Has anyone raised banana tree?

[Dr Sha]

I am looking for some experience information on bananas.

Some years ago the banana tree in my house flourished and its "pups" have not grown but a few inches;

Does anybody know how long does it take to produce bananas?

[Tracy]

56 minutes ago, Dr Sha said:

Does anybody know how long does it take to produce bananas?

Unless your elevation is a problem, I would imagine you are in prime territory for growing bananas.  Most banana's I've seen in my life in grocery stores come from somewhere in Central America.  So to answer your question, I normally see a new stalk form and grow to maturity within a year.  Depending on when it starts growing, will determine the timeline for banana production, as we slow way down in the winter.  That's why I have a lot of green banana's that are waiting on stalks for spring's longer days and heat to arrive before they will ripen.  They appreciate plenty of water and I've always been told they like fertilizer, although I don't go overboard with fertilizers myself.  Good luck!  Maybe post photos of your plants that are struggling and others can provide suggestions.

[Cikas]

1 hour ago, Dr Sha said:

I am looking for some experience information on bananas.

Some years ago the banana tree in my house flourished and its "pups" have not grown but a few inches;

Does anybody know how long does it take to produce bananas?

In my climate 2 years. But it depends on type. Musa Fen Ba Jiao has done really well in my garden. 

Edited January 17, 2018 by Cikas

[Silas_Sancona]

^ Would mirror Tracy's thoughts..

I'd also assume youd be in near perfect territory for growing Bananas.

Up here in the states, where maturing stalks survive the winters, it is usually second year stalks which start flowering/ bearing fruit.. though there certainly could  be newer varieties which bear sooner. 

As far as water/ fert.. the only thing I've heard is water, and lots of it.. and perhaps regular ( 3x times/ yr.. here at least) fert higher in Potassium (K)  over ferts high in Phosphorus (P) ..Some people swear by using lots of nitrogen but, imo, N is what fuels mainly green growth, not flowers/ fruit. 

If memory serves me right, the traditional supermarket Banana variety is Goldfinger.. or a variant containing it's genes.

[kinzyjr]

I personally grow 'Dwarf Cavendish' and 'Ice Cream' bananas.  For 'Dwarf Cavendish', it takes between a year and 16 months in my climate.  For 'Ice Cream', it will likely take another year before the clump I have is strong enough to produce bananas.  I'll echo @Silas_Sancona and @Tracy; Central America ought to be heaven for growing bananas.

[Funkthulhu]

Dr Sha, 

I've been growing a couple bananas for  several years now.  I currently have a Musa Basjoo that has to come inside in a pot over the winter to survive.  It is about 5 years old now, and it has never flowered, though it pups like crazy.  

Just wanted to give an alternative growth rate.  They do well indoors and out, but I have no expectations they will ever get enough sun and heat where I live to actually induce a bloom.

[Cikas]

1 hour ago, Funkthulhu said:

Dr Sha, 

I've been growing a couple bananas for  several years now.  I currently have a Musa Basjoo that has to come inside in a pot over the winter to survive.  It is about 5 years old now, and it has never flowered, though it pups like crazy.  

Just wanted to give an alternative growth rate.  They do well indoors and out, but I have no expectations they will ever get enough sun and heat where I live to actually induce a bloom.

Musa basjoo is not an edible banana. Basjoo is a wild banana, used in gardens only as decoration. You need edible types. 

[masatepino]

Here in Nicaragua (Centralamerica) it lasts normally about one year from planting to harvesting bananas.  It could be faster, but dry season slows it down. Bananas need a lot of sun, water and fertilizers. An established clump can be quite fast. It also depends on the varieties. sometimes more height means it needs more time to harvest.

[Dr Sha]

Thank you for the information, I am going to post some pictures.

About five years ago, the banana palm produced about three/four dozen bananas, after we finished eating them, I took a pup and planted it.  It, the new pup, has not grown more than a few inches, about 3/4 feet, with only one more pup by the side this last August.  I know it should have produced bananas already because there have been produced in the last years, but since I  was not looking after that plant, I do not remember how long did it take for it, but, it was shorter than this five plus years taking now.

[Jesse]

Could it be over watered? Could it be that you transplanted a water sucker?

