Natureboy

In the Waddick/Stokes book "Bananas You Can Grow", they mention the following: "After harvesting the fruit, cut the banana pseudostem back to about 6 ft. This allows the rhizome to reabsorb nutrients stored in the pseudostem. When the pseudostem falls over, cut it to the ground and dispose of it."

I've heard from other growers who leave a few feet of pstem intact after harvesting, but never 6ft. I wonder if there is any evidence supporting the claim above. Sometimes I cut to the ground to allow for more room, while other times I will leave a few feet of pstem, but it's hard to say whether leaving any intact has an impact whatsoever.

Curious what others think about this and if any studies have been done. Might chopping entire pstem and scattering around mat produce the same absorption of nutrients?

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Praying hands: a good way to thank God and a darn good banana, too!

Current varieties: Dwarf Namwah, FHIA-03 (Sweetheart), White Iholena, Maoli, Orinoco, Manzano (Apple), Praying Hands, Dwarf Brazilian, Pisang Raja, Rajapuri, Ice Cream (Blue Java), FHIA-01 (Goldfinger), Kandarian

Nicolas Naranja

If it's a tall variety I may very well leave 6'. If it is a normal variety I'll probably leave 3-4'. It has more to do with how I harvest than anything else.

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Some people go bananas, I went plantains.

Kostas

Plants, in general,draw back nutrients from tissues that are programmed to die or that are dying,to minimize the loss. For example,by the time a leaf dies naturally,it will have few useful for the plant,nutrients remaining and it will also have accumulated waste products of the plant. In that way,the plant minimizes its losses and gets rid of unwanted substances so its better to leave tissues and so,flowered and dying pseudostems,die back on their own. This reduces the need for fertilizer,plus,when the dead pseudostem falls and breaks down,the plant is able to get some more nutrients from it. Generally,the less you remove from a banana mat and the more you leave in place to die on their own and then decompose,the less fertilizer is needed to keep the mat in good shape and productive. For example,if you only remove the bunch but leave the rest in place,the fertilizer needed for ratoon crops is much less than what was needed for the first crop. If i remember correctly,it must be about 1/3 of the recommended for the first crop because the loss is only the bunch!

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''To try,is to risk failure......To not try,is to guarantee it''

Natureboy

Thanks for the confirmation, guys. I've heard talk of leaving the pstem as a "water reservoir", but I'll start leaving more pstem post-harvest in an effort to return more nutrients to the mat naturally. BTW, hope your new bananas do well, Kostas!

__________________
Praying hands: a good way to thank God and a darn good banana, too!

Current varieties: Dwarf Namwah, FHIA-03 (Sweetheart), White Iholena, Maoli, Orinoco, Manzano (Apple), Praying Hands, Dwarf Brazilian, Pisang Raja, Rajapuri, Ice Cream (Blue Java), FHIA-01 (Goldfinger), Kandarian

momoese

I usually leave only a couple feet for aesthetic reasons, but last year I cut the bunch off an FHIA 18 and left the p-stem cut at the 6' fence line because I was working on the other side of the fence to harvest it. I then got lazy and left it that way. It seemed to me like that stand outgrew the others in the same area with the same amount of feeding, watering and sunshine.

Kostas

Thank you very much for your wish Nate! I hope that too!
Wish you lots of growth and fruit from yours!!!

Mitchel,

Thank you very much for sharing your first hand information! Its great to know what the principles i mentioned above translate to in practice!

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''To try,is to risk failure......To not try,is to guarantee it''

eric27

A biologist I knew a long time ago told me this in regards to cannas. He grew many of them from seed etc. He said to wait to cut the cannas down in fall until after a freeze hit them and then to wait a couple days more after the freeze before cutting them down. He said the reason was that the freeze caused the plant to force resouces, nutrients etc BACK down into the rhizomes. This helped the plant (rhizome) survive the winter in storage. He explained in more scientific how it works. Since then I always wait with my cannas and have had great luck. I assume this would be similar to bananas also-ie post fruiting and energy storage.

Darkman

Definitely true with Palms. I do not remove a frond until it is completely brown. Palms like Bananas require a lot of micro nutients. I guess I'll be practicing this later this year with my two P-stems that flowered.

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Darkman in Pensacola

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