How to grow bananas, and growing banana trees? It's much easier than you might think and the rewards of this tropical fruit are awesome, not to mention, very healthy and delicious.
Its just a matter of knowing which ones you can eat and which ones you cant, well its not really that you cant but depending on how hungry you are, you might not want to eat because of the taste.
But no matter what types of bananas there is something so tropical about any banana tree that just makes you garden look so beautiful and tropical, and knowing about growing bananas how to grow bananas in your garden flowerbed makes it easier.
I just planted one in my back yard today and I'll keep you posted on how its doing. So If you dont know how to grow bananas
don't worry, I think you might surprise yourself
Buy Different Types of Bananas
No more running to the grocery store, Just imagine growing your very own bananas to eat and enjoy, well you can and its easier than you think!
The Banana is a tropical herbaceous plant consisting of an underground corm and a trunk (pseudostem) comprised of concentric layers of leaf sheaths.
At 10 to 15 months after the emergence of a new plant, its true stem rapidly grows up through the center and emerges as a terminal inflorescence which bears fruit, and boy are they beautiful !!
The flowers appear in groups on a hardy banana tree along the stem and are covered by purplish bracts which roll back and shed as the fruit stem develops.
The first hands to appear contain female flowers which will develop into growing banana (usually seedless in edible types). The number of hands of female flowers varies from a few to more than 10, after which numerous hands of sterile flowers appear and shed in succession, followed by numerous hands of male flowers which also shed.
When growing banana generally, a bract rolls up and sheds to expose a new hand of flowers almost daily.
Be careful when buying field grown banana tree offshoots or offsets. Many have virus and diseases. Growing banana really is easy.
How to grow bananas in a wide variety of soils is very easy because it adapts to just about any soil, as long as the soil is deep and has good internal and surface drainage.
The effect of poorly drained soils can be partly overcome by planting when growing banana in raised beds, So when growing banana the plant does not tolerate poor drainage or flooding.
The planting site should be chosen for protection from wind and cold weather, if possible even for a basjoo banana tree which are very hardy banana tree.
The growing banana pick the warmest location in the home landscape is near the south or southeast side of the house is always best.
Left to right: Plantains, red bananas, bananitos, Cavendish bananas. Except bananitos, these all belong to various groups of Cavendish-type cultivars.
Types Of Bananas
Here is a list of many types of bananas, How to grow bananas and growing banana plants.
Apple, Silk, or Manzana
Dessert type, pleasant sub-acid apple flavor when fully ripe. Fruit: 4 to 6 inches. Grows to 10 to 12 feet. The fruit is not ripe until some brownish specs appear on the skin. From planting until harvest is approximately 15 months.
Resistant to Panama Wilt disease. Clones of this variety are distinguished by the size of the pseudostem. The largest is Lacatan (12 to 18 feet) followed by Robusta and Giant Cavendish (10 to 16 feet). The smallest is the Dwarf Cavendish (4 to 7 feet).how to grow bananas
Very tall (up to 25 feet), very tropical. Skin dark red, with generally reddish pseudostem. Fruit is especially aromatic with cream-orange pulp. 20 months from planting until harvest.
Commercially, the most important and considered by many to be the most flavorful. Because of its susceptibility to Panama Wilt disease it is being replaced with resistant varieties. Although there is no Panama Wilt in California, it does poorly here as the plant seems to need more heat and it tends to grow more slowly than other varieties
Ice Cream or Blue Java
Medium-tall (15 to 20 feet), bluish cast to the unripe fruit. Fruit: 7 to 9 inches, quite aromatic and is said to melt in the mouth like ice cream. Bunches are small with seven to nine hands. 18 to 24 months from planting until harvest.
Tall (20 to 25 feet), excellent-quality fruit, tolerant of cool conditions. 15 to 18 months from planting to harvest.
Commonly grown in California for years as a landscape plant. Grows to 16 feet, more cold hardy than any other. 15 to 18 months from planting to harvest. Flavor is good, texture is less than perfect, but when properly grown and cultivated it can produce enormous stalks of fruit. Excellent in banana bread. Sometimes called horse, hog or burro banana, it can be purchased at most nurseries.
A Hawaiian variety with short, salmon-pink flesh, plump fruit that may be cooked or eaten fresh. A slender plant preferring a protected area with high humidity and filtered light. Grows to about 14 feet tall.
A Cavendish clone resembling the Robusta. Some believe them to be the same. The Dwarf Cavendish is the most widely planted as it is better adapted to a cool climate and is less likely to be blown over.
The same as Giant Cavendish. Originated from a mutation of Dwarf Cavendish found in Queensland, Australia. A commercial banana grown in many countries that does well in California. 10 to 16 feet in height and has a distinctive long, very large bud. The Del Monte is a Williams.
Who Would Have Thought That Growing Banana Would Produce Such a Beautiful Flower
You can see that this banana tree is in its natural habitat but if you were growing this yourself you can see where you would have to prune its dead leaves off
Please remember when planting a potted bananna tree always dig out a hole twice as deep and twice as wide as the pot it came in.
Always rmember to break up the root system so that it will gow freely in its new home.
Its pretty easy knowing how to grow bananas and different types of bananas,especially hardy banana tree it doesnt take much but here are some soil and feeding tips.
How to grow bananas, banana plants and all of types of bananas are heavy feeders and would benefit greatly from regular feeding all during the growing season.
Best would be to apply a small amount of a balanced fertilizer containing all the secondary and micro nutrients every time you water, next best would be to give a full dose of fertilizer once a month even for a hardy banana tree.
When the flower is produced I recommend cutting back on nitrogen if you are using a chemical fertilizer as it can turn the fruit black, but continuing to feed with a product that still contains a good amount of pottasium.
An organic fertilizer are less of a concern and a search on the internet will lead to many suggestions.
Also there are a number of products in the stores that work well to But no matter what types of bananas there is something so tropical about any banana tree that just makes you garden look so beautiful and tropical, and knowing how to grow bananas makes it easier.
there are many product to help you to know how to grow bananas from items like, bat guano, fish emulsion to liquid sea weed.
Just make sure if you are growing your banana plants for fruit that you feed them regulary in order for the plant to produce the maximum size and number of fruit the plant is capable of.
I will be showing a book on how to grow bananas comming soon!
The first picture is a hardy banana tree I planted Aug of 2009.
The second picture is in The Back On The Right Side Behind My Garden Pest Chessie That I Adopted Last Year, I have to really watch her she likes to dig up all my plants
Then the third picture is now almost three years later, Aug of 2012 look how much it has grown and even producing bananas!