Since we're heading into fall I figured this would be a good time to start looking for small bananas to over winter and then put out in the spring.
Currently I only have the following and would like to expand to other types:
Basjoo (two dozen of these)
Velutina
Dwarf Cav (and possibly two Super Dwarfs, I honestly can't tell)
I've been looking and am interested in the Ornata and Musa 'Praying Hands' - I can over winter anything that's not hardy indoors (I heat my garage and use two 1000W halides all winter).
But I'm especially interested in larger bananas and nice foliage. Fruit isn't my main concern, though I certainly wouldn't mind it. I'm also not a huge fan of anything variegated in bananas or red leaves. I like Velutina, but it's kinda small for my tastes. Same for the Cavendish bananas - and since I can't tell which type I have yet bc they are all kinda stout and fat stemmed, they aren't my favorite. But hopefully they'll fruit next year.
Can you all offer some suggestions?
Thanks,
John
Suggestions for new banana's
I would suggest Musa Siam Ruby. I have grown a lot of bananas and it is hands down the most dramatic and beautiful of them all. Ae Ae is nice but stuborn to grow I have rotting problems with it every season. The blood banana is also nice with red streaks in the leaves.
Thanks. If I thought I could get away with an Ae-Ae, I'd definitely try it. But I won't push my luck just yet. LOL Brian, any suggestions that aren't red leaves? Those are the type I'm actually looking to avoid if possible - never have been able to get into red, in Ti, Bananas, Cannas, or anything else honestly.
I've added 'Praying Hands', Orinoco, Dwarf Orinoco, and Saba to the list of must have's. I'm probably loosing my mind for wanting the later, but I figured what the heck. I'm young, and might as well put my back to good use each fall digging that monster up.
Considering Ice Cream and Ornata still too.
Any thoughts on Ice Cream or Ornata anyone?
I've obtained these in the last week:
Saba
Orinoco
Dwarf Orinoco
'Praying Hands'
I've also come to realize that one of my Super Dwarf Cavendish is most likely the "Truly Tiny" variety. I dug back in my emails from eBay and found it. I didn't know at the time "Truly Tiny" was a new type. That does explain why they are so small though.
Ice Cream (blue java) is a fast grower, and did better than I expected here this season. The foliage is really pretty, I'm not sure if it will come back next year or not.....it''s at least 12 feet tall now, so it's hard to imagine it wouldn't. I doubt we';ll ever get any edible bananas here, though
That's a nice looking one. You considered digging it up and storing it for the winter? You might get nanners next year if you plant it back in the spring. That's what I'm going to do with my Cavendish's.
And is Blue Java the same as Musa acuminata 'Ice Cream'? I want to make sure I go looking for the right one.
it's the same, but you might get confused by another dwarf musa named java blue.
did I consider digging it up and storing it? LOL.....
LOL, now come on, it's ONLY 12 feet tall!! OK OK, point taken.
Just was doing some research, are we sure 'Ice Cream' is a species of 'Acuminata'? Every other site labels it "Musa 'Ice Cream' (Blue Java)" without using the Acuminata name.
Just curious... I know I'm splitting hairs, but inquiring minds like to know.
Tropicanna,
I have one that looks a lot like the one in your picture. I never knew the name though. Mine make it through the winter here in Birmingham. I'm going to move it next to a spot which gets more sun. When would be the best time to move it? Or should I just dig it up this fall and plant back in the spring?
I think if you want it to fruit you're going to have to dig it up. If the p-stem dies back it'll be hard for it to grow tall enough to flower, fruit, and for the fruit to ripen before the first frost again. That's my plan here anyway - it's extra work, but if it means bananas, I'll give it a try.
If you do opt to move it, do so in the spring. I'd be hesitant to move anything this late in the year. I split off several large basjoo pups today, but I'm going to keep them in pots until next spring.
I've added 'Ice Cream' to the list, so hopefully a friend in Louisiana can split me one of his pups next week.
keonikale, I remember it having the acuminata label from this site but beyond that I looked at other sites for height and hardiness....didn't pay attention to the name, sorry. If you don't end up with one this year and mine comes back, it has a pup, but I'm not digging on it at all this year. I say I don't think there's any chance of edible fruit here because I have a friend that has several greenhouses and has tried various bananas over the years (putting them out at full size in spring) with no luck. Your season is a little longer than ours in 7b, so I can't say it won't work for you.
shadow, ditto what keonikale says about waiting till spring. The stems and foliage have a bluish powder on the leaves and stems, it's hard to see from the picture at all, but the powder and color seem less obvious as the plant matures. It did grow really fast!
Thanks, Bananas.org confirmed that Musa Acuminata 'Ice Cream' and Musa 'Ice Cream' (Blue Java) is in fact the same. So that clears that up :)
And don't rule out having nanners just yet. On that forum I noted a guy in Michigan was getting bananas by using the dig up method each year. I think he was storing them in the garage like I'm going to do. But several others from northern states all put them under the house (including one from Tennessee who I know was getting fruit from his). There's hope!
