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mbearjbird

Ice Cream Banana grows leaves but not height.

mbearjbird
14 years ago

Hi everybody. Can anyone tell me why my Ice Cream Banana tree isn't getting taller? I live in Charlotte, NC & planted it in early April. I do get new leaves, but it's been the same height for for 3 months now. I feed it with fish fertilizer once a week. I was so looking forward to watching it grow & I've got nothing. It look healthy tho. Thank you so much.

Comments (5)

  • bananafan
    14 years ago

    I've started growing my Ice Cream since 2006. It has grown very slowly ever since. At one point, it reached almost 10 ft with a couple of pups, but when the cold came, the mother plant died down. The couple of pups that survived look sickly and their growth is very slow. Other bananas like my Rajapuri, Mysore, Apple Banana and plantain that were planted before it have already given off fruit. I really don't know the growth habits of this plant well since I have had it only for 3 years, but as far as these 3 years went, the plant isn't doing anything much. As for fertilizing and watering, I have been fertilizing and watering it like I do with the rest of my bananas and they're doing ok. So, it's puzzling to me also why its growth is so slow. I'm glad you brought this up and I'd like to hear what others have to say.

  • rayandgwenn
    14 years ago

    I have what I believe is a Blue Java, Ice Cream banana (I say this because I got it in trade so I can't be 100% sure, though it looks like one).
    It grows like a weed here. Fast and Tall- Probably about 15ft+ tall and pups like crazy. It took about 1 yr to fruit and the fruit are taking a really long time to ripen- almost 8 months now!). But other than God watering it often, I don't fertilize it much....Full sun, humid.
    Sorry I can't help too much, but in it's natural environment, it is like a weed! I use "banana" fertilizer every few months and occasionally sprinkle some long acting 20-20-20.....
    Good Luck!

  • bananafan
    14 years ago

    rayandgwen, it's nice to hear that your ice cream grows like weeds. I wish mine could do that too. I can now see that the planting zone does play a big part as the heat and the humidity certainly help in the rapid growth. Fertilizing a few months apart sounds like a good plan. I haven't tasted ice cream, but heard it's one of the best.

    As in my case, the temp drops down toward the end of the year and that's where my bananas take all the beating. I lost several blooms and mother plants in the cold over the last few years. The funny thing is that some of my bananas chose to bloom toward the year end and when the cold came, they dropped their blooms and died. I heard there's something about the cold that triggers the fruit production. All in all, the dying off and re-establishing pattern down here slows down the fruit production process.

    mbearbird, it looks to me your plant needs time to warm up to the summer weather. I think your ice cream's doing fine considering your planting zone. Give it plenty of sunshine and lots of water (allowing the top 1-2" of the pot to dry off before watering again). Continue to do what you're doing. If I remember correctly, there was a person from Illinois who got fruit from his ice cream after growing it 3 years in a pot. The year he got fruit was when he planted it in the ground in the summer.

  • peanut01
    14 years ago

    Someone suggested that I use GA-13 on my banana trees. It is supposed to make compact growing plants a little more leggy or tall in our bananas case. I live in VA and have been seeing the same type of behavior with my banana trees this year. I have not used it yet but have noticed that my leaves are starting to get bigger and better seperation between them now that the air has heated up. I only have fertilized with MG time release formula which is 20-20-20 I think.

  • Robyn Lynette
    3 years ago

    I guess I'm a decade late on this lol, but what is GA-13?
    My musa basjoo are having the same problem with lots of new leaves, but compact growth.

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