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View Full Version : Dwarf Musa Banana Plant Flowering Question


brizmo
04-22-2010, 10:58 AM
I am growing Dwarf Musa Cavendish Banana Plants in containers and am wondering if these plants will flower and produce bananas yearly or only one time? I have read differing answers. I have one plant flowering right now and am curious what will happen once its done.

sunfish
04-22-2010, 11:07 AM
They only flower once.

brizmo
04-22-2010, 11:17 AM
Ok, thanks for the quick reply, so I take it the plant dies when done?

sunfish
04-22-2010, 11:31 AM
Ok, thanks for the quick reply, so I take it the plant dies when done?



INTRODUCTION

Bananas are fast-growing herbaceous perennials arising from underground rhizomes. The fleshy stalks or pseudostems formed by upright concentric layers of leaf sheaths constitute the functional trunks. The true stem begins as an underground corm which grows upwards, pushing its way out through the center of the stalk 10-15 months after planting, eventually producing the terminal inflorescence which will later bear the fruit. Each stalk produces one huge flower cluster and then dies. New stalks then grow from the rhizome. Banana plants are extremely decorative, ranking next to palm trees for the tropical feeling they lend to the landscape.

brizmo
04-22-2010, 01:11 PM
Thank you....

LilRaverBoi
04-22-2010, 01:30 PM
To sum it up...they flower, fruit then die back to the soil. The pups that grow up from the main corm will replace the main plant and will fruit again once they reach maturity. So saying it will only fruit once depends on what you consider a 'plant.' Basically, each 'pseudostem' will fruit only once then die back to the soil. However, the roots/corm can produce multiple (indefinitely many) pseudostems which will each fruit once.

Hope that is helpful!

brizmo
04-22-2010, 01:46 PM
Very Helpful, thank you very much. The sites I visited did made it sound like the same plant flowers but it is the corm that will keep producing. My plant is only 1.5 years old and has just flowered. I have 3 hands so far I am hoping it will have a couple more hands but not sure, purple leaves are still tightly wrapped on the bulb that remains. From what I read the flower can produce 2-5 hands...correct?

sunfish
04-22-2010, 02:20 PM
Musa Dwarf Cavendish - Bananas Wiki (http://www.bananas.org/wiki/Musa_Dwarf_Cavendish)

Musa Super Dwarf Cavendish - Bananas Wiki (http://www.bananas.org/wiki/Musa_Super_Dwarf_Cavendish)

LilRaverBoi
04-22-2010, 02:49 PM
Well, it IS the same corm that will produce all the successive pseudostems/fruit. I like to think of each plant as a 'mat of stems' rather than thinking of each separate 'stem' as its own plant as with most other plants. Think roots more than stems. One set of roots will produce multiple stems that will each fruit over time, but they all come from one source...the main corm.

buckeye5755
04-22-2010, 04:58 PM
:pics:

Give us a shot of the Flowering Banana!

brizmo
04-22-2010, 07:52 PM
I have posted pics of the plant to my profile. Any suggestions on fertilizing during flowering, is it necessary to fertilize extra during flowering?

buckeye5755
04-22-2010, 08:14 PM
How big of a pot fo you use and where are you located?

fergus banana
04-22-2010, 09:33 PM
very nice pics. did you grow the plant entirely indoors? what size pot?

brizmo
04-23-2010, 10:28 AM
I am located in Duluth, MN. I have a indoor swimming pool and grow them in this room year around in 18" pots. Does anyone know if I should fertilize extra now that bananas are growing? I will post another pic of the whole room that I grow the plants in.

Patty in Wisc
05-07-2010, 11:44 PM
What happened to this post?! I think I saw pics of the plents near the pool. You beat me in doing the flowering part & having nanas!!!! ... esp this far north.

Abnshrek
05-08-2010, 05:00 AM
Does anyone know if I should fertilize extra now that bananas are growing?

If your fertilizing already keep truckin, if not I would start. BTW your pictures in the gallery are very nice :^)

LilRaverBoi
05-08-2010, 11:34 AM
What happened to this post?! I think I saw pics of the plents near the pool.

Pics are in the original poster's gallery.

I have posted pics of the plant to my profile

Anaxagoras
06-27-2010, 05:27 AM
I have 3 hands so far I am hoping it will have a couple more hands but not sure, purple leaves are still tightly wrapped on the bulb that remains.

Brian! How many bananas (hands) You have in this moment? Do I see right that in one hand are 6 bananas? How big they are? All this is so amazing because so early in spring. :woohoonaner:

brizmo
06-27-2010, 11:00 AM
I Have 3 hands total, no more will be coming. There are 28 Bananas total. These are grown in my pool room so the plants have no "time of year". Bananas on first hand are about 4 inches or so.

Anaxagoras
06-27-2010, 06:23 PM
I Have 3 hands total, no more will be coming. There are 28 Bananas total. These are grown in my pool room so the plants have no "time of year". Bananas on first hand are about 4 inches or so.

Thanks for so fast answer!
I mean how many fruits You have? 28? So 9 in one hand? I think that such plant can see darkness in winter months. I have higher temperatures in winter than in summer but plants don't grow because of short days and weak insolation. Therefore I think that bananas feel time of year even in pool room. Or I'm wrong?

LilRaverBoi
06-27-2010, 08:01 PM
I have higher temperatures in winter than in summer but plants don't grow because of short days and weak insolation. Therefore I think that bananas feel time of year even in pool room. Or I'm wrong?
I'm sure the bananas can sense the season according to the hours of sunlight/darkness they receive each day. However, bananas are not a seasonally fruiting plant. They produce fruit at any time of the year....so it really doesn't matter to them as long as the temps are warm enough, they have water/nutrients and sunlight.

Anaxagoras
06-28-2010, 01:19 AM
I'm sure the bananas can sense the season according to the hours of sunlight/darkness they receive each day. However, bananas are not a seasonally fruiting plant. They produce fruit at any time of the year....so it really doesn't matter to them as long as the temps are warm enough, they have water/nutrients and sunlight.

I know almost all about bananas (what is written) but in this case I had thought that Minnesota has dark winter months.

Abnshrek
06-28-2010, 01:30 AM
I know almost all about bananas (what is written) but in this case I had thought that Minnesota has dark winter months.

That's Alaska.. Now there are fewer hours of light in the winter, but not just darkness in the whole Northern US. unless maybe someone lives on the North side base of a Mountain.. :^)

brizmo
06-28-2010, 10:41 AM
The first 2 hands have 11 & 10, last hand only has 7. My pool room rarely gets below 80 except for the coldest winter months where I have temp set to not go below 76 degrees. I would imagine they can sense the amount of sunlight and therefore may grow less in the Winter. This flowering Musa produced bananas in only 1.5 yrs, it grew like crazy in my pool room. These are my first plants so I am far from a professional no I know a lot about them. I was blown away when it flowered in April, I will have to get a couple more going!