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vsmouli
09-13-2014, 12:06 AM
I live in San Francisco Bay Area,. I love gardening and I grow Raja Puri banana in my backyard. I need some expert advice from the forum. I have been growing this plant for the last 12 years and they grow well. But I don't see the banana mature ( the size is very tiny). As I write this, I have flowers on 4 plants.

I have about 12-15 plants altogether in 6ft x 4ft ground.

Questions I have are:

1. What is the suggested spacing?

2. Will they bananas ever ripe in this weather?

3. Do I need any special fertilizer (I prefer organic)?


We eat the flowers and the stem (after I cut the green bananas).

Thanks in advance.

crazy banana
09-13-2014, 01:19 AM
Hello and welcome to bananas.org.
I do not grow Raja Puri myself, but to set up a banana plant for success, it is a combination of soil, fertilizer, light, water, temperature and density of the plants competing for all of the above.
The soil should have good drainage and should be rich in organic matter.
Bananas need a good fertilizer with a 2-1-3 ratio of N-P-K plus micronutrients. Everyone has his or her own little fertilizer mixtures, but if you are looking into a really good one, check out our members Richard's website plantsthatproduce.com (http://plantsthatproduce.com) and his "Fruit Fuel".
Many people, especially commercial growers only keep one plant per mat with two follower pups to grow, so not too many plants have to compete for the available root space, nutrients, light and water.
If I remember it right, there are several people growing bananas successfully in the Bay area, but it usually takes an average of at least 6 month for the fruits to fill in and ripen, so you might have to protect them from the winter cold with some frost cloth.

kubali
09-13-2014, 07:39 AM
Welcome aboard ,
pull up a chair and have some fun learning.

Abnshrek
09-13-2014, 08:26 AM
Hello, Welcome & Happy Growing.. :v)

cincinnana
09-13-2014, 08:37 AM
Welcome to the Jungle..:woohoonaner:

Have fun here.