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Orville Dunworth
11-04-2009, 09:11 AM
It is a Musa Orinoco. About 10'' tall. Potted in a six'' wide clay pot with a drain hole in the bottom. Regular potting soil was used. I fed it for the first time some all purpose Miracle Grow, less than a tea spoon. I figure once a month for now is enough food for it. Water about every three days is keeping it moist for this cold season. It is sitting in the window facing south west. A New York winter is approaching fast and i hope it makes it through. I just started getting interested in tropical plants all of a sudden. I'll be stoked if this thing lives!

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

browndrake
11-04-2009, 09:27 AM
Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Quit while you are ahead! If you keep it up, and keep coming here, you will become a full blown banana addict.

--Nah...it is already too late. Welcome aboard. Enjoy your new addiction.

aaron

Richard
11-04-2009, 10:23 AM
Hey! Welcome to the site!!

... Water about every three days is keeping it moist for this cold season. ...

Bananas will rot if cold and wet. Check the hole at the bottom before deciding to add more water. For more info, see: Pot Culture (http://www.plantsthatproduce.com/column/PTP_2009_03_Pot_Culture.htm).

:woohoonaner:

CValentine
11-04-2009, 10:27 AM
Welcome Orville!!!

I started with (3) 5"tall Dwarf Orinocos & have never looked back!!

Glad to have you here with us!

From Zone 8a, Central Texas! :) ~Cheryl

cherokee_greg
11-04-2009, 10:39 AM
welcome to the great place for bananas ! I see your in the right place. Welcome.

stumpy4700
11-04-2009, 02:38 PM
Welcome Orville, Yea be careful not to over water during the winter. That probably is the number 1 killer of Banana plants.

Eric
11-04-2009, 04:47 PM
Welcome aboard, Orville :) ! Richard & Jeff are right on-target. Cold & wet are how I lost a Blue Java early last spring. And I'd Definitely read that "Pot Culture" thread, too. It's a very friendly & info-packed site so ur Sure to learn a lot! I sure have! If ya have any questions about using the forum, just ask.

Btw, I'm just starting with my 1st shot at Orinocos!

LilRaverBoi
11-04-2009, 04:49 PM
Welcome to the site! I would hold off on the fertilizer for such a small plant...and as others have said, do your best not to overwater. Check the soil not only on the surface, but beneath it and make sure it's pretty dry before watering again. Watering should be on an 'as needed' basis, not on a schedule of any certain number of days. So check often, let it dry out a bit between waterings, etc. Also, it's probably gonna outgrow that pot very soon, so think about finding it a much larger one. Bananas grow very fast and require lots of width for roots. A 7 gallon pot will be sufficient for quite a while. Hope these suggestions are helpful!

palmtree
11-04-2009, 05:55 PM
Welcome to the fourm. My first banana was a super dwarf cavendish, and teh full sun I put it in burned most of those baby leaves right off! It didnt stop though, and it soon grew new leaves that didnt mind the full sun. After the 1st year, it really took off, but 3 years later (it was probably mature enough to fruit) aphid infestations got too numerous for me to control, and it endangered all my other plants, so I took it outside and let the cold winter nights do the rest :( . Still, its the banana that started it all for me. Just 1 year later and I have an eneste maurelli, dwarf cavendish, musa little prince, (a ton of other tropical plants) and by next summer Maybe MORE bananas! I fertilize them when they first go back outside for the summer and my young eneste maurelli got some fertilizer when it went inside this fall, all the others are going to be dormant and will probably be inside before this nasty cold on friday morning which might end the growing season for me.

But again... welcome. Bananas, and tropical gardening in general is very rewarding. In a few years, you might be eating some fresh bananas from the garden. And by some I mean 100s, since most banana plants can produce anywhere from 40-250 bananas, some even more, and if conditions arent ideal, it might have less.