i posted this plant a couple of weeks ago when the bud showed up...well I got flowers now and little namas...its about 6 feet tall and has a pup.
:-)
Red flowered banana
very pretty! which banana is it? (besides 'red-flowered' before you get smart!!! )
OHHHH,how neat!
Kyle,if I behead my banana to bring it in ,that will keep it from flowering,won't it?
And how far out do the roots go?Will it die when I dig it up?
CC....top out the plant and when you dig it up the main root ball only extends a short distance from the trunk anyway. I go out about 10 inches and dig.
tiG..its musa Ornata "Bronze" blooms quickly from a pup..one summer season.:-)
CC.. if u top off the banana plant, it will not bear fruit for u but for sure will produce new rhyzomes or baby plant. be sure before u dig, build a trench around and fill with water. makes digging easier. just my 2 cents.
MaVie thanks!
my pleasure Kyle :).
banana rhyzomes are very tender and easily breaks. this is the procedure i've seen done by farm workers on one of my grandma's farmland in the PHils. they build a trench 2-3' wide around the banana trunk, fill with water a day or 2 prior to digging... to loosen the soil. therefore facilitating easy access to lift the entire root. a practice i have myself done.
I'm so glad to learn that. I will be digging several large ones later.
Cala, be sure to fill the trench with water again a few hrs. prior to digging. loosen the soil around the trunk... this manner u can practically tug out the entire plant with no problem at all.
Do you leave the dirt on the roots?? That's the heavy part!
no wash off the dirt... to be able to separate the fragile baby rhyzomes. easier to see where to separate baby rhyzome from the mother plant. then plant as usual.
baby rhyzomes, i used to plant in 1 gal. pots. makes nice houseplant during the winter mos. give them time to grow nicely for the next season.
Thanks Ma Vie - Here, most people I know just dig up the whole thing and wrap the roots, dirt & all and store them in a garage or basement, it is such a heavey load, a man's job! Your way would be much easier. Do you think they would be ok just to wrap the bare roots to store for winter??
to be honest, i have never tried that way. if it works for others so be it. i plant them to make a head start for the next planting season. Bananas are perinnial plants in the Phil. where i was born. they contineously produced all year round. here in the US, we have to do the best we can to keep them from dying, and have another crop for the next warmer weather... at least i did when i had some. i used to grow the edible kind for family consumption.
where i live now, bananas has no chance of survival. too cold for the winter, and i do not have a green house. in Los Angeles, i used to live in zone 10, where they had more opportunity to grow year round. but i did not take chances, so i took baby rhyzomes for the winter to play it safe. in the long ran, the babies i propagated, were given away to friends.
Thanks for the information MaVieRose, this is good to know. How big to the babies have to be before you separate them from the mother plant?
u're very welcome Joydie :)! always my pleasure to share knowledge. i would say, about 12" high depending on the specie of banana. remember they are extremely very fragile and delicate, so easy to break. the reason why i prefer separating them in 12" size --> they're more firmer at that stage.
OK ,thanks for the info Ma vie and Kyle
Next question,I'm dying to get one to bloom,if I dig it up,take all the monter leaves off and just leave the new leaf thats about to emerge ,put it in the GH,will it bloom next year?
yes it would. as long as u take off the outside leaves and NOT chop the main trunk, it will bloom and bear fruit next year. the way i was told banana grows from within going out.this is why the trunk if u will observe are in sections of peels like an onion. that is my basic knowledge. perhaps Kyle can explain on the botanical aspect.
Well we got mega amounts of rain so I'm gunna dig the nanas tomorrow....hope it works!!!Thanks Mavie and Kyle
:)!