I inherited an Ice cream banana plant that was probably about 6 feet tall.  I watered and fertilized it religiously and it turned into a massive clump before flowering.  In my area it take about 9 months for one of these to flower and about another 9 months until harvest. The first time I dug out a pup and transplanted it, it did exactly what you describe. Turns out I was over watering it, it didn't have enough roots to start, and it was not able to root. Now every time I dig out a pup I wait until its about 5ft tall and I plant it in a pot with well draining palm soil to get it started before I plant it in the ground. If its got a pup I would just wait to see how fast the pup grows.

[Funkthulhu]

On 1/17/2018, 11:30:43, Cikas said:

Musa basjoo is not an edible banana. Basjoo is a wild banana, used in gardens only as decoration. You need edible types. 

It still blooms and make (inedible) bananas. . . 

[Cikas]

22 minutes ago, Funkthulhu said:

It still blooms and make (inedible) bananas. . . 

Yes, but it someone wants edible banana plants,  Musa basjoo will be useless for them. 

[dalmatiansoap]

6 hours ago, Jesse said:

 Could it be that you transplanted a water sucker?

I second this one 

[DoomsDave]

21 hours ago, Dr Sha said:

Thank you for the information, I am going to post some pictures.

About five years ago, the banana palm produced about three/four dozen bananas, after we finished eating them, I took a pup and planted it.  It, the new pup, has not grown more than a few inches, about 3/4 feet, with only one more pup by the side this last August.  I know it should have produced bananas already because there have been produced in the last years, but since I  was not looking after that plant, I do not remember how long did it take for it, but, it was shorter than this five plus years taking now.

What's your elevation?

If you're way up in the highlands, it could be too cool.

[Funkthulhu]

22 hours ago, Cikas said:

Yes, but it someone wants edible banana plants,  Musa basjoo will be useless for them. 

The point you missed is that potted bananas and moving inside and out over several seasons means a much longer wait until a bloom...

[Dr Sha]

 

On 18/1/2018 21:24:07, DoomsDave said:

What's your elevation?

If you're way up in the highlands, it could be too cool.

Elevation is 4500 feet, but last time we had four dozen bananas. 

On 18/1/2018 13:37:36, Jesse said:

Could it be over watered? Could it be that you transplanted a water sucker?

I inherited an Ice cream banana plant that was probably about 6 feet tall.  I watered and fertilized it religiously and it turned into a massive clump before flowering.  In my area it take about 9 months for one of these to flower and about another 9 months until harvest. The first time I dug out a pup and transplanted it, it did exactly what you describe. Turns out I was over watering it, it didn't have enough roots to start, and it was not able to root. Now every time I dig out a pup I wait until its about 5ft tall and I plant it in a pot with well draining palm soil to get it started before I plant it in the ground. If its got a pup I would just wait to see how fast the pup grows.

Maybe too much water since the last years it has rained too much.

[DoomsDave]

@Dr Sha! You're up there a bit. I know it's the tropics, but that's almost a mile high. I'll bet that limits some of the things you can grow viz-a-viz the lowlands.

[Hammer]

On 1/16/2018, 6:22:32, Silas_Sancona said:

^ Would mirror Tracy's thoughts..

I'd also assume youd be in near perfect territory for growing Bananas.

Up here in the states, where maturing stalks survive the winters, it is usually second year stalks which start flowering/ bearing fruit.. though there certainly could  be newer varieties which bear sooner. 

As far as water/ fert.. the only thing I've heard is water, and lots of it.. and perhaps regular ( 3x times/ yr.. here at least) fert higher in Potassium (K)  over ferts high in Phosphorus (P) ..Some people swear by using lots of nitrogen but, imo, N is what fuels mainly green growth, not flowers/ fruit. 

If memory serves me right, the traditional supermarket Banana variety is Goldfinger.. or a variant containing it's genes.

Bananas.org is a great site for information on growing bananas including flavor profiles, fertilizer, climate and so on.

The traditional supermarket banana is the Cavendish.  Until the 50s and 60s it was the Gros Michel aka Big Mike.

I picked up 2 Big Mikes last year along with a Manzano.  None have been in the ground long enough to fruit.  But the one that was planted 6 to 8 weeks before the others is exponentially bigger.

The moral of the story for me is, get them in the ground and give them a ton of water.  But even under the best conditions I have read it is 15 to 18 months before you can expect fruit in California. 

