New greenhouse,with hog panel design

Added a couple together to get the extra height ,and to overwinter a banana that has just started to flower.

Inside shots
Used solar pool cover against the hog panels then came back with the 6 mil greenhouse covering.

inside at the base

Back wall is the insulated garage door.

You just amaze me, Tropicman!! Do you have it filled up yet...lol??
:) Donna

Can you give some dimensions? How did you attach it to the ground? I am very interested in doing somehing out side my french doors, and heating it with air from the house.
Tommie

Not a thing in it yet,but spent the day digging up plants and repotting them,and filled the sunroom up,tomorrow I will do some more and fill my other greenhouse up.
This new one is for the bananas that are coming into flower,I'm digging them up,and will bring them inside the new greenhouse,when the weather turns cool.


Tommie,it is attached to the side of the garage.
With deck screws and washers going against the hog panel wires
The 2x 10's are attached by screws to the inside face of the garage door opening.
The dimensions are 10ft wide x 9ft long and little over 9ft high.
If you want a greenhouse little over 6ft tall by 8ft wide,and 3 ft long one panel will do the trick,make it longer just by adding the panels together,4 panel will give you a 12ft x 8ft,x 6ft tall.

I am hoping for updates throughout the winter on how well this works.. I really plan to build one at some point.

I got a banana tree at the Central Missouri swap this Spring.. How tall is your banana tree that is blooming? Mine looks healthy , but doesn't have blooms.

It's about 12 ft tall to the top of the leaves,I will have to cut the leaves in half to get it inside this greenhouse,and hopefully it won't hurt the bananas,speaking of the bananas here's a pic of the flower just now emerging.

And here is a dwarf cavendish about 15ft tall,with the paddle leaf,and the flag leaf will appear next then the flower,I have about 4 of these,all getting ready to do the same.

When you get them looking like this,which is the close up on the other side of the banana in the pic above,the paddle leaf is the top middle leaf,you can expect them to flower before too long.

interesting. How big is the container you have it in?

You're amazing! How do you get it to grow so big? What do you fertilize it with and how much? When you bring in the plant do you still water it or let it grow dormant?

:) Donna

Well they both were in the ground,well one with paddle leaf still is,but the Raja Puri,the one with the flower,I dug up when I saw the flag leaf and potted it into a 35 gallon plastic trash container.
I have a couple of 55gallon plastic drums,that I will cut in half and plant the rest of the bananas in .

I start out with 20-20-20- peters fertilizer in the spring,then switch to 10-60-10 around mid june on everything,I also dump my grass clippings at the base of the bananas for the extra
nitrogen.

Thanks for the info! Also how often do you or even water during the winter months?

Tropicman
I grow bananas in ground down here on the gulf coast, but they don’t produce big stalks of bananas. The weather gets cold enough to stunt them so we just cut off the dead parts and they continue growing in the spring. I understand that they need an uninterrupted growing season of several months to produce really large stalks of bananas.
I am building a greenhouse also and your idea of cutting back the height of the plant is interesting since I would have to do the same thing. I believe that they stop growing at less than 65 degrees but I don’t know if that would be considered an interruption. My greenhouse will be approximately 10’ tall so if I keep the heat above 65 degrees, I believe they would quickly reach the ceiling. I have some dwarf varieties that may work under a 10’ ceiling but even the dwarf Brazilian will shoot up to that height very quickly.
The dwarf Orinoco is said to grow to a height of 6’ so if that’s true then it would be a winner for my greenhouse.
I sure would like to compare notes with you in the spring as to how your greenhouse bananas grew.
Oldude

PGgirl,
I water at least once a week in the winter,most of my containers,I keep on the small side even for the larger plants,so I don't get root rot,but some are in larger pots,and then only when needed,do I water,but I believe in misting about everyday,to keep bugs at bay,and to provide the extra humidity.

OLdude,
I have a lady friend,who has a dwarf Brazilian,she e-mailed me last week to tell me when
they got back from vacation last week from Houston,hers was flowering and it was only about 5 ft tall to the trunk and then the leaves start,she said overall less than 10ft.I haven't been able to get over there to see it.
Also some of the tall Orinoco's I gave away last fall to a tropical palm grower here in town,called and said they were flowering,both of my friends have these planted in the ground as well,after seeing how much faster and bigger they grow,than in pots.

