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Vickie H.
03-29-2009, 01:12 PM
I have an Ae Ae banana coming next week. I need help on this one please. I hear they are difficult to grow, and that they need acidic soil. I would appreciate any help you can give me. Vickie

Caloosamusa
03-29-2009, 01:18 PM
:0497:Good afternoon Vickie. All bananas need a slightly acid soil, and Good drainage for the root system!! A fertilizer with more potassium than many plants is also important. See potash fertilizer thread.

Best wishes and welcome to the organization!:2239:

Richard
03-29-2009, 05:34 PM
Vicki, last year inkcube (banana researcher from Yale) advised us to use 1.5 parts potash (K) for each 1.0 part nitrogen (N) and little phosphorus. It turns out that this also fits the profile for hardwood fruits. Dosages of some available formulas are given in item #4 here: PTP_2008_12_Fertilize_II (http://www.plantsthatproduce.com/column/PTP_2008_12_Fertilize_II.htm)

Patty in Wisc
03-29-2009, 06:14 PM
:0497:A fertilizer with more potassium than many plants is also important. See potash fertilizer thread.
:2239:

I can't find the potash fertilizer thread.
Oh shoot, I think I juist found it ...'previous thread' Duh

Bob
03-29-2009, 07:22 PM
Hey Vicki, where did you get your plant from. Just as a guess, was it ebay from "saipan"? One thing for sure don't skimp on your potting mix and be sure to add enough sand, chips, perlite, etc ,whatever to assure proper drainage. Lots of experienced growers here.Check out the wiki section and try to search some of the older threads concerning this great plant. Good luck and keep us posted when it arrives.

Vickie H.
03-30-2009, 12:29 PM
Bob it is coming from Hawaii. I need to look at the potash. I need some research for sure. Thanks all.

Steve L
03-30-2009, 12:37 PM
Vickie,

Are you going to container grow this banana or grow it in the ground. I can't tell where you live or your zone.

Steve

Vickie H.
03-30-2009, 01:42 PM
Steve I live in the USA in Missouri zone 6. It will have to be container grown. And in the winter I will have to keep in a window in my house.

Vickie H.
03-30-2009, 01:46 PM
I know you all think I am crazy to try to grow this banana here. But I am stubborn. I also grow water lilies from seed. I have grown them from South Africa and Madagascar and Australia. And with no greenhouse they did not give me much hope. I proved them wrong. My motto "Never Give Up" untill your too old to even go outside. LOL

alpha010
03-30-2009, 01:57 PM
I like your style Miss Vickie! I live in Z6 as well and I'm gonna try to fruit any and every edible cultivar I can with or without a hothouse. I'm also dabbling in other tropical fruits as well.....I say, if they tell me I can't, one way or another I will! Good Luck with the Ae Ae and keep us posted on it's progress and what you have or are doing to it.

Shaggy

Steve L
03-30-2009, 02:03 PM
Vickie,

My friends at Stokes Tropicals in New Iberia, LA (home of Tabasco) grow all of their Ae Ae in containers outside in a shade house during the summer and inside their enormous greenhouse during the winter. I hope you have high ceilings in your house because they can get rather tall. Incidentally, they move their large container Ae Ae around with a fork lift.

Steve

Vickie H.
03-30-2009, 02:20 PM
I am thinking the banana will only grow as large as the container will allow. I might be thinking wrong. I have 10 ft banana trees I have had to cut off to grow inside for the winter. And then when I put them outside they take off again.

Steve L
03-30-2009, 02:47 PM
My experience with the Ae Ae is that it doesn't handle any stress very well at all. Cutting it back to overwinter would, in my opinion, put it in the stress category. I hope I'm wrong.

Steve

Vickie H.
03-30-2009, 05:12 PM
Steve you could be right. I do have a friend with a greenhouse but it does not have high ceilings.

harveyc
03-30-2009, 09:02 PM
Brent has said the folks at St. Louis (I believe) where he once worked did whack them back each year when they were brought into the greenhouse and they did well. He can fill in the particulars.

Vickie H.
03-30-2009, 09:06 PM
Thanks Harvey.

Bananaman88
03-31-2009, 06:20 AM
Correct, Steve- at MBG, we used to cut them down and then pot them back up for the winter. I think the key is not to keep them overly wet through the winter.

