amantedelenguaje

I think my 2-year-old DC is trying to push out a flag leaf. The last two leaves have been significantly smaller than the previous leaves. I thought the reduced size may have been attributed to my chopping the pseudostem in half to lower the banana from my ceiling; however, I have chopped pseudostems in half before, and the next leaves emerged normal size. The leaf emerging from the center of this banana seems different than any other cigar leaf that I have seen. If this plant flowers, it will be my first banana flower EVER. OMG!!! I hope this is the big one, Elizabeth!!!

My nanner now: The alleged flowering banana is the chopped one in the background center closer to the window. The taller banana in the foreground is actually its pup. The banana off to the right is its pup (although repotted) also.


This is the center leaf of the alleged flowering banana:

Compare the un-emerged potential flag leaf to the emerged cigar leaf of another banana below. The cigar leaf below has several layers of leaf tissue as evidenced by the few rings around the top of the leaf. The potential flag leaf lacks these rings.

This is the banana on October 11, 2012 just before I gave her an extreme hair cut.

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caliboy1994

It looks like that could be it! I'm not sure how big the bunch will be though since it's in a container and you trimmed it back. But bananas are bananas nonetheless.

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2woodensticks

fingers are crossed for you..let us know

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got to love em..{neotropical rattlesnake..cascabell}

Hammocked Banana

Ouch looks like u shouldn't have chopped afterall. Either way it will be sweet to see it flower. My fingers are also crossed

caliboy1994

It still has some green leaves, which is good. Give it as much light as you possibly can so that it has enough energy to get the fruit to mature nicely.

__________________
"The ultimate goal of farming is not the growing of crops, but the cultivation and perfection of human beings."
~ Masanobu Fukuoka

Find me on linktree here as Solarpunk Farmer:
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edzone9

Good Luck !

I am Too Awaiting My 1st Bloom !

amantedelenguaje

It's been five days, and this is what the potential flag leaf looks like now. I think its the real deal. Finally! Guess I picked an unfortunate time to prune her. I hope the remaining two leaves and the pup will be able to gather enough energy for the corm to make and ripen the bananas. Caliboy I am doing as you suggested; I put the plant in my sunniest window, and I run grow lights between 6-7 am and 6-10 pm. Thanks for the advice.

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Hammocked Banana

Gunna be cool to see what comes out of that thing!!!

venturabananas

Yep, that's definitely a flag leaf. It will indeed be interesting to see how many hands are produced and how big the fruit are. Regardless, the first flowering is pretty darn exciting. Congrats.

You might consider putting a heat mat under the pot. Not that it is necessary, but it might help this winter bloomer reach its full potential. Warm roots make for a happy banana plant.

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amantedelenguaje

Got it covered. The pot is on top of a heat register emanating from the floor. I'm babying her as much as I can to make up for my terrible hair cut. Thanks for the tip!

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Illia

Congrats anyway to you!! I'm so happy and proud seeing that. Definitely keep us updated. I love seeing people in zones 5-8 with successfully flowering (edible) bananas.

amantedelenguaje

The bud is still emerging. Slow but steady wins the race.

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caliboy1994

I love how you're marking it.

__________________
"The ultimate goal of farming is not the growing of crops, but the cultivation and perfection of human beings."
~ Masanobu Fukuoka

Find me on linktree here as Solarpunk Farmer:
https://linktr.ee/solarpunkfarmer

Magilla Gorilla

Very cool. Congratulations!!!!

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Andrew

amantedelenguaje

That's the nerd in me. I've always got to study and learn about something.

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edzone9

Congrats !

Illia

Congratulations! Love the markings as well.

Romul

Cool! Congratulations to you! This marks the hourly growth? What is the volume pot from you? A good method to reduce pseudostem. It is not very exhausting plant? Dear friends, there is a topic about it on the forum? My banana leaves is already hitting the ceiling.

amantedelenguaje

The markings measure 24 hours growth of the bud/inflorescence. The growing conditions are not ideal, and it seemed to me that the bud was not emerging fast enough. I was concerned the plant might choke. The markings allowed me to see that the plant was growing and that I just needed to be a little more patient.

The pot is 22 inches/56 cm in diameter by 20 inches/51 cm deep and tapers slightly towards the bottom. I am not positive about the volume.

To keep my bananas more manageable, when the pseudostem is about 5-6 feet tall and the plant is about 8-9 feet tall, I chop the pseudostem back to about 2.5-3 feet. I know that my actions stress the plant, but I feel it is better to stress the plant so that I can bring it indoors than let it die in the freezing temperatures of winter. If I notice that the leaves are stacking or have any inclination that the plant is about to flower, then I try to be very careful when pruning the plant so as not to sever the inflorescence. I don't know how much my extreme pruning has affected the plant's ability to fruit, but I am about to figure that out in a few months. The plant in this thread has been extreme pruned twice since I purchased it in November of 2010. The bud emerged in 2 years.

Dec. 29, 2011
Apr. 1 2012
Jun. 3, 2012
Jun. 17, 2012
Aug. 25, 2012
Oct. 9, 2012
Oct. 11, 2012
Dec. 9, 2012

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Romul

Great! Many thanks for the complete answer. You really did a great job. We will wait for you next photo.