....maybe one day I can be that dedicated, but for now I just want it to be hardy here :) I do have little pink velutina fruits forming, they're really pretty, I probably will eventually try some of the ornatas, too.
Do you leave your Velutina in the ground? Lots of folks have said they are hardy, but mine is so small I worry about it.
John, they have many, many velutinas at the Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden in Charlotte and I believe they leave them in the ground but you might want to check with them on that.
The bananas my neighbor in Columbia grew fruited reliably and what he did was cut back the trunk to about 30" +/ - and put a wire cage around it. He then filled the cage with leaves and pine straw and that was it. The new growth came up from the center of that trunk when the weather warmed up in the spring.
I know that the basjoo would be hardy for you if left in the garden. I live in zone 5 and there is a local nursery that has a large section in front of one of the greenhouses that has several of these that reliably come back here every year. They will freeze to the ground and sprout up again in the spring.
Does anyone have suggestions for small bananas that can spend their lives in pots and also produce fruit? In my climate I cannot plant any in the ground with the exception of the basjoo and have them survive. It would be so exciting for me to be able to have a banana to eat that I actually grew myself!
Velutina is in the ground. Last year I got one about mid-summer, planted it and it got about 3 feet high. I left it out for the winter and really was unsure if it would make it but it came back very strong, lots of pups I should have divided but the two biggest have blooms.
the musella lasiocarpa I got about the same time did not come back, but I want to try it again
i move a dwarf cavendish lasy year that was about 6 feet tall, not including the leaves, that easily weighed 150 to 200 lbs mature bananas are VERY heavy if they are healty and robust. how are you planning on moving and storing the saba that you got? don't those get really tall, like 25 or 30 feet?
I just got a Musa 'Ice Cream' at Home Depot. Of course, I realize this is on the West Coast, but I would certainly check it out next time you are there - who knows? I always make a point of poking around the gardening section at any store, and have found little odd gems from time to time. Most of the time I find very little unusual - but it doesn't hurt to window shop!
I picked up several Basjoo from Lowe's earlier this year, but the ID's are always fuzzy - never can be sure I'm getting what it's labeled. I don't even completely trust eBay anymore after some things I've heard. Nanners are really hard to ID sometimes until they bloom. I've got two that no one has a clue what they are, LOL. If I didn't label all of them, I couldn't tell you which one is which without a close inspection.
The Saba's hopefully won't be that big for a few years. I'm getting a new plant cart this Christmas (I hope) so that'll help. But one guy swears he's leaving his Saba's in the ground in NC and another in Louisiana. So I am starting to wonder if plant files hardiness is wrong for that banana. There's a lot of mixed info out there on that banana too. Either way, I'll dig mine up each year when they're small enough to do so or at least grab a pup or two before letting winter take them.
I think I'll be able to handle the weight for a least a few more years in my youth. My younger brother comes over each fall to help me hoist the really big 24" pots I keep the palms and BOPS in out of the ground - so as long as we're both fit, we're good. But I need a bigger yard already.
Interesting about your dward cavendish getting to 6'. I bought one from Logee's last year and it only got to about 20" this year. It is very full and healthy but very small and no nanas. The Logee's catalog said they were good for pots and I was wondering if I should pot mine up but maybe I'll just wait til next year and see what it does.
I had mine potted last year and it didn't grow much; put it in the ground this year and it grew maybe a foot - if that. They are the slowest of any banana I've seen. I plan to pot it back up for the winter, as I'd love to actually get some banana from it eventually. DC seem to be a lot of trouble - they don't over winter well, they grow slow, etc.
I don;t think I was fertilizing mine enough. A local friend who gets many pounds of bananas each year tells me they put 1 lb. of 10 10 10 around each plant every month, spring through fall.
I'm gonna give mine another year and then I'm just going to leave them out. I'll try more fertilizer too. Someone said you almost can't over fertilize or over water a banana in the ground. So we'll see.
the 6 footers were on the island and were mature and fruiting. i dug up the ones that were actually that big for the owners who were moving. i got one that was four feet and a teeny one about 2 feet (that is how tall they are now). for some reason, i cut the 4 footer back to two feet and the other one (whose pseudostem was really puny and eventually died to the ground) all the way back. they certainly arent the fastest bananas, but i havent been disappointed with its performance. i did fertilize it a bit but not much. since july i have started putting the dead leaves around the bottom
I started doing that too with the leaves. I really wish I had a true Cavendish, the Dwarf varieties (including Truly Tiny) are more like a shrub than a banana. When the leaves try and fall off, they tend to almost rot on the plant - so I have to always go in and peel them off.
i have been having that rotting stuff on the basjoo leaves. the cavendishes have been fine
I sprayed them with some Daconil, I think it's helping. In fact, after that fungus issue I had last year with the T-Palm, anytime I repot something with fleshy roots (or split something) now I spray heavily with that or Cleary's. And so far, no more fungal issues. Now if I could just find a good systemic for the tiny leaf pests.