I've just bought one of these dwarf Cavendish banana plants for my conservatory. Has anyone any tips on looking after one, and hopefully getting it to fruit. How large a container should I go up to to get reasonable sized fruit (always an optimist)? and what is the minimum temperature I can get away with over winter. The conservatory is 11 ft high so I can have quite a large pot, and double glazed so it won't get frosty.
This message was edited Jul 31, 2005 6:19 PM
Banana Musa 'dwarf Cavendish'
I have them growing in florida. A couple are in pots and some in the ground. If you have the regular dwarf cavendish I wouldn't go any smaller than a 10 gallon if you want fruit. If you have the super dwarf variety you can go as small as a 5 gallon. They can be grown in something as small as 5 gallon but it will stay stunted and your chances of fruit are slim. Bananas are greedy. They love to be fed on a regular basis. I hose feed mine when i feed my brugmansias so they get a 15-15-15 fertilizer but I also provide them with a slow release pellet type fertilizer mixed into the soil. I am really not sure what is the minimum temperature they can withstand because our winters in south florida will only go down into the 40's F. If they are subjected to something that kills back the top growth there is an excellent chance they will rebound and grow pups from the soil line. If the top stalk is damaged or appears ill or you are not satisfied with the leaf growth you can cut the trunk leaving about two feet of trunk. A new plant will emerge from the center and will grow rapidly to match the thickness of the original trunk. They need a good amount of sunlight in order to get blooms. When the flower appears you will also see pups beginning to emerge (sometimes before flowering too). The entire main plant will die after fruiting but will be survived by it's pups for a new season of bananas. Before you know it in a few years you will have four or five times the amount of plants that you started with. Thats about all I know. Good luck and let me know your progress.
Thanks Xeriscape for the very useful info. I'm not sure how dwarf it is supposed to be, but it is growing rapidly so I'll have to look out for a larger container. It is in very good compost and is sending out a new leaf every week, but it is a good idea of yours to use slow release fertilizer so it doesn't run out of nutrients.