jcm55

Hi all,

New to bananas here. I'm located in Oakland, CA. Just planted two manzano and two ice cream corms that I ordered online. I'm a little uncertain about my chances for success in our climate. I'm hoping that frost will not be a problem. We're at the very top of the Oakland hills, 1400 ft above sea level. Typically we are a few degrees warmer than down below on the coldest nights. Also, the bananas are planted on a slope along a southwest-facing wall of our house, so those things should help as well. Besides the frost issue though, I'm afraid they might not get enough warm days for them to succeed with the number of cool fog-influenced days we have here in the bay area.

I have seen other banana trees in Oakland and Berkeley though, so that makes me hopeful. I don't know what kind though, and I have no idea if they fruit.

I just planted these guys about three weeks ago, and they're making some leaves already. I have a little ring of soaker hose around each of them, and I let the soil get dry down to 1/2" between waterings. I added some fruit/citrus tree fertilizer as well.

So, what do you all think? Will they thrive? Any suggestions?

Here are some photos:

Fcastro

So far so good, you really won't know until much later. I don't know anything about where you live but it says Zone 9 so going by that you should be fine. Wouldn't hurt to throw some compost around them.

tlturbo

Won't be long before you will regret planting them that close to the house. Look at how tall they get and how much of a canopy the leaves make after they come out and droop. I guess you could always trim off the ones that grow back toward the house. I have plants about 5 ft away from the house and have to keep digging out pups that always want to pop up on the house side. I would put one of them down in the part of the flower bed that sticks out into the driveway. It will look a lot better there and smashed up against the house. Just my .02 worth though - the Ice Cream get pretty big and pup a LOT.

MediaHound

Welcome aboard!

Looks pretty good to me, and a nice setup with the soaker rings. They'll soon be growing on the other side of the rings if all works out as planned!
I have some planted near a concrete bermuda border and they popped up on the other side of it after about a year... but I digress..

Keep us updated with some progress and feel free to upload the pics here to your gallery so when people view your profile they see your pics in it.

Maybe some of the California members who know more about the micro climates there will chime in for you, we have a lot of really helpful members here that stem from Cali.
Best regards

__________________
Apologies in advance if I am slow to reply to your PM. I suggest posting in the forums for support if you need something urgent.

cactus6103

Looks good and welcome to the forum. Lots of great info on this site. I'm sure some CA people will respond and help you out. Red

__________________
Family, Friends and Bananas