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The banana plant is flowering! Photo at right shows the flower bud emerging. The last leaf before the bud was much smaller than usual. I attributed that to the lack of sun this time of year in my area (even though I had read that it was a sign of a coming flower). I just assumed that any flower would show up in summer, so I wasn't even looking for one. This was a big surprise. Watch this site for photos of the bloom's progression into fruit. I've had this plant for 2 years now, keeping it warm for 2 winters in the greenhouse. It got so tall that I had to dig a big hole in the greenhouse floor to set the pot into so that the leaves would not mash against the greenhouse roof and suffer frostbite. I recently received a congratulatory phone call from my father. His banana plant (started at the same time as mine) is dead; there is a small sucker at its side with a bit of green showing. It appears that I will win the contest. However, the goal is fruit, and I don't actually have any yet. According to my sources, it could be months before I have edible fruit ready. All I need to win the contest is one fruit, and I'm sure I'll have more than that by summer's end. Dad is not exactly suffering through this loss. He and my mother left today on a 4 week cruise which starts in Singapore (where I'm sure they have plenty of banana plants). Before he left, he did say that he's up for another banana contest (best 2 out of 3?). This time we'll try another variety. I've been looking through the Stokes Tropicals catalog and see a "Dwarf Cavendish" and a "Super Dwarf Cavendish" either of which would be a more manageable size. I am so enthralled with bananas now that I think I also need a Musa basjoo (Japanese Fiber Banana) or a Musa sikkimensis for the garden outside. |
Above is the flower bud of a 'Raja Puri' banana plant. I have found a great book entitled "Bananas and Plantains" by J. C. Robinson, Institute for Tropical and Subtropical Crops, Nelspruit, South Africa. The publisher is CAB INTERNATIONAL, Wallingford, Oxon OX10 8DE, UK. This book probably has everything you need to know to produce a crop of bananas. (It worked for me!) |
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How
to keep a banana plant happy (I hope!)
Hi, Sherry.... A friend of mine said his banana plant is not doing well & I said I'd see if I could find any info. I did suggest that he should mist the plant and perhaps water it more frequently than he had been doing, as I would imagine a tropical plant would need more humiiity? However, I would be delighted if you could either tell me something more scientific than that, or steer me toward a good source of info? Thank you very much! --Lindsay (I did a "search" and your page came up, and you sounded approachable; hence this note.) Hello, Lindsay! Thank you for visiting my website. "Not doing well" is not very specific information to go on! I will tell you the basics of how to keep a banana plant happy, and hope that it helps your friend. Bananas are fast-growing herbaceous perennial plants and require: Warmth, but not too much or too little! Specifically, growth stops and heat stress will occur at 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 C). On the other end of the scale, a temperature below 42 degrees Fahrenheit (6 C) will cause leaf chlorophyll destruction. Freezing is obviously not a good thing for a banana plant, but the underground rhizome may survive if the cold temperature period if brief. Kiss the leaves goodbye, though. A good "mean" temperature to aim for is 80.6 degrees Fahrenheit (27 C). The daily "mean" temperature is the sum of the low and high temps. divided by 2. For example, let's say the high in your greenhouse was 95 F and the low was 65 F. 95 + 65 =160. 160/2 = 80. That's just about perfect for your banana plant! Light. Full sun. Under the plant will be lots of shade caused by those beautiful large spreading leaves. Many of my orchids like life under the banana plant. Water, a lot of it! You were right. A banana needs regular deep watering, particularly during the warmer months. Do not let the banana plant dry out. On the other hand, they're not swamp plants either, so don't allow water to stand around the roots--good drainage is very important. Roots standing in water in cooler weather will cause root rot. I never water my banana with cold water. All water for the greenhouse is placed in containers to warm to the temperature of the greenhouse first. (Well, not ALWAYS... Often in summer, the greenhouse plants' need for water exceeds the capacity of the containers, so then they all get a cold drink--except for the banana, of course, which is pampered beyond belief.) A layer of mulch is a good idea to conserve moisture and protect the plant's shallow roots. Humidity. Yes, bananas appreciate moist air, and misting could never hurt. Fertilizer, as with water, a lot of it! This is the only area in which I stray from my organic-only policy. The banana gets both commercial controlled-release fertilizer and fish & kelp emulsion. Information on amount of fertilizer, formulation and frequency of application varies widely. The banana fertilizer available from Stokes Tropicals has the formulation 6-2-12 NPK with trace elements. Other sources recommend 8-10-8. On vacation recently in Hawaii, I just spoke to a woman who grows bananas. She was astonished that my banana plant was 2 years old with not a flower showing yet (until I told her that I live in northwestern USA). Apparently in Hawaii, flowers can appear in just 8 months! She said "more fertilizer" and when I asked what formulation, "banana fertilizer" was the answer. OK, so I'm back to where I started. Whatever you use, make sure it's a lot. With all the watering, fertilizer is also washed away. Bananas are heavy feeders which supports their fast growth. I also have discussed banana growing with a man from the Philippines. In his very large greenhouse in my cool part of the world, he had large (8 to 10 feet tall!) banana plants with fruit in pots no larger than 18 inches. He said that on those hot summer days, watering and fertilizing 3 times a day was recommended! That's my plan this summer. One other thing about fertilizer, particularly the non-organic kind. Don't let it come in contact with the stem/"trunk" of your banana plant. This becomes more difficult as the banana grows and the pot starts looking ridiculously small. At this point, my own banana plant is just a wad of roots in its pot with very little actual potting soil remaining. It is more or less a hydroponic project. Sources vary on how many leaves might be produced before a flower appears--I've seen numbers from 22 to 44. My banana plant just opened its 36th leaf, so I guess 22 was not my magic number. I think I will be able to coax it into producing a flower this summer!
