TGirl09

I have my first banana stalk on my plant- I've never seen anything like this before- it's beautiful. I'd love to insert my pictures, but don't know how.

It was sticking straight up two days ago, and yesterday morning it's pointing downward.

When can I expect to see bananas? This is my first time growing them.

Scott

When the flower emerges then turns down, it's usually only a couple of days till you see the first bananas. If you look super closely, you may actually see them now
Hopefully you're in a warm place and you should see them quickly.
We're very happy for you and your plant. When all the bananas are showing (usually a month from now), post a picture and someone will tell you what kind of banana plant you are growing.
Good Luck and Congrads

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TGirl09

I'ts expected to dip to 39 for a couple of nights here in the next couple of days. Unusual for us in Bexar County, Texas. Should I wrap it with a blanket?

My banana is a Dwarf Cavendish.

Scott

We had a super harsh winter last year. When the coldest moved in, I cleaned out my closet of old clothes and a few blankets.
Your bananas will take about 5-7 months to ripen on the vine. No way to speed that up....well....you can dodge winters. So with that, remember the 'plant' is underground and the leaves are what we admire. It will be important to keep the ground warm. Dry also helps.
Last year I put a bunch of clothes around my plant, wrapped in a blanket, then put as much soil and mulch onto the trunk of the plant. Just keep the cold off your plant. Then another blanket or something on the ground to keep the cold off your plant/corm/roots.
If you look in last years posts, you will see a bunch of posts with pictures of how people protected their leaves. Frost will kill the leaves. I wrapped painters plastic around the trunk and picked the leaves up, kinda like when they first come out...straight up. Inside with the wrapped plant/leaves was a piece of PVC pipe...it's cheap at Home Depot. This also helped support all the clothing I put on top.
Ok, that's cold weather stuff....but protect the leaves from FROST....very important.
And there will not be any need to water for a while. When temps drop below mid-50's, the plant starts to shut down.
Here's a link to our Dwarf Cavendishs. Pix are 1 month old. Scroll down and you'll see them.
Good Luck TGirl
Bananas

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TGirl09

It's October, so the 5-7 months will put the nanas in Jan-Feb or March, our coldest months. Will they still survive? I know commercial nanas are cut down green, and shipped that way. Can I do the same thing in December, when it might still be warm?

Or will wrapping them in blankets be enough? I'm going to pile plenty of mulch around them tomorrow and get ready with old towels, blankets, etc. As long as I keep it warm from freezing, will the nanas be okay?

Only the plant knows why on earth they decided to flower now, of all times. But sometimes here it's in the 80's through December. At least our weather isn't boring, just unpredictable.

I truly appreciate your help and advice. I went outside and looked again- the green part that I thought was leaves - they're tiny, little finger-sized nanas! Yipee!

Scott

You are correct, commercial growers take the bananas when they are green. And you will have to do the same. If you take them now, you will be taking all peeling. The plants leaves needs the sun for energy. So the leaves will need to be open when warmer weather rolls through.
Your plant will plump the bananas up. This is a long process. What makes it longer is the fact the weather makes your plant shut down, go dormant...as in normal physical functions being suspended or slowed down for a period of time; in or as if in a deep sleep. And watching bananas plump up is worst than watching paint dry.
You are right, freezing bananas will destroy the trunk, leaves, and fruit.

If (and this is from a banana addict) we get a repeat weather snap like last year here in Florida, I plan on purchasing a greenhouse or making one around my DCs. During the nights when temps drop below 40, I will keep grow lights on and maybe throw in a small electric heater.

Now, worst case, you can attempt to xplant to a very large pot and move the plants into the garage and keep it warm with lights. Doubt you would want a fruiting banana tree on your carpet as they drip a nectar that's harsh to cotton materials.


TGirl - how many plants do you have?

Something like this may help your plants too:
greenhouse items - Get great deals on Home Garden, Books items on eBay.com!
Most are less than $100 on ebay. Just make sure there is no floor. Now you can build a greenhouse around your plant and not shock it by digging it up.

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TGirl09

Your picture is amazing! I have two dwarf cavendish, only one is fruiting right now. We generally don't see frost or freezing temps until late Dec or Jan, but we're going to dip around 39 tonight and tomorrow. No rain in sight. I buried both trunks with a foot and a half of mulch about 10 minutes ago. I'll do everything in my power to keep them warm.

I know they're tropical plants, but it's funny- unless there's a hard freeze, everything (container citrus, apples berries, etc, etc) get covered with sheets and towels. I'm going to go for broke to keep the nanas warm.

Here's one lame excuse- my cats love to lie under them to stalk birds. They don't try to climb them or use their claws on them- I think the texture puts them off. Hee hee.

So, I should let them grow for as long as possible, and give it a shot?

Scott

Absolutely!
Freezing temps will ruin your bananas.
I was kinda thinking someone from the Northern states would help out on this one.
We rarely see frost. But last winter, all my leaves turned purple and fell away
I had 2 fruiting plants which never enjoyed.
I dug up the corms and threw them into the pond....and they sprouted early this year..SHOCKER hehehe
If you have a blanket, lay it across the mulch. The cold air can move through the mulch. The blanket will help maintain the warm soil temps. Heat rises. The daytime warming from the sun try to leave the soil at night...harness all you can

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saltydad

To learn how to post pics to your postings-
How to post images in your threads

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Men In Nursing- "A Few Good Men"

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TGirl09

[IMG]C:\Users\Tina\Pictures\iZone Photos\November 02, 2010[/IMG]

here goes a try

Scott

Little letters buddy:


and you need to upload them to either the picture forum here or photobucket

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