Citrus Growers Forum

JoeReal · Posted: Fri 04 May, 2007 2:41 am

Patty_in_wisc wrote:

JoeReal wrote:

for California, temperatures lower than 50 deg F, that is zero fruit filling activity, anything above 95 deg F, also a zero fruit filling activity. that means very very few hours.

Joe, if this is grown indoors (in winter), it won't be lower than 55 F nor higher than 95F. It seems to me that all plants can be grown in pots ..given the right adaptions ... soil, ferts, & light etc.

You would need massive pots for developing large corms in order to have large bunches of banana fruits. The corm is where most storage of "banana food" goes to, then the size of the stalks, then lastly the leaves. A small container is not good for banana, you will produce itty bitty fruit stalks, or very few hands of fruits.

But indoor growing of bananas is fantastic. The leaves will be dark green, in whole piece and gorgeous. Unlike growing them outside and you have strong winds each week, it would look like your banana has been raped or has been into the paper shredder, too ugly to look at. That is why even growing outside, I only plant dwarf varieties which are not damaged by winds very much.

Patty_in_wisc · Posted: Fri 04 May, 2007 2:51 am

My supossed cold sensitive Ice Cream banana grew about 6 big leaves while in cool sunroom over winter being semi-dormant. It will be a giant come next fall so I will dig it out & store on floor in sunroom , covered & let it go dormant. Plant back inground next spring & most likely I will get fruits next year. I don't see why you can't grow 'nannas in a pot...happens all the time. Millet is a good example. Benny's pics above are proof too. I just really have my hopes up of getting fruits off my IC & dbl Mahoi!!!! Should be interesting.
You can grow ANYTHING in a pot. When we buy from nurseries, they all are grown in pots...even big trees!

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JoeReal · Posted: Fri 04 May, 2007 2:58 am

Patty_in_wisc wrote:

My supossed cold sensitive Ice Cream banana grew about 6 big leaves while in cool sunroom over winter being semi-dormant. It will be a giant come next fall so I will dig it out & store on floor in sunroom , covered & let it go dormant. Plant back inground next spring & most likely I will get fruits next year. I don't see why you can't grow 'nannas in a pot...happens all the time. Millet is a good example. Benny's pics above are proof too. I just really have my hopes up of getting fruits off my IC & dbl Mahoi!!!! Should be interesting.
You can grow ANYTHING in a pot. When we buy from nurseries, they all are grown in pots...even big trees!

I never disagreed that you can't grow them in a pot. Never, ever. Getting what kind of quality fruits when grown in a pot is what I've been talking and cautioning about them bananas. And yes, I've gone bananas, been there, done that in pots and have moved on.

Patty_in_wisc · Posted: Fri 04 May, 2007 3:11 am

Hey Joe, how about wrapping a big ol' fish in banana leaves & smoking it??!! Or, just dry up & smoke 'nanna leaves LOL.
I guess my point is that I don' want to discourage Joan to grow 'nannas at home in MN. May get small fruit, but it sure would be a thrill to have a nanna plant way up here! And to get one to flower...WHOOOA NELLY! What a real treat!
There care dwarf 'nannas to be grown in pots. Hey, I'll let you all know after this fall how it goes way up here! Very Happy

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JoeReal · Posted: Fri 04 May, 2007 3:18 am

Patty_in_wisc wrote:

Hey Joe, how about wrapping a big ol' fish in banana leaves & smoking it??!! Or, just dry up & smoke 'nanna leaves LOL.
I guess my point is that I don' want to discourage Joan to grow 'nannas at home in MN. May get small fruit, but it sure would be a thrill to have a nanna plant way up here! And to get one to flower...WHOOOA NELLY! What a real treat!
There care dwarf 'nannas to be grown in pots. Hey, I'll let you all know after this fall how it goes way up here! Very Happy

Done that too, and still doing it with my fabulous cold hardy ones.

As to Joan, go ahead with it, you will not regret it. Bananas makes fantabulous fantastic ornamental plants when grown indoors. But watch out for the water gutation of banana leaves. Gutation is the technical term for what I call banana leaf drool! They can get your floor wet, nothing that some piece of cloth can handle. Consider the fruits as gift from heaven if you succeed in growing them indoors. Bananas can fruit in the pots. But their ornamental value is very nostalgic to me.