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Banana contest news My father reported: "Dear Sherry - My original banana plant is all but dead. It is now putting out a new leaf but it is too far gone. However, a sprout is coming up alongside it that is healthy and now about a foot high. I'm playing catch up ball now. When I was in Medford a couple of months ago, I saw some small potted blood bananas and got one. The name comes from rust-colored stripes on the leaves. It is taking off in growth." Early February report from Dad: The original plant is now definitely dead. The sprout was failing but now has a new leaf showing in addition to its "one ragged green leaf." There is now also a tiny second sprout in the group. I cannot feel too sorry for Dad. This means that I could win the contest. My banana plant just opened leaf 36. (Dad did mention something about the tortoise and hare fable, thinking that I might be a bit overconfident.) I'm sure he knows that the newly purchased plant does not count as contest material. The sprout does, however, and is certainly much easier to overwinter than a plant the size of mine. Did I mention that I had to dig a BIG HOLE in the greenhouse floor so that my banana would fit in the greenhouse over the winter? I have no idea what I'm going to do when it starts active growth again this spring. |
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(Current banana contest info. is on the HOME page.)
Background info: I have challenged my father to grow a banana plant and produce a fruit. The one who first produces a fruit wins. We live in the northwestern United States, so producing a banana fruit is a bit of a challenge.
Two years ago this spring, I rarranged for identical packages to be shipped to each of us from Stokes Tropicals consisting of a Rajapuri banana plant and a bucket of specially formulated banana plant food.
Approaching the fourth week of June, MY banana plant has 5 new leaves. The latest leaf is 19 inches long.
(I will not be discussing any particular banana culture techniques until the contest ends. Dad might be checking in on this website.)
Here is some recent banana correspondence:
"Dear Sherry - My banana is growing well now. It put on three leaves since it started. The leaves, however, are smaller than the ones on it when it arrived. But it will pick up speed. The vegetable garden is all in and sprouting. We are using a new drip tape this year that really does a great job. It puts down a band of water three-four inches wide evenly over the whole garden. It is inexpensive, 2.7 cents per foot, but the down side is it is a professional growers' product and I had to buy 6000 feet as a minimum order.... Love, Dad"
Hello, Dad!
I rushed out to the greenhouse to count leaves. My banana plant
has 4 leaves more than it had when it arrived. The first one was
oddly narrow, the second a little better, and the last two are
pretty large and have faint splashes of a reddish color on the
green. For a while I was worried because it sat there a long time
and did absolutely nothing....
Love, Sherry
I called Dad recently. He reported 4 new leaves and a maximum leaf length of 15 1/2 inches. Update: Dad's plant now has five leaves, but mine has SIX. I just hope I have a flower forming in there somewhere.
THE BANANA CONTEST continues . . .
Background info: I have challenged my father to grow a banana plant and produce a fruit. The one who first produces a fruit wins. We live in the northwestern United States, so producing a banana fruit is a bit of a challenge.
I arranged for identical packages to be shipped to each of us (in late spring 1998) from Stokes Tropicals consisting of a Rajapuri banana plant and a bucket of specially formulated banana plant food. (Yes, I KNOW that's not organic food. It hardly counts against me since I keep forgetting to use it anyway.)
At left is a photo taken by friend Jo Ann months ago showing my banana plant enjoying the sun. I don't have a current photo, but the plant is much taller now, having produced its 21st leaf. (In front is the Dwarf Red Papaya that I grew from seed given to me by my father. More on that another time.)
Meanwhile, since I seem to have a comfortable lead in the contest, on to some banana culture.
Date: Sunday, May 02, 1999 2:39 PM
Subject: BANANA CULTURE
ERIC L. WROTE:
I wrote to you over a week ago for our garden club about banana
plants you never answered so if we don't hear from you within
24 hours our 179 member will take your page off our list. [Ouch!]
