Here ’s how to develop banana tree in North Florida , step by step !
How To Grow Bananas In North Florida
Growing banana and hold them live through a chilly Florida winter is n’t rocket scientific discipline .
It ’s not even hard .
It does n’t expect sheets , Christmas light or a greenhouse .
I can mature banana in North Florida and you’re able to too !
All you want is a little patience , a somewhat sheltered location , lots of nutrition and water … and for you to put away your pruning saw … and you ’ll be capable to grow bananas in North Florida , no matter what everyone says . Ready ? Let ’s go !
Growing Bananas Requires Patience
Do n’t imagine you ’re going to plant a small banana puppy and get fruit the first twelvemonth . Bananas lay off growing when it gets cool out . We ’re talking at 70 or below … they just kind of hang out and hold off for it to get red-hot again .
If you hold up in a piazza that has nerveless wintertime , during those few month your bananas are just die to sit . Frost price will also typeset them back , which leads me to my next breaker point .
To Grow Bananas You Should Have Shelter
Winds and dusty night will wreak havoc on your trees . If you have a Confederate States - confront wall with some sun , plant them there . I love south walls and you will too , once you see what you could pull off .
Other locations that are good for banana tree are right beside a swimming puddle , next to a fencing that blocks the wind , or under the out sharpness of a large tone tree so they get some sun but also some canopy protection from cold nights .
Shorter banana are easier to shelter than taller varieties , but I still develop 16′ Orinoco bananas at my place and they do great by the south paries of my business firm – despite some nights that have extend to down into the teens !
I can grow bananas in North Florida and you can too!
Bananas Like Lots of Water and Fertilizer
Banana fertilizer can be compost , pee , chemical fertilizer from a bag , or whatever kitchen scrap lave down the sink . infected tanks are also beloved by banana tree tree . Just know this : they ’re hungry trees !
banana are also very thirsty . I read somewhere that they care at least 100 inches of rain a twelvemonth . implant them at the base of a gutter and/or make indisputable they ’re get pee regularly or they shillyshally out . Greywater organization are great for bananas .
Banana circlesare a great means to combine both body of water and fertilizer in one . I indite about them in my awing composting book – go bribe a copy !
Don’t Cut Back Your Banana Trees!
For some reason , folks around here like to chop up back banana trees after a Robert Frost , along with take away all the stagnant leaves . Do n’t do that ! First of all , only hit the dead banana tree leave after all danger of frost has passed . second , cut the trunk back will set the tree back a season or so and keep it from fruiting as soon . I know , the tree looks ugly – let it look horrible for a while . Usually , Modern shoots will come out from the center of the Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree once the conditions warms up – and often , a bloom and banana will follow . If you chop them back … this usually wo n’t bechance until later in the year … and you may lose your banana tree to ice .
Banana Fruiting Times
banana are non - seasonal tree ( really , they ’re not even tree … but I digress ) , meaning they fruit when they feel like it . This could entail that they decide to put out a rosiness in September and then as it cools off in October , you have a trivial hand of banana hang there and not maturing because the atmospheric condition has gotten nerveless … and then in November or December , a halt will take out the fruits before they have any kind of fortune to mature .
Ideally , your tree will outgrow the frosts of winter and put out blooms in the give and other summer , ripen up by capitulation and Robert Lee Frost time of year .
When To Harvest Bananas
I get call for when to harvest banana by gardeners all the time . Harvest ALL of a stalk of bananas by cutting down the consummate stalk – but only do this when the fruit have all fulfill out and go up and the top few are starting to turn yellow or at least gullible - xanthous . It ’s not quite a science , but it ’s close . Catch them at the correct time and land them indoors or hang them on a porch . Once you harvest your stalk of banana , cut down the entire tree that bore the yield – it wo n’t bear again . The adult puppy beside it will interchange it , do n’t concern !
Propagating Banana Trees
Long ago , farmers and hobbyists breed the seed right out of most good eating banana tree motley . This is a unspoiled thing since banana ejaculate are like birdshot and are n’t kind to your tooth . What this intend , though , is that bananas can only be train by clonal reproduction . Divide a small banana pup off the radix of a clump of bananas carefully with a shovel , getting a chunk of the chief root system while NOT cutting through the little banana tree ’s trunk and leaving the theme behind … and you ’re coif . Bananas uprise circumstances of trivial pups if they ’re happy and one banana can easy turn into a clump under the right atmospheric condition .
Good Banana Varieties For North Florida
We ’ve had right success with both Orinoco and Raja Puri bananas . My Modern TV on spring up bananas in North Florida shows my eyepatch of Orinoco bananas in full bloom :
Dwarf Cavendish will also produce , though it ’s a bit slow and prone to ice damage . Other varieties are worth examination , however , since most of the work with banana has been done in the tropic .
Now that you know how to grow bananas in North Florida … why do n’t you attempt every one you’re able to get your hands on and allow us know how you do ?
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