I came home tonight from work,to find another dwarf cavendish in flower,albit 1/3 smaller than the one in the picture above,it to came as a pup as from the mother as this one did.
And I have one planted in the ground,in another greenhouse half that size,also a pup from the same as the 2 above,which has about 4 ft trunk with 6 ft long leaves,it is not in flower as of yet,but I think it's getting close,the roof is a white plastic poly tuf panel,so it's get indirect light,might be the reason it's not nearly as big as the others being in full sun.
Will be glad to compare notes come next spring and also thru the winter months.

Don

Tropican
Wichita KS does seem like an unlikely place to grow bananas. I did a little work over at the Bishop Carroll School and there was snow everywhere. Took me a whole week to warm up after I returned home.
The 65 degree temperature that I previously posted is incorrect. I think it is more like 57 degrees when bananas stop growing.
Good luck Oldude

Little snow,took a week to warm up!!!LOL
I lived in Bossier City,back in 1960,and back again in 67 for a short period of time,and was surprised to see freezing rain there that spring,after a mild winter,left there in April,on Easter weekend,and drove back to Kansas,and ran into 2 ft snow at Kansas and Okla Border,freak snow storm,it happens!!!!

I'm interested in your pipe bender,also the top rail pipe you use,that goes on top of fences,did it have the end that fits inside another top rail?

And did you hand form it around the pipe jig you made?

Also I have 5 Ensetes Maurelli's,I'm thinking of taking one of these,and cutting the corm into quarters and trying to make more plants,have you tried this method,since these plants
do not sucker?

Tropicman
The bender was purchased from Lost Creek. I will add the link at the bottom of the page.
It works well, reasonably priced and it does use the top rail of a chain link fence. You can buy the 17 &18 gauge recommended tubing at Lowe’s or Home Depot at about $9 per 10’6” length. It takes two of these 10’6’’ sections to make a 12’ hoop. I purchased the 21’ heaver gauge tubing from a local fence company for $18. The 12’ bender makes a hoop with a center height of approximately 6’6’’. I am using 2 3/8” well bore tubing to raise the walls of the greenhouse so that I have 10’ center clearance. I am sure that you could increase the height of the cattle panels greenhouses in a similar fashion.
I do like the way that you filled in the arch on the end walls. It looks good and strong.
I purchased several banana varieties this spring and carefully selected those that had the most pups. I separated most of the pups from the mother corn and then planted only the mother plant in the ground. The mother plant quickly grew and produced more pups. The separated pups were planted in containers and they all survived and produced more pups.
Bananas are truly prolific when given enough water sunlight and fertilizer, but you already know that. Your bananas are a good example.
Check out the reduced prices at Stokes Tropical. I need to go by there and pick up a Raja Puri.
Link Stokes http://www.stokestropicals.com/SearchResult.aspx?CategoryID=7
Oldude

Links Lost creek
http://www.lostcreek.net/bender-info.htm
http://www.lostcreek.net/

Tropicman
The Ensete Maurelii is propagated by seed or by tissue culture. I am not sure that cutting the corn up would work.
Oldude

Well I'm sure I read that some where that cutting the corm in quarters has worked,well I can spare one to try.
Thanks for the links.Stokes is where I got my Raja puri

pic inside the greenhouse today

Tooooooo cool!
:) Donna

Nice fragrance from the flower as it was starting to open today.

Nice perfumey fragrance from this plumie too!

tropicman: Youve got me researching solar pool covers. Most that Ive seen are black or blue. Do you have the Magna Clear type?

Yes I do,and its 12 mil,not sure if they make a thicker mil or not.
Check with your local pool company,I ordered this on line,and it just so happen,a local pool supplier had it right here in town,and sent it to me,paid for shipping too,if I knew it was local,I could went picked it up myself,and save 11 bucks!

do you spray or use any insect protection on your bananas ?

I use the Bayer liquid complete.that you just add to the soil,on all my plants,seems to work quite well,better than anything I have found to date,trying to get away from spraying,other than a burst from the water hose.

I am unable to find "Bayer liquid complete"
could it be either

Bayer COMPLETE" SOIL & TURF INSECT CONTROL GRANULES

or

Carbaryl (SEVIN®) Curative &
Preventive Bayer Advanced™ Complete Insect Killer for Gardens Ready-To-Use

Shucks I just threw the empty container away,and it has a nice smell too!
But I use the granules also sprinkle a little on top of the potting mix.
I also use the advanced bayer tree and shrub liquid as well.

Found it on there website.
http://www.bayeradvanced.com/product/Complete-Insect-Killer-For-Soil-and-Turf/concentrate.html