified as "Little Princess'" as I have never seen a little prince I cannot help.
Here is a pic of my "Little Princess" for comparison.
But I would like to know too!
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This is VERY interesting.
I am a collector also and I have a plant called "LITTLE PRINCE". I have researched it and it is a registered plant name. It is a derivative of a very dwarf banana called "Novak".
It is Holland bred and is EXACTLY the same as the plant in your photograph.
My plant label says it will grow to only 40cm.
For a banana that is TINY.
My guess is that they are one and the same, somebody has been doing some "re-naming " somewhere along the line.
I have to say that I dont like the plant much, only got it because it was cheap and unusual.
I would like to know if it will flower or fruit at such a small size, the label says "not edible" !!
Would welcome any more information.

I contacted agristarts at the trade show in Columbus, Ohio, they hadn't heard of little princess, they sell Little Prince, but only through Park wholesale which is a propagation prohibited plant.
Now if you were a small time grower and yours pupped and it's a propagation prohibited plant and you can't sell it under the "little prince" name, what would you call the pups? That's my hunch, or if you're at a market and get some plants that the vendor tells you are "very similar to "whatever", that means they've usually been doing some dividing.
I haven't contacted park yet to see how much they are charging for the "little prince". But Agristarts isn't allowed to sell them directly which doesn't say good things for the price in my opinion. lol....

I agree someone has been doing some renaming. Since I could not find anything on the "Little Princess' I concluded that it must be a "Little Prince". Here is a pic of it today... and one with the pups.. There are 6 of them and they are all healthy.. I really should divide it. These bananas seem to like a bit of shade so next summer when I redo the front yard into my tropical haven I am going to use these as an understory plant.
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Yep, looks like Little Prince. It does seem to like more shade than my other bananas. And like yendis I'm not too fond of it, it was cheap and I didn't have one, what better reason to buy a plant? But it is not a good growing plants, subject to rot, the pups don't do all that great when seperated.
Tally HO!

Well, I am not going to seperate these.... Thanks beachplant! They grow so close to the pseudostem.. that before you know it, I will have a nice clump of mini nanners..it will look nice under my Basjoo.. or others.

Soo where does one get one?

Keith

They do look like my Little Prince plants. I got two last spring from Plants Delights Nursery. I have them in 6 inch pots and put them out on my front steps in June. They only get afternoon sun, but did fine. Got clobbered in Aug. by a hail storm, but only had their leaves shreaded.

I don't know if they will fruit, but I enjoy growing them. so far I've had no problems with them, but was wondering if they will act like SDC does in winter, die back and pup like carzy? Anyone know?

I have also just ordered Truly Tiny and was wondering if anyone has had any experience with them?

Thanks

Give it a shot of gibberellic acid (GA) to see if it grows normal size. Almost any banana plant can be grown that short by treating it with GA antagonist.

I have two of them (also bought because they were really cheap...)and they are tiny, irritating plants that don't ever seem to grow well (although they put out lots of pups). I've read that they put out a lot of root growth in relation to the top growth, so they need good-sized pots if they are to reach fruiting size.

Genetic waste. That's a better name for it.

This plant kills all my illusions of banana-plants. In my head, they are supposed to have large tropical foliage and a graceful habit. That's my opinion.

I have also tried it, because it was cheap and I didn't really have anything better to do at the time. All it has done is produced a million pups, and taken up valuable window space. So now it's in the trash somewhere.

Little Prince was bred by a friend of mine and Tony Avent's ( who owns Plants Delight). He lives in Raleigh, not in Holland, though I think he said that the plant is selling in Europe. I think your contact at Agristarts was misinformed-it is not owned, or controlled by Park Seed. You can buy it direct from Agristarts-its in their catalog of plants for sale.
It does tolerate shade better than other bananas, and I don't think it fruits, though I have yet to ask my friend that. I know it is not hardy in zone 7, so I don't grow it.
I have never heard that there is a problem separating the pups-I have several friends that gow it and the separated pups seem to be doing fine....

The garden centers in Houston have them at 70% off right now, so around $6 for a decent size one w/ pups.
They don't tolerate full sun, or wind or cool temps-it never got below 40 last year & the thing died, nothing else did.
For some odd reason I bought 2 on clearance last year. Very disappointing. Lots of pups but they have a poor performance once seperated. Tally HO!