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hotwheels80
05-03-2012, 07:06 PM
I started growing my first banana plant about three months. Now I was up to seven, till this morning when I picked up two more blue java plants. Strange thing was I hid them and then planted when my wife was busy inside with our daughter. my wife told me a few days ago that I was going a little over board with the banana plants. I don't think I am... I think I will try and keep her out of the house on Saturday thoigh, that when four tc pups are being delivered. So this will only put me to twelve plants. I don't think Im going over board.

john_ny
05-03-2012, 07:24 PM
Good luck!

Jem24
05-03-2012, 07:42 PM
Oh my gosh, I can SO relate. My family members roll their eyes when they see me on this site. I used some lame excuse to my husband (about giving up my day off to help his parents) to justify ordering another banana. And I have only bought 5 so far.

caliboy1994
05-03-2012, 07:44 PM
My parents say that four is enough...I beg to differ.

Nicolas Naranja
05-03-2012, 08:12 PM
I tell my wife that it's cheaper that rebuilding old cars or hunting. My backyard is basically a farm now. Somehow I ended up planting 85 plants in back and I am not done.

Abnshrek
05-03-2012, 08:18 PM
Several dozen isn't over board.. unless your out of room, and then there's pots.. lol :^)

pitangadiego
05-03-2012, 10:45 PM
Give her a choice, beat her, or buy bananas. She'll choose the bananas.

hotwheels80
05-03-2012, 10:47 PM
Give her a choice, beat her, or buy bananas. She'll choose the bananas.

Lol!

Magilla Gorilla
05-03-2012, 11:48 PM
You can never have to many plants! We all started with one or two. I have over 400 varieties of tropical plants now. 60 varieties of bananas. It could be worse. You could be spending your money on drugs. My girls (eight and eleven), say I have plantitis.

cheson74
05-03-2012, 11:53 PM
Once you gather up several dozen, she'll never notice new plants!!!

bananimal
05-04-2012, 01:20 AM
Once you gather up several dozen, she'll never notice new plants!!!

Very true. I have hidden several new potted fruit trees among other potted stuff and she walks right by without noticing them.:ha:
I need to buy the vacant lot next door - still trying.

Dalmatiansoap
05-04-2012, 06:01 AM
Just wait untill U discover palms:ha:
But I follow a "dozens" politics:ha:
:woohoonaner:

bananimal
05-04-2012, 09:18 AM
I tell my wife that it's cheaper that rebuilding old cars or hunting. My backyard is basically a farm now. Somehow I ended up planting 85 plants in back and I am not done.

If you put decorative tropical trees in the front that please your wife you can space them out and gradually add musas in between to complete that tropical picture. Good luck - doesn't work for me! Yet. Still working on her liking plants. Sometimes I think her eyes are going to roll out of her head.

Dalmatiansoap
05-04-2012, 01:55 PM
Sometimes I think her eyes are going to roll out of her head.

No way Dan, thats my wife:ha::ha::ha:
:woohoonaner:

palmtree
05-04-2012, 11:28 PM
Dont worry, she wont notice after a while!
When I first started buying lots of tropicals, I would get comments from my family like "dont you have enough plants" and "where are these all going in the winter", not to mention the famous "those are not going to survive the winter here". But after having a crazy amount of tropicals for about 4 years now, everyone is used to it. I think I have about 80 different species of tropical plants that are not cold tolerant in my zone. Its all worth it though!

Nicolas Naranja
05-05-2012, 10:34 AM
If you put decorative tropical trees in the front that please your wife you can space them out and gradually add musas in between to complete that tropical picture.

I really wanted to line the driveway in Poinciana.

RAINFOREZT
05-05-2012, 05:53 PM
I really wanted to line the driveway in Poinciana.

I thouught about it.
I love the idea but when they become bigger, their roots can mess up your drive way.,
“Grass grows poorly under it. Do not plant closer than 10’ to sidewalks or drive ways, as the tree’s large surface roots can grow out and destroy them.

Nicolas Naranja
05-05-2012, 07:31 PM
I thouught about it.
I love the idea but when they become bigger, their roots can mess up your drive way.,
“Grass grows poorly under it. Do not plant closer than 10’ to sidewalks or drive ways, as the tree’s large surface roots can grow out and destroy them.

Yeah, It's definitely one of those things that sounds better than it actually is. I've thought of putting out ceibas, but 25 years from now it would be an absolute mess.

harveyc
05-05-2012, 10:57 PM
My wife never gave me grief over bananas. I don't think Jon ever threatened Trudy (IIRC) with a beating to work his way up to 100 either. I've bought them without saying anything and planted them where I wanted. She thinks I'm crazy but realizes it's a harmless hobby. I've spent much more on other hobbies such as photo gear so I think she's figured out to leave me alone with plants.

Darkman
05-05-2012, 10:58 PM
I need to buy the vacant lot next door - still trying.

Dan,

I did that it still isn't enough room. :woohoonaner::woohoonaner:

harveyc
05-05-2012, 11:00 PM
Just wait untill U discover palms:ha:


I don't get the palms thing. I've got a few and think they're okay and that's it. Bananas grow fast and that's largely what impresses me. My dad's palms have grown much too tall now they look a bit silly, IMO, and there's nothing that can be done about it except cut them down. I just hope to get fruit from my jelly palm some day to see if it's worth it.

harveyc
05-05-2012, 11:26 PM
Dan,

I did that it still isn't enough room. :woohoonaner::woohoonaner:

I live on 47 acres and rent an adjoining 99 acres and still don't have enough room either! :P

TommyMacLuckie
05-06-2012, 04:36 PM
You can never have enough bananas. I've got over 300 of em!

