Good Banana Plant Choices For New York
Hi Bananaboy. I know ya haven't been posting but just in case your lurking to get info (good way to do things), here's some of your best plant choices & best way to get bananas where you live:
Best "Fast Banana Producing" Banana plants:
Dwarf Nam Wah, California Gold, Super Dwarf Cavendish, Raja Puri, & Veinte Cohol.
A good soil mix: 40% garden soil, 40% compost, & 20% sand or vermiculate.
Fertilizer: These are labelled #-#-#. The numbers are for Nitrogen-Phosphorous-Potash (Potassium). Since your parents are probably reading this, they can explain. The fertilizer should be 1.5 parts Potash (Potassium) for each 1 part Nitrogen. Phosphorous should be lowest. A fertilizer (by ratio) of 2-1-3 is what you're after. For northern banana growers, Miracle Grow for Fruit Trees is very good. It can be found at Home Depot.
Watering: Never get the ground soggy, just wet. Let the ground dry out & stay dry for 1/2 a day before watering again. In winter, reduce watering to almost none (this will prevent corm-rot since bananas grow very slow in winter even indoors).
Fertilizing: Sprinkle the fertilizer (a couple of inches away from the trunk) over the ground every 2-3 weeks.
Potting: Make sure the pot is not extremely over-sized but not too small either. Make sure there will plenty of room for roots to grow. Also, make sure there are plenty of holes in the pot for drainage.
To get bananas, on the tree, will take 3-4 years unless they are grown in a greenhouse. In the tropics, it takes 18 months.
Always bring bananas indoors before the temperatures at night fall into the 40's.
Plant the banana in a pot indoors & keep it at a temperature of 72 degrees F or higher. When the weather warms up, in the spring, to above 49 degrees F you can plant it in the ground outside.
When winter approaches, before the temps drop back into the 40's at night, dig up the banana (with all the roots you can get), pot it, & bring it back indoors.
Hope this helps
. If you have read this & have any more questions, just ask.
Good Luck!