flacracker

Just joined today and I need some information about my banana plants.

Please do not ask me what kind they are. I am not plant person. But the first banana tree was bought about 5 or so years from a local plant show. The bananas are supposed to taste like ice cream. We were told in about 2 to 3 years we should have fruit. Fine, I'm in no hurry, but this life time would be good.

Just about the time they should have given us fruit we were smacked with 3 hurricanes in a row. Yes, I'm on the East Coast of Florida. The poor little trees were whipped, but after some TLC, they came back. Just like they should. I'm thinking the fruit wont come for another 2 to 3 years (I should mention that I'm not a plant person!). Anyway, the trees grew back and the following year we were smacked by another hurricane. Well rats, now the trees are whipped again and yes we did cut them down both times and they grew up just fine in a matter of months because that's what they should do.

Now that you have a history, here's my real question:

One of the trees produced a bunch of fruit, albiet small, the purple pod was there and the little bananas were there. The purple pod shed it's outer coat and dropped the little doo-hickeys (remember, I'm new to banana-ese). After a few months nothing happened. No growth and things seemed to have stagnated. We have about 14 trees throughout our yard. Lo and behold, another one has produced a much larger purple pod and much bigger bananas.

At what point are we supposed to cut the bunch off the tree? I know that it has to be cut off for the fruit to rippen, but when is that supposed to happen?

Okay, time to get up off the floor from all the laughing at this little novice, but you guys are the experts. Can you help me?

Greenie

thats funny!. Welcome to the forum! I think you will get plenty of good advice from some of the guru's here on the forum.I think it would be best to post some pics if you can though.......good luck!

PaulOdin

Hey. It sounds like you are almost due east of me. Most bananas take about 3 months to ripen on the stalk, but you can tell a lot by color, plumpness and how soft they feel. If you are about to get a freeze around February you may want to cut them and take them inside. Otherwise, wait for at least a few of them to turn yellow.

Paul

flacracker

Good Morning,

Tried to reply last night but was given the boot!

Anyway, Greenie, thanks for the welcome. I do hope to get lots of information here.

Paul, you are in Leesburg and I'm in Boynton Beach, in West Palm Beach county. We really don't have any freezing weather because of the tradewinds. We are about 6 to 7 miles inland. I will be waiting for these next 2 months to fly by and watch the nanners to get a little yellow and a little soft.

Thanks for all your help.

Have a fruitful day!

jeffreyp

I wanted to mention that I am also in Boynton Beach. If you noticed a small weak looking bloom and fruit, it's probably due to the hurricanes. Alot of banana plants were stressed, cut back, regrew, cut back, and regrew again. So, unless you've been dilegent with fertilizer, I wouldn't expect alot from the first bunch after the hurricane cuts.

With that said, you should definitely consider putting down an entire bag of composted cow manure around each plant or mat (the banana plant consists of multiple psuedostems formed by tightly packed concentric layers of leaf sheaths, underground rhizome, and fibrous root system. All of this is known as a 'mat' ).

Considering the fruit that you have, wait until a couple of the fruits turn pale yellow, then cut the entire stalk down and hang it from a tree or fence from a rope. The single stem that produced the fruit should be cut down and composted since it will not fruit again.

Here is south florida, banana plants ususally slow down quite a bit from mid november - march because of cooler weather and lesser amounts of daylight the plants receive.

flacracker

Jeffery,

Thanks so much about the information. We will deffently try this method and see what happens.

Kylie2x

Hey!!!
WELCOME!!!!
I'm in Texas soooo I am of NO help!!! LOL... I would love to see your pics tho.. and Congrats on the fruit...

Kylie

flacracker

Hi Kylie, Thanks for the welcome!

I have to learn how to download from the camera to the computer. And then to post here. As soon as all that happens I'll post the first bunch and then the second bunch.

tlturbo

I'm in Boynton Beach too. Off of Hagen Ranch and Hypoluxo.

For some reason, my bananas are still growing pretty good. 2 flags in the last 3 weeks - Misi Luki and a Dwarf Cav (just had another stalk in same mat give me almost 50 lbs). My neighbors love me.

As for pics, I went to photobucket.com and created an account there (free)
Then after you put your pics on the computer, load them into your photoshop account. At the bottom of each pic is 3 addresses. I copy and paste the bottom address into my post on here. YES. it's a pain.


Terry

Kylie2x

I'm with ya Terry!
It is kind of a pain but Photobucket is the easiest site I have found to post pic's from...
Kylie

flacracker

Terry, thanks about the right address with photobucket. I do have an account there. Should I be cropping the picture? What I mean, is there a limit on the size of picture? On some board you can only have a medium sized picture and I don't want to tick anybody off.

And we are neighbors, Terry. I'm on Boynton Beach Blvd. and Jog. BTW, nice weather we are having, huh?

Kylie, seems like a lot of people know about photobucket. It's a fun place to store your pictures. And yes, if I can figure out how to use it, any body can! Of course, I did have a lot of very nice people helping me.

flacracker

I have a picture in my photo gallery. Could one of you wonderful people please click on it and see if it is there?

Other than the photo gallery, where else should I be posting the picture?

Taylor

flacracker

Hey Taylor,

Thanks, yes it should taste like ice cream, but after all the hurricanes and length of waiting for them to fruit, it might be yogart!!!!

Now, this first bunch didn't far well at all. It actually lost some of the bananas that you see and they got soft or yellow. We ended up cut the stalk after about 4 months of waiting and the tree is now cut down. But, the second bunch is about 3 times that size. I tell ya, it's the grand-pappy to this first one. And it looks totally different!

As soon as I get a chance to get a picture I'll add it to the gallery.

tlturbo

How tall would you say the Ice Cream is to the actual top of the trunk where all the leaves and the fruit are coming out? I have a big clump of Ice Cream that has yet to fruit but should be close.

Terry

flacracker

Hey Terry,

The first bunch was about 8 feet tall. The second bunch is located in a different part of the yard and it is about 9 feet tall. Mind you, we have trees all over the yard. Some are planted in places they shouldn't be and are growing wonderfully and others are in the "ideal" location. But we were determined to have a couple survive the next big storm. And yes, I went out and talked with them right before each storm, did anybody else? I just wanted them to be prepared to get the wind blown out of them! They are also not all planted together. So maybe two or three are growing together, but maily they are by themselves.

How tall are yours?

Kylie2x

WOW!!!!
That's a beauty!!! Nice pic also...LOL.. There goes my "banana Envy again...