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| I bought a house that has a few banana trees in the backyard. The previous owner said they need no maintanence and will produce bananas. Right now, they are on a sprinkler system and get watered for 10 minutes every morning. They do produce bananas but the bananas never seem to reach full size then just seem to "die" out. I'm providing links to pics of my trees and bananas in the hopes that someone will be able to tell me what type I have and how to take care of it. Also, when harvesting bananas, do I cut down the entire "stalk"? That would also take down the "bud" like flower (which attracts lots of wasps so it's no bid deal if I have to).
Thanks everyone. Here are the links, btw: http://www.concrete-jungle.net/files/dscf0011.jpg
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Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by gardenguy_ z6b PA (My Page) on Sun, Aug 7, 05 at 22:44
| Do you feed the bananas at all? Also, what is your soil condition where the bananas are planted? As for cutting down the stalks, banana plants produce 2 types of flowers. Male and female. Once the female flowers have established bananas, most people then cut the male flowers off. |
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| All I give them is water from a sprinkler system every morning. Again, I'm very new to all of this...so in terms of soil condition...I wouldn't know how to describe it. I would say that it's usually dry and pretty packed. I do have lots of other flora around the banana trees that seem to do well. How do I tell the difference in the flower gender? |
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- Posted by gardenguy_ z6b PA (My Page) on Tue, Aug 9, 05 at 21:24
| Female flowers are what you see bloom first. Then as the flower gets larger, the male flowers will bloom at the bottom of the flower bunch. Try giving your bananas some fertilizer and see if that helps. |
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| How often should I use fertilizer? Is it a one time thing or once a week...? Also, at the risk of sounding stupid...I just want to clarify about the flower genders. Is what is on my pic (dscf0012.jpg) a female flower? Then, once bananas form on the "stalk", does it "turn into" a male flower. When you say flower bunch, do you mean the bananas? Because what is hanging at the end of the "stalk" is a big purple, bulbish plant that attracts wasps. Is that the male plant that I can cut completely off without hurting anything. Thanks for all your help, btw... Ed |
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- Posted by gardenguy_ z6b PA (My Page) on Sat, Aug 13, 05 at 1:37
| That flower part that you see hanging from the banana tree is actually called the inflorescence. This is the part that will produce bananas. After harvesting bananas, the banana plant will die. When it starts dying, cut it down. The root bulb, also known as the corm will still be alive. You should have some smaller bananas growing out of the same corm. Those will get bigger and give you more bananas. A lot of people cut off the male flower part. But for you, it wouldn't hurt to leave it on. As for fertilizing, Here's more on the subject. Growing bananas plantation = a banana orchard The new leaves emerge from the tip or apex of the bulb and progress inside the stem or false trunk before appearing in the centre of the leafy crown. When it comes out, the young leaf is rolled up like a cigar and will not begin to unfurl until it is has emerged entirely. After producing a certain number of leaves (about 30 for cultivated varieties) that are 60 cm wide and about 3 m long, the role of the apical meristem becomes one of flower induction. The stem becomes a flower stalk and begins to grow in the centre of the false trunk with the inflorescence developing at its end, becoming bigger and finally emerging at the top of the plant. In most varieties with edible fruit, the inflorescence bends towards the ground and the bud or shoot hangs vertically. The shoot is made up of purplish spathes and at the axil of each of these spathes is found a group of flowers arranged in two tight rows. As the bud continues to grow, the spathes rise up and usually fall, producing flowers that bend downward obliquely. The first groups are female flowers, since the female organs (ovary, style and stigma) are proportionally better developed than the male organs (stamen). Then quite abruptly, after producing a certain number of female flowers, the floral stem will bear nothing more than some flowers with reduced ovaries, called male flowers, that degenerate rapidly. The fruit Culture Harvest |
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| We have these same banana trees in our backyard. How do you know when they are ripe for picking? Do you just cut the entire stalk off all at once? |
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- Posted by coniferfreak z6 PA (My Page) on Mon, Aug 11, 08 at 11:59
| Gardenguy, some great info there! Thanks for posting! But was there supposed to be more to this sentence: "As for fertilizing, " ? I was wanting to read about the fertilizing too.. heehee! |
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- Posted by gardenguy_ z6b PA (My Page) on Sun, Aug 17, 08 at 13:22
| coniferfreak, sorry about that! LOL, just looking at the date on that post, it was almost 3 years ago. Sorry, I must have forgot about that. As for fertilizing, I've used Osmocote fertilizer once a month and every week I'll use liquid miracle grow diluted in some water. You can find these 2 fertilizers in stores like Walmart, Lowes, Home Depot or any hardware store or nurseries. |
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- Posted by BettyB in SE Missouri(BettyBanken@yahoo.com) onSat, Aug 23, 08 at 21:07
| I have been given three banana plants that are growing like wild. They are huge and about 10 ft tall. One just keeps making new leaves, and has smaller trees now growing at the bottom, form the roots. I am wondering if I can keep these growing here in Missouri. I want to know if these are all female plants. I am very new to this and can use all the help that I can get. I suspect that I don't have a male plant here. I am open to suggestions. Thanks a million! Betty in Southeast MO. |
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- Posted by gardenguy_ z6b PA (My Page) on Sun, Aug 24, 08 at 10:53
| Betty, bananas are neither dominately male or female. Banana plants flower after a certain period of time. When the flower bud emerges, the female flowers will come form the fruit, which is the banana fruit. Then after a very short time, a tube like structure will grow down and the male flowers will form. These flowers are infertile and will not produce bananas. Many people cut this lower part of the flower stem off so that the plants energy is focused at the female flowers and newly emerging bananas. Here is a link below of the banana flower. Note the bananas at top which formed from the female flowers and below, the male flower pod, which can be removed. |
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| gardenguy, are the bananas in your pic ready to harvest? I am trying to figure out when to actually remove my bananas from the tree. Also, do you remove the entire stalk all at once? Thanks for any help. |
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| Gardenguy, That looks just like my tree (plant...). Actually, today I took a knife and removed my bananas to bring inside. From the pic, it looks like I got about another hand or so of fruit than yours - but the color and structure of the plant looks identical. What type of banana is yours? I'm in Cape Coral, Florida. |
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- Posted by dutch_pup 5-6(dutch_pup@yahoo.com) onMon, Feb 2, 09 at 12:07
| Hi, This is a bit of a long shot but I too live in Missouri and I have wanted some banana trees for a long time. My husbend and I finally own our own house and can plant a garden. We love tropical plants like bamboo and banana trees and I was wondering if anyone would be willing to share with a fellow plant lover. With children and hard times there is always somthing more important taking up our funds. I would be very greatful to you! Sincerely ,Julie |
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- Posted by Wendy temperate(mermaid_28560@yahoo.com) onSun, Jun 26, 11 at 20:56
| I have been growing banana tree for 17 yrs. They were 15' or more, produced bananas. 6 years ago I moved into a new house,in the same area, & transplanted the bulbs. For the last 6 springs, they have grown, but became shorter each yr. They now are only 3'high. Also I have gone from having 20 plants, to 4. What do you think is happening here? I have been doing the same thing for the plants for years. Baffled in coastal NC |
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