Can You Really Grow A Banana Kiwi Hybrid?

A banana kiwi hybrid sounds too good to be true! A video released this week is taking the internet (and horticulturists) by storm.

You may have seen a video floating around Facebook this week with instructions on how to grow a banana kiwi fruit. The video gives step-by-step instructions on how to grow your own kiwi inside of a banana. Awesome, right? But is it true?

We consulted with a horticulturist to find out how this works, and why no one had thought of it before. Bernie Hughson, horticulturist with the Arkansas Horticulture Institute, was amazed when he first viewed the video. “I couldn’t believe my eyes, really.” He said he’s never seen anything like it.

The video shows a man slicing a banana, and then slicing a kiwi. He purposefully slices the end of the fruit off, instead of slicing them in the middle.

“That’s how grafting works,” Hughson explained. “You take one piece of a plant and you insert one into the other or kind of push them together, and then a process starts that results in a change in the genetic makeup of the plant. You’ve basically created a chimera.”

In the video, the man then puts the two pieces of fruit flesh together, seeds touching. That way, the seeds can gently rub one another and stimulate the reproductive process. “That’s pretty important,” Hughson explains. “They have to be touching or else it won’t work. Chimeras aren’t created via some kind of airborne reproduction process.”

Once the two pieces of fruit are touching one another, they have to be placed in soil. They should be covered so the reproductive process can continue undisturbed. “I think one inch of soil is fine,” Hughson said in agreement with the video.

Under cover, on a soft bed of fluffy soil, the magic begins to happen. The banana and the kiwi are touching each other, and slowly begin to enter one another. The banana usually hardens up a bit, and the kiwi releases juices that surround the banana. Soon, a softening process begins. The process is quite beautiful to watch, according to Hughson. “It’s a magical thing.”

After a few weeks, according to the video, your fruit will be ready to harvest. “This is true,” Hughson confirmed. “The process takes just a few weeks, and before you know it, you have a hybrid!”

These can be grown just about anywhere. “I recommend growing them indoors,” Hughson said. “That way, you won’t miss any of the magic.”