RRedBBeard
05-24-2017, 01:56 PM
Late this past winter I was fortunate to obtain 2 established, dwarf banana plants, 'Truly Tiny' and 'Double Mahoi'. Both plants were ~2' high, and I maintained them in a basement growing area that was probably a little cooler and darker than they would have liked, but they survived in 1 gallon pots.
DM went into a 20" pot several weeks ago, TT into a 18" pot, and the new medium was commercial raised bed material which I augmented with extra peat moss, and each pot got about 4 pounds of cow manure, and a half cup of bone meal. Being outdoors for the past 3 weeks. the old leaves burned off, and each plant has a couple of new leaves, with more coming.
I was amazed to see swelling at the base of the DM, which a friend in FL confirmed looked like a flower bud starting it's growth up the pseudostem, and here's my question: with the leaves and roots just getting established, and considering it's small size, would flowering/fruiting be too much for this little guy right now, if in fact this is a flower bud? I'm ecstatic that this could be an inflo, but there's not much I can do if it's way premature. Is this headed for disaster? The picture is from yesterday morning.
The DM pot is ~18 gallons, which I would have thought was way too small for this plant to flower, much less fruit. Also, how much fertilizer is needed for these? Up here, no one has 'banana fertilizer' per se. I'm hoping to use composted cow manure, bone meal, and maybe ironite and miracle-grow, but the proportions and frequency of application are unuclear to me. Are these ok to use? Should I ditch them and get something else as fertilizer? If necessary, I can probably get the DM into a 22"W pot, ~25 gallons.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions!
Truly Tiny in foreground, Double Mahoi behind it:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v260/rredbbeard/Mobile%20Uploads/1495664053_zpsvmgd8bj9.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/rredbbeard/media/Mobile%20Uploads/1495664053_zpsvmgd8bj9.jpg.html)
DM ps base showing swelling:http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v260/rredbbeard/Mobile%20Uploads/1495664050_zpsogaqwktk.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/rredbbeard/media/Mobile%20Uploads/1495664050_zpsogaqwktk.jpg.html)
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DM went into a 20" pot several weeks ago, TT into a 18" pot, and the new medium was commercial raised bed material which I augmented with extra peat moss, and each pot got about 4 pounds of cow manure, and a half cup of bone meal. Being outdoors for the past 3 weeks. the old leaves burned off, and each plant has a couple of new leaves, with more coming.
I was amazed to see swelling at the base of the DM, which a friend in FL confirmed looked like a flower bud starting it's growth up the pseudostem, and here's my question: with the leaves and roots just getting established, and considering it's small size, would flowering/fruiting be too much for this little guy right now, if in fact this is a flower bud? I'm ecstatic that this could be an inflo, but there's not much I can do if it's way premature. Is this headed for disaster? The picture is from yesterday morning.
The DM pot is ~18 gallons, which I would have thought was way too small for this plant to flower, much less fruit. Also, how much fertilizer is needed for these? Up here, no one has 'banana fertilizer' per se. I'm hoping to use composted cow manure, bone meal, and maybe ironite and miracle-grow, but the proportions and frequency of application are unuclear to me. Are these ok to use? Should I ditch them and get something else as fertilizer? If necessary, I can probably get the DM into a 22"W pot, ~25 gallons.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions!
Truly Tiny in foreground, Double Mahoi behind it:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v260/rredbbeard/Mobile%20Uploads/1495664053_zpsvmgd8bj9.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/rredbbeard/media/Mobile%20Uploads/1495664053_zpsvmgd8bj9.jpg.html)
DM ps base showing swelling:http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v260/rredbbeard/Mobile%20Uploads/1495664050_zpsogaqwktk.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/rredbbeard/media/Mobile%20Uploads/1495664050_zpsogaqwktk.jpg.html)
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