BracBananas
10-23-2012, 02:18 PM
Hi everyone. This is my first year growing bananas. The soil on my property is a mix of sand and large rocks/boulders so I've made a raised bed using cinder blocks. I use a mix of the local red mole soil and some black soil mixed into the area around the planting holes. The year round tropical conditions here are obviously a big plus for me and I hope to have a semi regular harvest going around the year eventually. I collect water in cisterns and so far have not skimped on watering which is reflected in how well the plants have grown (IMO). I use a little but not much fertilizer so far. To start, I have 7 different banana plants and 2 different plantains... all mystery varieties that were donated by a local farmer who doesn't really know much about the species he grows. The first plant in the ground (May) is about 10 feet tall and has produced a bunch of fruit - the inflorescence opened 2 weeks ago and there's about 18 hands of medium sized fruit - the males bracts are still popping open at the end. I don't know the species, or how long it will take for these fruit to ripen. I will put some photos in another category and hope I can get some help nailing down the species.
My plan is to find my favourite varieties both for taste and overall viability/hardiness/productiveness over the next year and focus on about 10 varieties.
It's a fun learning experience.. everyday, something new it seems. I'm absolutely stunned at how fast these plants grow. In a few short months, I have totally fallen in love with bananas and look forward to learning lots more and getting reasonably skilled at growing them.
Cheers!
My plan is to find my favourite varieties both for taste and overall viability/hardiness/productiveness over the next year and focus on about 10 varieties.
It's a fun learning experience.. everyday, something new it seems. I'm absolutely stunned at how fast these plants grow. In a few short months, I have totally fallen in love with bananas and look forward to learning lots more and getting reasonably skilled at growing them.
Cheers!