Quote:
Originally Posted by Gardener972
When a person buys a banana, it's a single stalk/plant. How long does it take to create pups (say in the Dallas area) and how many pups are created on a single plant? When you want a grouping of bananas, would you advise to plant several or wait until it puts out pups? How large of an area will one plant cover?
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Well, to start with something you didn't ask at all. You come from the zone 7b/8a, I guess that's because some winters are just tougher than other. I live in Europe (central continental climate, river delta) and I would rate my zone to the same, as you have. To even start thinking about growing bananas, you have to ascertain 2 main questions:
- Do you want to grow ornamental bananas or edible bananas?
- More importantly, how do you imagine winter protection?
After answering these 2 questions, you can think about creating a space for the bananas. As you are in the zone 7b/8a, I would advice some drier place with lots of sun during the day.
The problem, as you can see, is, that you will have difficulties growing the bananas without any protection. You can do something like
this or you can try to overwinter them outside.
Some varieties like
Musa basjoo (ORN),
Musella lasiocarpa (ORN),
Musa sikkimensis (ORN) and many others are said to be quite hardy (up to -5°C without protection - pseudostem) and they are also gorwn in zones rated below 7 (with protection in winter of course), so if you are not that much into edible bananas, this might be your plant.
To answer your question: Bananas are with good weather (milder and hotter summers) like weed, they grow pretty fast and make lots of offshots. Some varieties more than others. If you want to have your banana corner ready this year or the next one, you will probably have to buy some more plants. But you can also wait about three years, by that time, the banana will have grown, had a flower, some offshots and fruit.
Seeded varieties can then be propagated by seeds (which should give you lots of new plants), but it's all a matter of 3-4 years at least. It all depends on how long are you willing to wait. But consider also, that some banana plants, if overwintered outside, may not survive and wil die out, especially in our zones.
Good luck