Fingers crossed I get fruit this year. 

 

[Dr Sha]

The picture, sorry to have taken so much time but I have had many things to do.

I placed it in a pot, one can see the pup by the side.

[Umbrae]

We got hammered this winter but my Siam Ruby are coming back with a vengeance 

[aussiearoids]

Dwarf Red Dacca suckers I planted a bit late in the season flowered for me exactly 1 year after planting .

[DoomsDave]

@Dr Sha, give your bananas some room. If they're at all happy, they'll Multiply.

And Multiply. And repeat.

I'd give them a spot of their own in the garden at least 6 X 6 feet (2 M X 2 M), with nothing in there with them that can't take some serious crowding.

(I suspect you already know that, based on the one you have. I put that in there in case someone else wants some instructions.)

Good luck!

[Dr Sha]

Thanks for the comments; I am waiting for the heat and the rain, perhaps it has only been a seasonal thing.

[Dr Sha]

Looks like it is happy now, some new suckers have begun to grow.

[Chris Chance]

On 3/12/2018, 10:06:55, Umbrae said:

We got hammered this winter but my Siam Ruby are coming back with a vengeance 

Man I want to get some of those going but every time I get young plants they die on me. Nice to see yours are growing back.

[Hammer]

4 hours ago, Chris Chance said:

Man I want to get some of those going but every time I get young plants they die on me. Nice to see yours are growing back.

How young?  Are you getting tiny tissue culture plants?  If so, they need to be babied until they get a bit of size to them. 

[Mightycanes]

My red bananas grow in pots and come back year after year.  The wind beats them up pretty badly though.

[cisco]

A few years ago I had Ensete ventricosum `Maurelii` . It grew in a 30-liter pot, and I took it out summer out on the balcony. I took it to the basement for the winter, but there was water damage and it rotted. Now I live in the countryside. I have a small yard in south facing direction. I bought a new Maurelii. It will arrive this week.

[Chris Chance]

18 hours ago, Hammer said:

How young?  Are you getting tiny tissue culture plants?  If so, they need to be babied until they get a bit of size to them. 

Yes they were tissue culture plants. I tried several times both in and out of the greenhouse with no luck. Next time I want to try something larger and I think it will work out.

[Umbrae]

Coming back from three freezes this year 

[Dr Sha]

the original plant seems to be drying up, but the pup next to it is growing very healthy.  I think it just needed to be in a pot.

[Umbrae]

I will try and hit them with a load of compost this weekend 

[Umbrae]

Thai black 

[Umbrae]

Margaritas and siam ruby tissue culture liners 

[Dr Sha]

Update, the pup growing aside the original tree is now bigger than the "parent", and the parent has dried up.  Seems like it wanted to be in a pot, because ever since I moved it to the pot, it began to grow and show some strength. 

[Dr Sha]

The circle marks the dried plant, as you can see, the pup right to it is bigger than the original and there is another one just left to the new  pup.

[Chris Chance]

My Rajapuri has fruit. For some reason the fruit has never grown full size. They just start to rot away after a few months so hopefully this time around I have better luck

[GDLWyverex]

On 1/16/2018, 5:46:26, Dr Sha said:

I am looking for some experience information on bananas.

Some years ago the banana tree in my house flourished and its "pups" have not grown but a few inches;

Does anybody know how long does it take to produce bananas?

Here in México, the pups that start in spring have bananas by the next spring.

Once they are established they go nuts and overrun everything else. They grow in just about any kind of soil but do best with good drainage and LOTs of water.

 

Richard

[GottmitAlex]

3 hours ago, GDLWyverex said:

Here in México, the pups that start in spring have bananas by the next spring.

Once they are established they go nuts and overrun everything else. They grow in just about any kind of soil but do best with good drainage and LOTs of water.

 

Richard

My Mexico, I imagine you mean southern Mexico.

[GDLWyverex]

9 hours ago, GottmitAlex said:

My Mexico, I imagine you mean southern Mexico.

Central México actually; Guadalajara. I was never able to get either bananas nor ensetes to fruit in Northern California, whereas here they go nuts. I assume that the hotter climate is the secret. I also notice that protecting them from the more harsh winds results in better looking and happier bananas.

 

Richard