Vickie H.
04-02-2009, 11:24 AM
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g69/PHPong/100_2824.jpg

Bob
04-02-2009, 11:28 AM
Looks like a beautiful healthy plant . The variegation on the good leaf looks great. I'd like to see that one again in a few months. Is that a miniature schnauzer behind it? Thanks for posting.

Patty in Wisc
04-02-2009, 12:25 PM
Bob, did you & Vickie get yours at same place? How's yours doing?
What a beautiful plant!! Is that a new leaf coming out?

Bob
04-02-2009, 12:31 PM
Hi Patty fortunately NO. I got my Ae Ae from ebay, seller location "Saipan". It was actually shipped from Florida. Mine looked beautiful variegation wise and had a very poor root system. Seemed to me a pup that was fresh cut too soon. It withered and finally died despite reasonably good care. I won't be buying from that seller again. Probably go to Martha or a member here when I do.
Vicki , How do the roots look on yours? Do you mind telling us the seller?

Patty in Wisc
04-02-2009, 12:38 PM
Oooh Nooo. What a heartbreaker! We were so excited for you. I remember it said no guarranty on it... bummer. I'd write them anyway.

Vickie H.
04-02-2009, 04:02 PM
The seller was ebay and from Hawaii. I need to go look. It was potted in soil. I did not disturb it to check roots. it was packed good so I do not know why the leaves wetre broke. This is my second one The irst one I got a few years ago my husband broke off carring brush buy the plant. I was heart broke. Really If I could I would have killed him. But he felt bad enough anyway. I told him your not getting near this one. LOL

Vickie H.
04-02-2009, 04:21 PM
Yes Bob that is my Buddy the white schnauzer on his stool looking out the window. That is his job to keep an eye on things. LOL! Bob it was from a seller named Hibotanical from Hilo HI. It was billed under the name Sato San Enterprises. I paid $177.50 with shipping. Bob what did you pay for the Siapan one? And when did you buy it. I hope this was cut off the mother plant and healed before it was shipped. There is one on ebay now from Siapan, and a couple from Bankok. I am wondering about phytosanitary certificates for these coming into the USA. I do not want them to be held in customs.

Patty in Wisc
04-02-2009, 07:04 PM
Bob, I believe yours came from same as Vickie -- Hilo, Hi. You got yours on ebay here:
HAWAIIAN AE AE BANANA PLANT -RARE- Variegated Leaves - eBay (item 320348173152 end time Mar-15-09 20:00:00 PDT) (http://cgi.ebay.com/HAWAIIAN-AE-AE-BANANA-PLANT-RARE-Variegated-Leaves_W0QQitemZ320348173152QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_ 0?hash=item320348173152&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318%7C3 01%3A0%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50)
Go way down to bottom & it shows actual pic of plant sent. Does it look like the one you got? Was yours potted as in pic? I still would email them before too much time goes by.
Funny you said yours was shipped from FL (?) It says shipped from Hawaii. Something is wrong here. I sure hope you get at least some of your $$ back.

Chironex
04-02-2009, 07:40 PM
My first one came from Hawaii and it was so nicely packed that I wrote a special note of thanks to the seller. Best packing job I have ever seen - and I have received hundreds of them by mail.

sandy0225
04-03-2009, 08:26 AM
I got mine from Martha and I'll have to say I've not found it to be hard to grow at all. I kept it in the warmer greenhouse over winter in a prime location of partial sun. Minimum temp 58 degrees. It held just fine and now is starting to grow well. Mine has a lot more white on it than yours, so I figured it would be really slow, but it has put out a new leaf this spring already. I'll put a picture of it in my gallery now.
I used promix hp with biofungicide and so far I've been using plant marvel 20-10-20, my winter fertilizer on it at 200 ppm. That's all I've done to it, other than knock it over a couple of times because the greenhouse is too crowded. I also used some marathon insecticide on it because I don't plan on it getting fruit anytime soon. It might be a long term project, ya think?

Bob
04-03-2009, 09:12 AM
Thanks all for your responses! My Ae Ae was from ebay last September. Since it slooooowly died , I chose not to mention it to the seller. But I'm not recommending them either, same with the Thailand plants. I've heard they're shipped with no roots at all. I'm planning on contacting Martha or I'll check out hibotanical in the meantime. I paid "only" $105 for it so , what can you do?
After I'm done with first wave of outdoor planting ,I'll start looking again.

Vickie I had 2 min schnauzers when I was a little kid. Great dogs!