BadPun

Hello all,

Long time listener, first time caller...

I'm pretty new to the wild world of bananas and I've recently purchased a Blue Java (~2 Ft tall) and 5 Musa Basjoo agristarts. My only issue now is where to put them relative to their space requirements.

My backyard is ringed with brick planters that are approximately 2-3ft wide (out from wall) against a 3 foot high cinder block wall (south wall), 3 ft wide against a 5 ft CB wall (East side), 2-3 ft wide against an 8 ft CB wall, and 2ft wide against house (north wall).

As you might imagine the CB walls aren't particularly attractive, but I guess they serve their function as retaining walls. So my questions are as such:

1. Are these areas just too small for the Ice Cream or the Basjoos? I've read that a 3 ft free radius around the plant is ideal... Would the limited space restrict fruit production on the Ice Cream?
2. Are there any banana species that would be more suited to these areas?
3. Will banana roots damage the retaining wall? When we moved in to our house the neighbor 'underneath' our retaining wall told us that one of the previous owners had planted something that basically destroyed the retaining wall and warned us against such folly...

Thanks in advance-

Andy

Gabe15

Welcome!

Space wise, they should be fine. I have seen plants in similar growing conditions do fine. The roots will not damage anything, however, if you do not remove excess suckers as they are produced, the corms could eventually damage the wall after a few years. I have seen banana mats uplift pavement and break brick walls, but these were very very old unmanaged mats.

Some of the small ornamental varieties would not require thinning but they will not make edible fruit. Pretty much all good edible fruiting varieties will need thinning.

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

BadPun

Thanks Gabe!

I'd seen what appeared to be thriving bananas in similar spaces in various user's gallery photos, but I'm really excited about the prospect of Ice Cream bananas so I wanted to do it right... or at least not wrong

Andy