nattuggla

My banana plant is on week 2 in the Hydrofarm. This pup went through a little transplant shock in the first week, but with a new leaf coming up, there is hope. The other leaves turning brown has stopped significantly as well.





A couple of questions for banana hydroponics growers:
Currently I'm using GH Flora Series for food. It came with a chart for for suggested feeding which consists of a growing phase and a blooming phase. Since it could take from 1-2 years before fruit, do I continue to use the growing phase feeding? Should I not use this series of nutrients?

Being that this is my first hydroponics setup and my first drip system as well, I wasn't sure how often to run the pump. Initially, I ran it full time for 2 days until the browning started to take place. I know bananas do not do well with wet environments, so I started to run the pump on a timer, half hour on/one hour off. It seems to be working well. Has anyone else used a similar method?

cincinnana

Looking good there...

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jeffaroo

Find a product called ZHO.I use a 3 part nutrient with a small scoop of zho. I change my water every 7 - 10 days. The zho really helped with the browning of the roots.
Keep on the recipe for growth till you get a flag leaf then move to the bloom recipe
I kept my pump running all the time as well as a air stone bubbling in the resivor to keep the solution oxygenated

Have fun

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Richard

By the time you get a flag leaf it will be way too late for bloom formula. Further, the nutrient spectra for fruiting bananas is very different from standard retail hydroponic nutrient formulas. Also consider your container size. By the time your corm reaches maturity the diameter will be around 8 inches.

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nattuggla

I haven't posted an update for awhile, so here are some photo updates. I'll try to do a better job of taking photos of it every now and then so you can see the progression.

5/27/15


8/27/15



@Richard- I'm not too nervous about the container size, mainly because of previous posts showing successful bananas in the megafarm.

@jeffaroo - thanks for the suggestion, I'll have to check it out.

The leaves are starting to get pretty big- Its exciting to see growth. I had some spider mites on it, but have been able to control that by wiping with a damp cloth every now and then. My biggest concern right now is that the banana leaves are getting so tall that they are almost touching the grow light. I can barely raise the stand much higher so I'm not sure what the solution is for that yet. I can't mount my light to the ceiling because I live in an apartment, so any suggestions of a new light stand would be appreciated.

Going Bananas

Nice growing there Natuggla.
What variety is that?
Looks like a tc I ordered as Mona Lisa
but turns out to be a sd cavendish.
Plant looks very healthy.
Well done!

Going Bananas

Nice growing there Natuggla.
What variety is that?
Looks like a tc I ordered as Mona Lisa
but turns out to be a sd cavendish.
Plant looks very healthy.
Well done!

nattuggla

@GoingBananas- I believe this is a dwarf cavendish. I bought the mother plant a couple of years ago, and after an unfortunate accident, I killed the mother plant. This is the surviving pup.

9/29/15 Update - Still growing some beautiful new leaves but a little bit of concern with some black on the stem- Not sure what this is- I have found some mites on the plant and I am doing a better job of wiping/spraying the leaves more often- I check them about every other day or so to keep them clear, but I'm not sure if that is the cause of the damage or not. One other concern would be rot, but I'm not sure- any thoughts? (see pics below to get a better look)

nattuggla

It has been some time since my last update, so I thought I would throw a few more photos up. The banana is still growing pretty well. Originally, I had this on a wire shelf with a grow light over it, but it outgrew that pretty quickly. Being in an apartment, I didn't have very many alternatives to hanging my lights. The only thing I could come up with was to buy a taller stand. I found a backdrop stand for photography that would hold over 20 lbs and still get up to 12' tall.
One of my concerns of the plant was that it was turning black in some areas. I'm still not sure what this is, but I do believe that it was caused by a large amount of spidermites on the plant. After looking on some forums and looking online, I found an organic insecticidal soap. After a few applications of that, the last few leaves have had reduced the black spots, so I'm hopeful that with continued application, that problem will go away.
Here are the photos:

1/29/16


2/18/16





5/15/16

merce3

Looks like it's thriving. Very cool setup. Maybe I missed it, but what are you using for fertilizer?

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psa

Looks good. I've heard a lot of talk about growing bananas this way, but haven't actually seen many. I know they're really happy in my flood and drain aquaponic beds.

JP

It looks fantastic!

SocalYellowBanana

Now I've see some good Mary Jane grown Hydroponically in those ball's but never a Banana. It look's Awesome! Hope you the very best with it growingPlease keep up with updates.

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sputinc7

As for the black on the PS, I would not worry. That seems normal for banana plants and some varieties have more on them than others do. Black spots or streaks on the leaves is another story.
All in all, your banana looks really healthy and strong. I never would have guessed a musa could be successfully grown like that.

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https://sputinc7.wixsite.com/covwc

Varieties I supposedly bought: Manzano, Cavendish, Blue Java, Sweetheart, and Gros Michel.
What it seems I actually have: Brazilian, Cavendish, Namwah, Dwarf Red, Gros Michel, Pisang Ceylon, Veinte Cohol and SH 3640, and American Goldfinger. FHIA 1, Paggi and FHIA 17... Always room for one more.

KarlaBanan

Looking very good! Thanks for sharing

Markisa

wow amazing. Thanks your post

Digitaltripp

Very Nice, any chance on an update?

cincinnana

bump

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JoeBanana

What kind of nutrients are you using?

obdiah

awesome job keep us updated love to see folks do what cant be done