View Full Version : Please tell me what I have here
scahoon
06-13-2014, 09:27 AM
So my next door neighbor at our old house in Tampa, 11 years ago, gave me a little potted plant and told me it was a banana plant. We moved to our new house (Pasco County, just north of Tampa) and planted it in the ground in our side yard.
Every year, the thing has multiplied. My plant is now a plantation with over 25 separate growths. Every spring, the girls (wife, 2 daughters) cut off all the dead stuff and they come back like gangbusters. One thing that has always puzzled me: Where's the beef? I have never seen any fruit. It's been fun to watch it grow and it adds to our Florida landscape but it would be great to learn if it has the ability to bear fruit and what we would need to do to make that happen.
I never paid much attention to it. My hobby is growing super hot peppers. But someone asked me about it recently and I decided to join this group. Over the past two years I have gotten incredible feedback and a great education on growing peppers from a few different groups I have joined on the web and in particular on FB.
I will post photos I took this morning in my gallery. Any feedback would be most appreciated. Let me know if I need to post more pics.
Funkthulhu
06-13-2014, 09:59 AM
Might be quicker to throw a couple on photobucket and post in thread.
Sounds like you've got quite the mat going.
Welcome to Bananas!
scahoon
06-13-2014, 10:52 AM
I just uploaded pictures to my gallery
Funkthulhu
06-13-2014, 11:19 AM
I just uploaded pictures to my gallery
Those look like big healthy mats! I'm not certain what the variety is, but I am baffled that you have not has a single flower in 11 years?!?
Can someone else jump in on this? Any ideas?
Abnshrek
06-13-2014, 12:18 PM
I'd reduce the number of stems on the mat to 5 or less. What do use for fert?
scahoon
06-13-2014, 01:27 PM
ABNSHREK:
I am a total newbie here so you're gonna have to go slow. I don't do anything now. They get water when it rains and have to hunt and gather their own food. We strip away the dead parts when we think about it and it's not too hot outside.
I want to do what it takes to promote fruit growth. We will eat the fruit and I can use the peels for a potassium bump for my peppers.
So, what kind of fert do I need? Where do I get it? How do I apply? Is rain 3-4 times a week enuf water? If not, how much is enuf? Should I really cut this thing down to 5? Should I uproot some of the others and create another "mat?" Should I prune? How much and when?
Sorry, so many questions....
crazy banana
06-13-2014, 04:30 PM
Check out the WIKI here on bananas.org about fertilizer. Different people use different fertilizers and different soils have different requirements. A good start is to add compost - I use lots of compost. Some people go just organic with stuff like fish emulsion or seaweed, others like Pitangodiego go with regular 16-16-16 from big box stores of whatever they have available. A real nice fertilizer is "plantsthatproduce" fruit fuel (balanced 2-1-3 N-P-K with minerals and micronutrients). Overall, if you really want to do it right, maybe do a soil analysis.
Another recommendation would be to mulch over your mat and water regularly. Bananas need a lot of water.
hanabananaman
06-13-2014, 04:55 PM
ABNSHREK:
I am a total newbie here so you're gonna have to go slow. I don't do anything now. They get water when it rains and have to hunt and gather their own food. We strip away the dead parts when we think about it and it's not too hot outside.
I want to do what it takes to promote fruit growth. We will eat the fruit and I can use the peels for a potassium bump for my peppers.
So, what kind of fert do I need? Where do I get it? How do I apply? Is rain 3-4 times a week enuf water? If not, how much is enuf? Should I really cut this thing down to 5? Should I uproot some of the others and create another "mat?" Should I prune? How much and when?
Sorry, so many questions....
I had to laugh and cry at the same time reading you get rain 3-4 times a week. I am still hoping for my second rain of THE YEAR. I haven't even had an inch total this year. My water meter has been spinning for quite a while.
A friend has a large mat that was neglected and overgrown. I suggested he thin it out and fertilize. I gave him some sul-po-mag and a couple months later flowers were coming out but the mat was still recovering, the bunches were small and not filling out very well. You must reduce the number of plants on the mat and you will get some fruit. If you have the space start more mats, you have free water so grow them all.
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