After all these years of growing bananas, I've finally got a flower! Last week I saw what I suspected was a flag leaf starting to unroll right before we left for vacation. We got back last night and this morning I discovered about six inches of flower poking out. I can't believe how fast this is growing.
It has taken me so long because I live in Tennessee and earlier I was growing a variety too tall to bring inside for the winter. Worse, my sunroom gets cool and the plants go dormant from time to time. I could only grow Dwarf Red Jamaicans for about a year and a half before they no longer fit in my sunroom. I replaced the Reds with Super Dwarf Cavendish two years ago.
Question: Is there anything I should be doing to encourage the production of fruit? It is potted in a 24 inch diameter, half-whiskey-barrel liner full of Miracle-Gro potting mix. I've been adding Osmocote regularly. I want the sweetest bananas I can get. Should I be applying fertilizer? A different fertilizer? Change the water schedule? Is there anything else I need to know?