Thank you very much -- Eric L.
ERIC L. ALSO WROTE:
Yesterday for my 69th brithday I received a small Banana plant
about one foot high, I have a nice greenhouse 8X9 two years old
but to get enjoyment I would like to keep it in my house. Can
you tell me how I should care for this plant. Pot size, Watering,
Heat, Daylite & so on.
I live in Victoria Canada.
Thanking you in advance
Eric L.
Hello, and thank you for visiting my website. My apologies
for not answering as promptly as you expect, but I am only ONE
person and I get hundreds of messages every day. I do the best
I can.
Happy birthday! Mine was on Friday (46 for me) [but I don't look
it, of course--I'll say it's 'cause I'm a sometimes-hardworking
gardener].
To answer your question, I will tell you of my latest experiences
with banana. Since I am also in a climate not at all tropical,
you should be able to use the same techniques.
My Rajapuri banana plant is doing very well. I planted
it about a year ago in a 20 inch diameter plastic pot. It was
at that time the same sizeas your birthday plant. Now it is about
7 feet tall with about an 8 inch diameter stem. It is opening
its 21st leaf. The pot which once looked ridiculously large
now looks ridiculously small. Despite the restricted root space,
the banana thrives. I have had no problems with disease or
pests.
The mature height for the type of banana plant that I am growing
is 8 to10 feet. If yours is also a dwarf banana, a 20 inch
pot should work well. One reason for using a fairly small
pot is that I am trying to encourage the plant to produce a flower.
Restricting the roots of plants can have that effect. Also, bananas
are naturally shallow-rooted, thus pot culture is possible.
For potting mix, I used my favorite Whitney Farms Uncle Malcolm
mix.
Another thing I would recommend is placing the pot over a propagation
mat to keep the roots warm. I have done so from the time
I first potted the plant, through summer, autumn and winter.(Since
I don't have a thermostat on the mat, I have the pot an inch above
the mat so as not to burn the roots.) During late autumn, winter,
and early spring, I had the banana plant under or near a 1000
watt metal halide light. The light was on for 12 hours a day.
The plant is now too tall for the place where the light can be
mounted, so I recently took it down, a move I'm sure was not welcomed
by some of the other plants in the greenhouse. Our weather lately
has not included a lot of sun.
Temperature is important. Bananas will stop growing when
the temperature drops below 53 degrees Fahrenheit. We had one
night last winter when the temperature dropped to 11 degrees.
I managed to keep the greenhouse at 59 degrees even then. (The
greenhouse was sealed tightly, and I had added an extra layer
of insulation last summer.) On the other end of the spectrum,
the growth of bananas slows above 80 degrees and stops altogether
above 100 degrees. For the summer, I have a mist system that cools
the greenhouse air to the temperature I specify. Sunlight too
bright may scorch the plant's leaves. I did not put up any shade
cloth last summer, however, and the banana did just fine.
Watering. Bananas drink a lot--much less in winter, of
course. In summer, during the peak growth period, I was watering
the banana plant 3 to 4 times a day. I was feeding it with dilute
fish & kelp fertilizer at least every other day. Bananas also
need a lot of fertilizer. This was a big job, because I had no
water plumbed to the greenhouse last summer as we were extensively
remodeling our house. I had to hand carry all water for the garden
and greenhouse from across the street. I had very well defined
arm muscles last summer. I never water my plant with cold water.
I let the water come to greenhouse temperature first. Don't overwater.
Just water deeply when necessary. Bananas are not swamp plants.
I spoke to a man from the Philippines regarding the culture
of bananas a year or so ago. He had fruiting banana plants growing
in pots in one end of his greenhouse full of tomato plants. He
stressed LOTS of WATER and LOTS of FOOD during the warm months
as being key to successfully producing fruit.
The research I have done tells me that bananas will grow when
the conditions are optimal. If they are not, the plant will wait,
then resume growth where it left off. This really helps those
of us in northern
climes. It is my only hope for producing a flower and fruit.
Another note, since you mention wanting to keep your banana plant
in your house. House air is typically drier than greenhouse air.
To raise the humidity, you may want to have trays of pebbles and
water near the plant, or mist the plant with water regularly.
In the contest with my father (as mentioned in the website),
I am ahead so far. Dad says my banana plant is much larger
than his, both in leaf size and height of plant. My banana's leaves
are more than 40 inches long and about 20 inches wide. This summer,
I am hoping to have a flower.
Good luck with your banana. If you have time, please let
me know how it is progressing. If you are able to send a photo,
I will put it up on the website.
Thank you for writing.
--- Sherry
ERIC REPLIES:
Many thanks for your answer the members just love it when I read your reply out at our monthy meeting.
ERIC L.
[It looks like I'll be on this Victoria, B.C.'s garden club list for another month..... Whew!]
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