MacNanner

I am just starting an "Urban Farm" in my backyard and would like to include some fruiting banana plants. I had a stand of icecream bananas at a former house and they pretty much took over. Can anyone offer some advice on which bananas would best be suited for growing outdoors in pots and what size pot would be best to use?

Jack Daw

The larger the pot, the better and more fruit. Also, I wouldn't recommend growing varieties larger than 3m in pots. Not only will they get rootbound almost in every pot (consult Patty in Wisc. about the pots, she had some real good ones), but they might also fall down or get broken by stronger winds.

But in your zone, man... Grow them outside. Many people here would give legs and arms for such an opportuinty. You don't have to choose so vigorous and high plants as Ice Creams, go with other varieties, maybe Dwarves if youu feel that they would take over. But really, inground is better fro you. Good luck, pallie.

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MacNanner

Thanks Jack. I appreciate the info. Maybe I'll try some of the dwarves in ground. I just don't them running into my raised vegetable beds.

Jack Daw

Ha ha, my naners grow seasonally with my vegetables, tomatoes, paprikas (peppers), carrots, ... No problem there, they grow just fine. Although they are just small, I think I can regulate them enough. Anyways, I wish you luck with those dwarves, there's plenty of cultivars that grow only to 2,5m or 3m (8 to 10 feet).
They are nice, productive, easy to harvest and care for and most of all, an aesthetic display...

Forgot to say, look here for info about varieties, or here in Agristarts or here in Banana Wiki.

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Thnx to Marcel, Ante, Dr. Chiranjit Parmar and Francesco for the plants I've received.



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ewitte

I'm using 45gal smart pot for my raja puri and about to put the Ice Cream in a 65gal

You can get up to 200gal

LilRaverBoi

Well, you'll probably have the best of luck with dwarf varieties or things that do not get past 10 feet or so. Like Jack Daw said, the larger the pot, the better. Right now, my plants are in 7 gallon pots but they are still fairly small (~3-4 feet tall). I would say eventually, you will want your plants in a 25 gallon or larger pot. Here's a good site where you can buy large plastic pots for decent prices. Hope that helps.

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ewitte

Its easier to control things. The crappy quality soil in front of the house (with tons of roots from other plants that were there for 8 years) killed one of my pups. So far the Raja Puri has absolutely loved its new home. I had it in a 25gal plastic container for almost a year and it barely grew... although it did die down to the ground during winter so that slowed things down. It most certainly was not root bound when I pulled it out.

No competition
controlled aeration
tighter control on nutrients

Lancelot

I have all of my bananas in containers, makes it easier to move them indoors quickly if needed. I know eventually some of them will get too large to handle without cutting them down, but for now nothing is too tall yet. I have a dwarf plantain that I got a pad from someone in Louisiana. It took a long time to show growth, but it is now growing and liking the hot weather we are currently having here in WI.