You can but it will need a really large pot, and generally if you want decent sized fruit, it should be in ground, particularly if it isn't a dwarf variety.

I have pups that often will not fit in a 3 gallon pot, so that is no where near big enough.

Hi Maggie, do you know what variety you have? It seems Bananas are classified as "desert" (to eat fresh), "cooking" (self explanatory), and "Ornamental" (fruit that cannot be eaten).

There are lots of great ones in each group. Size varies a lot!

Some "Desert" Bananas are tiny, such as the Super Dwarf Cavendish. But it is a difficult one to get fruit from. Most edible Banana plants range from 6' to 15'.

The smallest pot I would attempt to raise Bananas in that I wanted fruit from, would be a half whiskey barrel. But that won't be big enough if you got one of the 15' varieties.

They do very well in the ground here, with lots of water and fertilizer. They also are *beautiful* in the landscape. Can you plant it outside of your pool cage? They look great with Coffee Arabica planted under them!

Here are some of mine on my "Fruit Tree Hill."

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This one is a special variety. Ae Ae. Has to be grown in dappled shade.

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There are lovely red leafed ones too- edible varieties or ornamental. This one(Rowe Red) is a bit droopy, since I had just planted it.

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Bananas offer so much... They come in amazing colors/sizes/flavors. I hope you don't limit yourself to just one in a pot. More is better when it comes to Bananas(G).

Lisa

Lisa:

I bought the banana at what seems like a pretty reputable nursery here, and after taking it home and doing some research realized just what you pointed out - that there isn't just one variety of "Dessert Banana". So now I have no idea what I really have.

I'm thinking of putting it in a huge terra cotta pot that is about as wide as a whiskey barrel, and about three feet high. Or do you think it would do even better if I put it in the ground in the pool cage?

I have a very small lot, and not too sure if I have room for it outside in back - there's only a strip of about five feet wide from the end of my pool cage to the preserve behind us. Hopefully the terra cotta pot will be an appropriate size for whatever variety of banana this turns out to be!

Next time I'll be more careful - I usually shy away from NOID plants unless they're a real bargain.

Thanks for the pictures - I love the Ae Ae. Saw an earlier post about it, and am bummed it's so expensive. What incredible foliage!!!! The red ones are beautiful too. Maybe I'll just plant a whole row of banana plants in the strip behind the cage!! :)