I'm just too spoiled for having grown bananas myself in the Philippines and can get 250 lbs of fruit in one stalk! So you would understand some of my rants when it comes to fruit production here in the US. At best, I've only managed to get 35 lbs in one stalk, most often, just 10 lbs, and I used to get 100 lbs at least and 250 lbs at most!

Patty_in_wisc · Posted: Fri 04 May, 2007 3:30 am

GUTATION you call it? I was wondering what that was last fall when I brought the IC in. After the cool nights, they were "sweating" on the leaves but then it went away in PM. I never asked what this was. It was the only plant doing this! Yes, dripping on floor at times. Now I know this is normal! Thanks.

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justjoan · Posted: Fri 04 May, 2007 11:00 am

Thanks for all the input everyone. I am going to try it, and see what happens. It's not a grand investment, so why not, and if I manage to get some fruit, a bonus. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. I just love this site, with all the discussion and information. You folks are the best!!! Very Happy

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bencelest · Posted: Fri 04 May, 2007 7:48 pm

Justjoan:
To push you over the edge to become bananaholic here's a pic of a banana fruit that was successfully grown inside someone's house albeit it is mall in size.

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

Thiis is what I plan to do with my dwarf bananas.

karpes · Posted: Fri 04 May, 2007 11:28 pm

I can purchase most of the mentioned verities here locally from Stokes Tropical, but what soil mixtures do you recommend?
Karl

Patty_in_wisc · Posted: Sat 05 May, 2007 1:01 am

Karl, I use potting mix, perlite, some CHC & whatever. A good rich, but well draining mix. They don't like "wet feet". I feed mine MG tomato food ... 18-18-21 as they like potassium (bananas have lots of potassium!). I've even heard of people shoving whole bananas into soil!

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karpes · Posted: Sat 05 May, 2007 5:40 pm

Patty
Lets clarify this statement. I've even heard of people shoving whole bananas into soil! Are you saying that a store purchased banana will sprout it buried in soil?
Karl

Patty_in_wisc · Posted: Sat 05 May, 2007 7:00 pm

LOL Karl. Bananas have lots of potassium in them. Plants that need more potassium - like banana trees & passion flowers etc, I have put cut up whole bananas down in soil as a source of giving tree more potassium.
I read this once & have tried it few times. Just make sure it is far enough down so that critters & bugs don't get at it. It's used as food for the plant.
I also put 'nanna peels in with my other kitchen compost.

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karpes · Posted: Sat 05 May, 2007 8:42 pm

Patty
Young lady you are a good sport. You took the teasing admirably. This does remind me of a time when I was a little boy on the farm. We would plant eggs at Easter, but if you didnt have the pointed end facing upwards they would not hatch. Very Happy

Karl

karpes · Posted: Mon 07 May, 2007 9:26 pm

Patty
Looks like the last laugh is on me. I got so interested in bananas that I went over to Stokes Tropicals and purchased several verities. Dwarf Orinoco, Grand Nain, thousand fingers Ice cream etc. The prices ranged from $7 to $9 on sale. This place has a lot of bananas and they do mail order.
My question is that several have multiple shoots and I wonder if it would be possible to separate these shoots and plant in separate containers?
Thanks Karl

Patty_in_wisc · Posted: Tue 08 May, 2007 2:25 am

Oh goody, another bananaholic!! Laughing

Sounds like a good deal for $7-9.00. Congrats! How big are they?
The "multiple shoots" sounds like a bunch of pups. I don't know as much as JoeReal, Laaz, Millet or Benny, but I know that when a tree gets big, you should leave at least one pup on to get nutrition from mother plant -- it will grow faster. I would think you could separate them (sell some? LOL), & plant individually.
My Ice Cream came from a culture which is much slower growing than a pup. They (2) were 2 inches high last June ($4.00 @) & are now over 6 ft. Well... one is because it was in a bigger pot all winter & is now inground.
I think we need a banana forum.
BTW, all my Easter eggs hatched when I buried them. Very Happy

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