Ahava

This is my first year with bananas and I haven't been able to find a thread on this subject so I decided to post the question. I see pictures of other's potted bananas and some seem to grow huge for that pot size. But is there a rule of the thumb for repotting bananas according to size either corm or height/width? I wish I could put mine in the ground but with like five hundred gophers on the property, I'm not taking that chance. lol. Thanks in advance.

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Gabe15

Bananas will pretty much always be dwarfed in a pot, except some of the ornamentals like ornata and velutina which can grow full size and flower fine in containers as small as 5gal. For the larger varities, whatever pot you put them in they will fill up quickly, you will also notice that at a certain point, a potted banana plant may continue to produce leaves but never really get any taller, at this point would be an ideal time to repot into a larger container. If it works for you though, you can plant them directly into a very large container. Potted bananas are trickier to get fruit from, dwarf varieties in large containers work best, the tall ones will grow into a nice plant but may never have the root capacity to properly sustain a fruit bunch (unless you have a really large container, which if you donʻt have to move around would be the best choice). On the flip side, bananas are also pretty good at staying in a small pot for a long time, they will stay small but they wonʻt die, so you can be the judge of how big you want your plants to be as they will quickly outgrow pretty much anything you put them in.

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

Ahava

Thank you. That makes sense. In all abject honesty, they will be overwintered in my house in pots, but come spring, I'm going to figure out a way to get them in the ground to where the gophers cannot get them.

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bencelest

This is just a suggestion: why don't you put a chicken wire mess (smaller holes) around the hole of your bananas so you can plant them on the ground.
You can approximate how large the roots may spread at matured size like 3 1/2 feet diameter by 3 feet deep.

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natedogg1026

I would let em get a bit root bound for winter. You'll have a lot better luck w/an undersized pot inside since they can easily get over watered. Gabe explained it pretty well but just threw in my 2 cents since it is Sept. now.-Nate

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Banana's are a safe addiction. Right?Maybe I need classes.