Beginner Gardening: Is this normal for a banana tree (and a few more questions), 1 by DaleTheGardener

DaleTheGardener wrote:
SoFla,

Your tree looks normal for this time of year.

With our cooler weather all tropicals slow down their growth. A thick layer of compost with a thicker layer of mulch (like wood chips) will help, but, you won't see much change until March.

Under perfect growing conditions banana corms produce fruit about 16-18 months in a tropical climate. Since we are on the northern edge of the tropics it takes about 24 months (or more). Each stalk will produce a bunch of banana of various lengths and then die back after the fruit has ripened. Before the fruiting stems die they usually produce pups.

Adding trace elements - Magnesium, Iron etc will contribute a lot to any plant. I buy my trace elements from Southern Ag in a 25lb bag which is a dry 'powder', but, you can buy a liquid form they use on citrus tree at the big box stores, like HD. Ask for citrus tree trace elements.

I feed my fruiting plants every two weeks with Miracle Grow. 10 Tablespoons in a 5 gallon bucket poured slowly all around the plants abour 18" out from the trunk.

I don't have any photos of banana's so how about some flowers....