Annie6078OH

Hello,

This is my third season for my dwarf cavendish (root ball & p-stem weigh close to 200#). I've never expected fruit living where I do, but this banana has always produced beautiful foliage and healthy pups.

This year, only one half-leaf (from where the p-stem was cut to bring in for winter) has sprouted and I see a tip of a new leaf showing. For almost 2 weeks that has been status quo -- the new leaf just doesn't seem to be rising to emerge. I removed a large pup thinking it was taking too much energy away from "mom".

However, tonight I realized where all her energy is going -- she's producing bananas!!! I'm SO incredibly beside-myself excited, but concerned at the same time. The bananas have split her side and are coming out about 2 ft. up the p-stem (it's only about 3 ft. tall from getting decapitated every year & no leaves so far this year).

Could someone answer a few questions please?
1) Is there any possibility in zone 6a that I'd actually get mature and/or edible fruit -- especially with the fruit coming out only 2 ft. off the ground?
2) If so, I always hear about propping for fruit, but will I be able to do that with that mere 2 ft. of clearance above the ground?
3) I always see photos of the flower hanging down and mine is all curled up (hopefully you can see that in my photos) -- is this another problem?
4) Is there anything I need to do at this point?

I've uploaded a few photos to my gallery if they would help in answering.

It'd be awesome to get edible fruit, but I'm still happy for the beautiful foliage and healthy pups I've been given from this plant. Just wondering if there's any room for hope

Thanks SO much in advance for any assistance,
Annie

sunfish

Annie I don't see any photos in your gallery.

CookieCows

I don't see any photos either.... wow, I can't wait to see this!!

Deb

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Annie6078OH

Thanks for replying and letting me know about the photos. I tried again and it appears it worked this time. I always have the bizarrest problems -- now even with bananas!

Again, I'd be grateful for any assistance or advice.

Great website and very interesting!

Annie

CookieCows

Zone 6A ..... you give me such hope!! So now can the summer be long enough? I'll be crossing my fingers and toes for you!!

Deb

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stumpy4700

I can't anwser your question, but Welcome to the Org. I'm sure someone will be anwsering it shortly, BTW I grew up in Beavercreek. When you have time introduce yourself under the new members thread.

Gabe15

The plant is severely choked and not fruiting normally. The good news is that there is nothing you can do about it, so just let them run their course and hope for the best!

What happened was that it made the flower bud last season, and it was just sitting in the pseudostem waiting to come out. The problem is that all of its leaves died, and since its blooming it cannot make anymore leaves, so the bloom has begun to develop prematurely.

I would not remove any more suckers because as long as they are connected to the mother shoot, they will be able to provide photosynthate to the bunch and help to develop the fruit. Don't expect anything grand, but keep them on as long as you can until (if) they get plump or start to ripen, or take them off before the first frost if they hold on that long, don't worry about propping them, leave the old pseudostem attached so the nutrients can go back into the bunch.

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Growing bananas in Colorado, Washington, Hawaii since 2004. Commercial banana farmer, 200+ varieties.

Jack Daw

Gabe's right about the suckers, if they are large enough and old enough, they could provide just enough sustainance. Other than that, you don't have to cut the Cavendish for winter, it can easily be overwintered in your room. That way, your next plants will have all the leaves they need to make full quality fruit.
Btw. welcome to the board.

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Thnx to Marcel, Ante, Dr. Chiranjit Parmar and Francesco for the plants I've received.



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Annie6078OH

First, to Gabe: Thanks SO much for the very helpful information! It makes a lot of sense as to why I have "side-splitting" bananas . Like I said, nothing goes straightforward for me -- apparently, not even bananas! Just frustrating that I made the mistake of removing the largest/oldest sucker before realizing what was happening. Oh well, doesn't sound too promising on getting all the way to edible bananas even if I hadn't. Regardless, this is a ball to watch, as it's only my 2nd flowering (velutina before-- still VERY new to banana growing/learning).

May I ask a few "follow-up" questions please?
1) Is there any sign I missed or anything I could have done last year to see this coming? I didn't notice a "flag" leaf.
2) Should I continue to fertilize this banana? It got a dose of 15-5-30 in a watering early on and then some Osmocote (19-6-12) about a week ago (I've had surprisingly good luck with that stuff).
3) Future of the remaining 2 suckers -- I will leave them on for the rest of the season as you suggest. However, what should I prepare for -- how does "mom" die at the end of the season? And afterwards, can I keep the suckers -- just cut dead "mom" off, keep the whole root ball and store over winter & split next year so each sucker has half her root ball as their root system?

Thanks again for your help.

Jack Daw: Thanks for the welcome and suggestion. Unfortunately, I've had no choice for cutting this cavendish back, as even with high ceilings, it's been far too tall to pot up and get inside as a whole. She's been potted in a big trashcan & gone in the basement to go dormant the past 2 yrs. All my other bananas are more reasonably sized, so get potted & put in a back bedroom with a grow light used just enough to keep them alive over winter.

Deb: Apparently, there is always reason for hope -- even in our neck of the woods ! Even if I don't get matured/edible bananas, the flower is beautiful and fascinating to watch the process evolve. Even without flowering, I'd still cultivate bananas, as I love the tropical feel they give to my yard and think they are beautiful to look at. I also grow cannas, several varieties of elephant ears (mostly giant varieties so they can get some size to them in our short seasons), bird of paradise, fan palm, bottle palms & even trying a pineapple just for fun. I wish you the very best of luck with your bananas (though I'm not sure you'll need it after seeing your photo of beautiful, lush bananas in your post. Kudos!)

Any further suggestions/advice is always welcomed.

Thanks again to all,
Annie