JoeReal

Although I do not agree with some of their techniques, this is still a generally good place to look into when growing bananas:

http://www.bananatrees.info/index.html

momoese

I love this line: "Broad, long, graceful leaves and rapid growth-commonly
reaching full size in just a few weeks" Ya right. On what planet does a Banana, any Banana reach full size in a few weeks? Maybe they meant a few years, or am I really missing something?

JoeReal

That is quite true. If you have a large banana, let us say my Dwarf Brazilian which is about 4-5 ft at the trunk right now. It spits out more than one full large leaf (about 4 ft long leaves) per week. The broad, long, graceful leaves reaches full size in just 4 to 5 days for my plant at the moment. It is growing like crazy this summer when temperature is between 85-95 deg F. So most likely, they referring to the growth of the leaves and not the plant. Although last year, I have a plant that grew to more than 4 ft at the trunk in just a month, which can be interpreted as 4 to 5 weeks, and depending who you are, the number 4 to 5 is few.

Of course if your banana plant is a Tissue-cultured sized plant, there is no way it is going to happen.

momoese

Now that I re-read it I think your right. They must be saying the leaves grow to full size in a few weeks. Actually I knew that, I was just testin ya! lol

tdl462

MMMM,.....Well if a few weeks mean 8-12 weeks, yes i can see where that will do it......(I'm in VA )no problems. Even bigger maybe.
Had a friend said his bananas haven't bloomed in 3 years.....?????? Showed him mine after this year and asked him if mine would bloom next year and he said maybe, Well if they don't they will be 25' Maybe more
Mine are in the gallery, look at the dates, oh yea my first year growing too...... Good luck to all..........

Bananavilla

Joe, I had purchased that guys book "Secrets to a Successful Greenhouse and Business" and it was a pretty good read but I don't think I would buy a banana plant from him.
When I was looking for an Ice Cream, he was offering to trade Ice Cream (whole flats) for any Dwarf Cavendish's I could come up with. He didn't know me from Adam so whoever bought those "Dwarf Cavendish's" from him could have been in for a real surprise.

Needless to say, I ended up getting my Ice Cream elsewhere.

Mike

Bananavilla

On the growth rate issue, those starting with tiny T.C. plants have not yet seen what banana growing is all about.
Just wait till you have a mature corm in the ground! Some pups can grow to 9+ft trunk + leaves from the soil in a single season!!
Mike

JoeReal

Tissue cultured plants will take one full year to get to some decent height but would be skinny and would need to brought inside during the winter in our area. These tissue cultued plants will easily die if left outside. It takes two full years before they can match the growth rate of established bananas, at least in my experience, and then a big chance that it was not labeled properly with the correct variety.

Southern-Grower

ditto what joe said..

yupper joe, you put it better english than i!!

so this year is gone take a HOG LEG (16"+) and let it root through winter. then next year will have 5'+ plant to fruit the following year..
doing the above takes me 2 years to get fruit on a dwarf..
if my timing is off 3 years on 9'+.

the pearl is the only tc that i've purchased, cuz it's SPECIAL and SHORT! LOL .. it's kickin but i'm bored with it.. just ain't growing like the rest..
wifes says but it's cute ! Gees wanta see that variegated fruit !!!

__________________
Happy Growing,

SG

Enjoy Life as it's too Short

Bananavilla

Looks like I have offended yet another ebay banana sprout seller, Mr. bananaplants.net. Here comes the hate mail!


Email from ttaylor7@cfl.rr.com
Hello, I would like to pass on info, about your web site. Do you know the difference between the offshoots that are water shoots and the one that are real corms? I don't think so. I belive you are doing a unjust service by telling the public that Tissue cultures come from unkown sorces and one can not be sure of the type. This is False! Name one source you are talking about??? Second the plants you sell by the pictures are water plants no good for anything! Stop ripping off the public! I will begin today letting the internet crowd to know of your bad company. Learn something about banana plants before you start telling the world how smart you are and how bad everyone else is. ted taylor

JoeReal

Mike,

I have applied tremendous effort to constraint myself from lambasting at this guy. It only makes me stressful to deal with this type of creatures. Sometimes I just have to resign myself that there are extreme people still left behind by natural selection. Most probably Darwin is wrong, and they are debating it out at the court. LOL!!!

Anyway, it is best for me not to respond back to those mooks in kind. Take care, we're with you.

Joe