My First post!

[shkm]

This is my first post. I am new to growing bananas and have a few questions! I hope you can help.

I live in St Petersburg Florida.
I bought an "Ice Cream" about 5 feet tall from my local nursery. I planted it on SEPT 1 and fed it about a pound of fertilizer. Now its 7 feet tall and has sprouted 8 new leaves! WOW! I followed the nurseries instructions they gave me. So far so good.
My question is, will this 8 ft tall "tree" resume growing in the spring and evenually produce fruit? I have reservations about planting this "tree" so late in the season.
I also purchased and planted a MUSA GRAN MICHEAL #23 sword sucker on Sept 1. It is doing exceptionally well also. Purchased it off of ebay. I understand that the #23 is susceptible to panama and other diseases.
My second question is, if the #23 gets panama disease could it also infect my "Ice Cream" ?
Thanks!

[TTP, Fred]

I planted my Ice Creams in March and they sent out flag leaves in May of the following year, and the fruit was ready to eat in September and...well...I've got about 12 bananas left. YMMV, based on whether you get an actual freezes where you are.

I fertilized those plants once a month with a mix roughly 12:19:14, and I followed others' advice to not let the fertilizer come into contact with the trunk.

I also regularly culled the pups so there was only one pup per each plant.

Good luck.

[Richard]

Originally Posted by shkm

My question is, will this 8 ft tall "tree" resume growing in the spring and evenually produce fruit? I have reservations about planting this "tree" so late in the season.

As you indicated with quotes, your "tree" is not a tree, but a bulb (corm really) that lives underground and sends up leaves to get energy from the sun. The "trunk" (pseudo-stem) is just the stems of the leaves bundled together. It will bloom and produce fruit after sending up around 30 to 40 leaves -- including the ones it produced before you bought it. For subtropical banana varieties like the ones you bought, their growth will slow down during your "winter" and then resume again in your spring.

Sounds like you received good instructions from the nursery. Fruiting bananas need net 1 pound of Nitrogen and 1.5 pounds of Potash per year. Your plants are already to the size where they can handle a 1/10th pound of Nitrogen per month, skipping December and January in your location. Fertilizer is labeled in percentages by weight. The 3 numbers are N-P-K, standing for Nitrogen-Phosphorus-Potassium. So if your fertilizer is 20-5-30, then it is 20% Nitrogen by weight. To achieve 1 pound (net) of nitrogen per year, you should use 1 lb divided by 20% = 5 pounds per year. Of course, this calculation assumes that your soil and water supply do not contain Nitrogen, which is not entirely true. Potassium is equally important and is essential for producing a "commercial" size crop. So if your fertilizer is low on potash and there is not much in your soil, then you'll need to find a potassium supplement. A common one is Sul-Po-Mag, aka K-Mag. It does contain a lot of Sulfur too, so be careful. There are other sources, including an organic chelated variety. Check out the URL of my store below and click on Bananas and also Potassium Supplements -- you can probably find these same products in your local area.

If you are not sure about the contents of your soil, then you can obtain a test kit free from the USDA Farm Advisory extension office in your county -- However you will have to pay a laboratory fee (usually $50-$60) to get results. Alternately, do nothing for your soil for 7 years and grow all kinds of plants in it: your soil will then surely be depleted of most plant nutrients!

[Chironex]

Good luck!!! Welcome to Bananas!

[Bob]

Welcome , you've found the right place! I've learned more about bananas here in the past month since joining than I could've imagined, and I thought I was a pretty good gardener before. Man am I jealous of you all out there in what I'd have considered "tropical climates" But I guess it gets pretty cold all over the U.S. during the winter. You might want to check out some of the "cold hardy "posts if your area gets a bit chilly and just give your plants some protection during the colder months so they'll resume quick growth in the spring and you can get some fruit.............Good Luck with your plants, Bob

[Chironex]

It took me about 5 minutes to figure out what 'YMMV' meant. You younguns gotta give us old timers a break here. We don't text much.

[saltydad]

Originally Posted by Chironex

It took me about 5 minutes to figure out what 'YMMV' meant. You younguns gotta give us old timers a break here. We don't text much.

You're better than I am, Scot. I had to use Google!

[mskitty38583]

welcome to the org!

[CookieCows]

Originally Posted by Chironex

It took me about 5 minutes to figure out what 'YMMV' meant. You younguns gotta give us old timers a break here. We don't text much.

Oh good grief.. I had to use google too

[TTP, Fred]

Sorry y'all. I felt the same way the first time I saw it, too, and I thought everyone else was in on the acronym but me.

Y(our) M(ileage) M(ay) V(ary)

[Kylie2x]

WELCOME!!!
LMFAO.. I had to read all the way to the bottom to get that... Geeeeeez..

[stumpy4700]

Ok I'll ask!!!! What is LMAFO ?

[MediaHound]

Hide the children....
LMFAO means:
laughing my f(reaking) ass off!