View Full Version : banana stalk issue
silkroad
06-01-2010, 09:16 PM
Two of my bananas flowered and produced several hands in April this year....almost unheard of in this 8b/9a area. However, after producing about six hands, the stalk continued to flower and drop leaves, but no new bananas appeared, and the ones on the stalk stopped getting bigger. They have now ripened on the stalk and turned black. Someone told me this was because they were male plants. Didn't know that banana plants were sexed. Can someone explain this phenominom??
LilRaverBoi
06-01-2010, 09:52 PM
I believe they meant 'male flowers' not 'male plants.' The first flowers that appear on the inflorescence are female flowers that develop into bananas. The latter flowers are male flowers and these will fall off and not develop into fruit. This is normal and isn't anything to worry about.
sunfish
06-01-2010, 09:52 PM
First come the female flower's which form the fruit followed by the male flowers
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=32380&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=32380&ppuser=2868)
BANANA Fruit Facts (http://www.crfg.org/pubs/ff/banana.html)
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