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View Full Version : Read recently Super Dwarf Bananas die every year?


B-rad
08-04-2013, 10:52 PM
I recently got my very first banana tree, ive been doing a little research about them and i found out that they die every year and you have to cut them down so it can restart!
Is this true? And is there a way to keep it going?

My banana will strictly be an indoor plant, in the dry utah climate.

Any advice is much appreciated! Thank you

Brad from Utah

Jose263
08-04-2013, 11:13 PM
I recently got my very first banana tree, ive been doing a little research about them and i found out that they die every year and you have to cut them down so it can restart!
Is this true? And is there a way to keep it going?

Brad from Utah

Brad - They don't have to die each year - depends on your weather. nanas don't like cold weather - if the pstem (pseudo stem freezes, then yes that pstem will die and should be cut back. If the corm survives the cold, it will produce pups. Nanas go dormant when temps drop to 50 F or lower, so most of us nanaheads have to wait thru a couple of growing seasons to get fruit.

Illia
08-05-2013, 12:34 AM
Like said. They are in fact technically annuals, in which as soon as they flower that's it and they die (but will be replaced by sucker pups that turn into more banana plants) but as long as you protect them from any freezing or cold weather, they will continue to grow healthy and happy until it is flowering and fruiting time. I've got a Super Dwarf Cavendish that is over a year old and still thriving, since I moved it indoors during the winter.

So, eventually it will die, - But only after it has given you fruit, and eventually it will give you a replacement banana (or likely loads of plants before it dies, too) to continue growing.

B-rad
08-05-2013, 12:45 AM
Well thats good news! So a banana should live and keep growing throughout its life time as a potted house plant?
So would Palm tree fertalizer work ok? I have a slow release Palm fertalizer made by mirracle grow.

Im also really wondering how soon i could expect to see pups?
I watched a YouTube video of a guy who just took the whole banana out of its pot and simply cut through the dirt and everything with a knife removing the pup. He then just planted rhe pup into a pot of soil with its remaining roots.

sunfish
08-05-2013, 01:57 AM
Miracle-Gro Shake 'n Feed 4.5 lb. Palm Plant Food-1008991 at The Home Depot (http://www.homedepot.com/p/Miracle-Gro-Shake-n-Feed-4-5-lb-Palm-Plant-Food-1008991/100355748#product_description)

Jose263
08-05-2013, 06:48 AM
Well thats good news! So a banana should live and keep growing throughout its life time as a potted house plant?
So would Palm tree fertalizer work ok? I have a slow release Palm fertalizer made by mirracle grow.

Im also really wondering how soon i could expect to see pups?
I watched a YouTube video of a guy who just took the whole banana out of its pot and simply cut through the dirt and everything with a knife removing the pup. He then just planted rhe pup into a pot of soil with its remaining roots.

Pups are difficult to predict - pupping is a biological function to assure the plant/species survives - nanas under stress tend to put out pups. but, keep your plant healthy, it will pup when it is time.

TNAndy
08-11-2013, 06:21 PM
I recently got my very first banana tree, ive been doing a little research about them and i found out that they die every year and you have to cut them down so it can restart!
Is this true? And is there a way to keep it going?

My banana will strictly be an indoor plant, in the dry utah climate.

Any advice is much appreciated! Thank you

Brad from Utah

If you care for it properly, your banana won't die until it blooms. Even then it should sprout babies from the roots. In fact, as long as you keep it from away from freezing temperatures, banana plants are fairly hard to kill. Not to worry.

kcj1219
08-11-2013, 06:54 PM
Em izomeLike said. They are in fact technically annuals, in which as soon as they flower that's it and they die.

I have to disagree with the "technically annuals". It's the world's largest perennial herb. If an annual dies then it dies. Banana plants are just an extension of its corm. If the plant dies to the ground because its to cold but the corm survives and shoots out new plants the next spring that's a perennial. Just like a elephant ear or a tulip even. Annuals can't come back because they can't grow from a dormant bulb. Just roots.