TommyMacLuckie
05-06-2012, 04:36 PM
Ooops. Not all in one place. Nonetheless, I always get more somehow.

Darkman
05-06-2012, 09:53 PM
I don't get the palms thing. I've got a few and think they're okay and that's it. Bananas grow fast and that's largely what impresses me. My dad's palms have grown much too tall now they look a bit silly, IMO, and there's nothing that can be done about it except cut them down. I just hope to get fruit from my jelly palm some day to see if it's worth it.


As with many members here we are multifaceted. I have large growing groups of palms, citrus, figs, blueberries, stone fruits and many other fruits plus many various tropical "looking" plants. Most of these are not time consuming but then there are the bananas. I love the look of Bananas and the thought of edible and enjoyable fruit is great,

HOWEVER

the work and expense of protecting my bananas every winter is not great. Not to mention the eyesore they are during the winter when they are caged and wrapped. It doesn't get cold enough here to dig them and my back would not let me. Remember I can easily grow a nearly twenty foot tall banana in one season. Imagine the corm I'd be digging after a few seasons. I'll continue my quest for a low maintenance edible banana here in 8b.

Now take the Palm. The ones I grow are winter hardy and for the most part slow growers. Sables grow about three to four inches a year. Buy the height you want and in four years you have a full crown that is pretty much there looking tropical twelve months out of the year. The fan palms, pindos, trachys all grow fairly slow. The Phoenix palms are a little faster but they certainly aren't going to outgrow their space if you plan correctly. Chamaedoreas grow fast but don't occupy much space. Now the Queens they grow fast but you can be sure any hard winter is going stunt them, make them ugly for the next six months and possibly kill them which is why I will not replace them anymore. If one dies I will put a mule palm back in its place. Still fast but in my mind a graceful palm that will look nice as its head stretches for the sun. The mule is a hybrid between the pindo and the queen. The fruit will be edible and I'll get it a least a decade before a pindo will fruit. By the way I have a pindo that is at least ten years old and a mule that is two years old so we will see. I'm betting on the mule.

The palms, by their carefree requirements, give me more time to spend on my multifaceted gardening interest. They are an integral part of my total landscaping and hopefully one day all will mix and mingle happily together. If you are not enjoying your palms maybe you have the wrong ones. They come in all sizes with my smallest just over two feet tall (Rhapis humilis - Slender lady palm). Eventually (a long time from now) it will grow to a tidy clump six feet tall.

Properly integrating the right palm into your landscape should be enhancing to your overall landscaping program. They make great foils to your other plants and some ornamental bananas look right at home under a larger palm.

By the way I used the phrase edible and enjoyable when referring to Bananas. That was not just words to fill spaces. When you explore catalogs and nurseries and come upon that oddity that advertises how great it tastes but you can't but it at the store cause they don't ship well. There is a reason for that. Not only do they not ship well but the majority of the population doesn't find them enjoyable to eat. They are edible but not enjoyable. Only will a fruit be bred to ship if the masses enjoy it.

And sadly that is the case with the Pindo fruit. Most people don't enjoy it. It is a bulletproof palm that will produce copious quantities of fruit when mature but is mostly used for jam or jelly where it gets mixed reviews. I hope I'm one that really enjoys it!

bananimal
05-07-2012, 12:13 AM
Charles ---- For a low maintenance edible banana there in 8b get yourself a few Viente Cohol. If the U of Ga says Georgia farmers can get a guaranteed harvest every year the VC should work for you.

I'm still waiting for a pup from a local source.

Darkman
05-07-2012, 09:44 PM
Charles ---- For a low maintenance edible banana there in 8b get yourself a few Viente Cohol. If the U of Ga says Georgia farmers can get a guaranteed harvest every year the VC should work for you.

I'm still waiting for a pup from a local source.

Dan,

Thanks! That one wasn't even on the radar screen. I'll do some research on that.

Nicolas Naranja
05-07-2012, 10:30 PM
Dan,

Thanks! That one wasn't even on the radar screen. I'll do some research on that.

Getting ahold of it is quite an issue. I am told that agristarts is considering doing a run of them, so that will increase their availability. If you have a greenhouse you could start a TC plant in September/October and plant a lot of varieties in the ground in March and reasonably expect to harvest before a freeze. I have had grain nain, burro, and nam wah produce that way. You just really have to push the plant with fertilizer and water.

Pellis1
05-08-2012, 03:42 PM
No way Dan, thats my wife:ha::ha::ha:
:woohoonaner:

Must be a wife thing!

hotwheels80
05-08-2012, 05:53 PM
last week I recieved four more TC pups. LOL the wife just rolled her eyes at me.

caliboy1994
05-08-2012, 08:22 PM
Watch out, those are going to get BIG.

srash
05-10-2012, 06:24 PM
Been there, done that.:nanadrink:

hotwheels80
05-10-2012, 06:49 PM
How long should I keep these new tc pups out of direct sunlight? They have been in my little greenhouse for about two weeks. Is it safe to now move the greenhouse into the sun?

bananas101
05-12-2012, 10:16 AM
just tell her you heard banana extract is like canibus and viagra all rolled up into one product....

Darkman
05-12-2012, 11:43 AM
It isn't?

:2182: :jumpingonbednaner: :2182:

:nanadrink: