Hey

JohnnyRotten · 10-23-2012, 10:42 AM

Hello.......I stumbled upon this site today and WOW am I impressed. Planted 2 banana trees this year in March .... a dwarf Cavindish and an Ice Cream. and lo and Behold they burned up in the hot sun!!! So a few days later I noticed a few new pup's emerging from the ground. So I covered them with landscape sunshade and they are slowly comming back!! I love the tropical look and feel. Hopefully they will bear fruit for me at some time if not they are just beautiful the way they are!! Hopefully my Banana education starts today and I'm hoping to learn alot from this site!!!!

Abnshrek · 10-23-2012, 11:12 AM

Hello, Welcome & Happy Growing. :^)

Jose263 · 10-23-2012, 06:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnnyRotten

Hello.......I stumbled upon this site today and WOW am I impressed. Planted 2 banana trees this year in March .... a dwarf Cavindish and an Ice Cream. and lo and Behold they burned up in the hot sun!!! So a few days later I noticed a few new pup's emerging from the ground. So I covered them with landscape sunshade and they are slowly comming back!! I love the tropical look and feel. Hopefully they will bear fruit for me at some time if not they are just beautiful the way they are!! Hopefully my Banana education starts today and I'm hoping to learn alot from this site!!!!

Rotten -Welcome - AZ is a pretty hostile environment for a water-loving plant. I lived in Prescott in the 90s and the valley is really bad.. The experts can tell you if IC and D cavendish will tolerate the heat and sun but I suspect they didn't get enough h2o and maybe soil issues. did you have drip irrigation on them?Maybe other Arizonians can add some comments?

caliboy1994 · 10-23-2012, 09:17 PM

Welcome! Ice Cream should definitely fare better in your area than DC.

hybridpower · 10-23-2012, 09:46 PM

Of all the bananas that I burned up the first year, only the dc didn't come back. The other thing I learned was that using any native soil was a death sentence for them. Likewise, dig the hole out as large as possible, as I had an 8' IC start to die, and upon digging discovered that the dense native soil had formed a "pot" of sorts that the roots couldn't penetrate. It was the most root bound, plant I've ever seen! Amazing that it was in the ground. I've had good luck with "palm and cactus" soil. What part of the valley are you in?

sharont · 10-24-2012, 09:08 AM

Hi
This is an awesome site. I live in Western Australia and continue to be amazed with the information that is freely and enthuisiastically given. enjoy
Sharon

austinl01 · 10-24-2012, 09:14 AM

If you are in AZ, you should definitely improve the soil as much as you can with organics (such as compost, peat, etc.), water very often (maybe a drip system), and think about putting in a misting system for humidity. That's my advise from talking to folks trying to grow bananas in a desert climate.

JohnnyRotten · 10-24-2012, 11:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hybridpower

Of all the bananas that I burned up the first year, only the dc didn't come back. The other thing I learned was that using any native soil was a death sentence for them. Likewise, dig the hole out as large as possible, as I had an 8' IC start to die, and upon digging discovered that the dense native soil had formed a "pot" of sorts that the roots couldn't penetrate. It was the most root bound, plant I've ever seen! Amazing that it was in the ground. I've had good luck with "palm and cactus" soil. What part of the valley are you in?

First off let me say thanks to all the warm welcomes from every one!
Secondly Yes I have a drip on the bananas plus I water them every day!!
I added some soil improver to help break up the chelated soil and I added some iron to make the soil a bit more acidic instead of alkaline. Right now they seem like they are doing good. The ICis larger(by twice) than the DC. But they both have new growth and are looking promising. I also hit them with some Liquid fertilixer that was 10-0-10 and the IC seems like it greened up (got darker green is what I meant to say) over night.
My neighbor has a 10 foot IC in his back yard and he tells me water is the secret! I have to believe him!! This is a learning experience and I will not give up till I have fruit ...........even then I wopn't give up.
I'm in the west valley off of 195th ave near goodyear,verrado, wadell ....etc
Again thanks to all!

bbradley64 · 10-26-2012, 02:34 PM

Welcome! I am new too. My Mom lives in Casa Grande, AZ and the soil is not the greatest and it is very hot for many months at a time. I would say to keep the plants well watered. I am in North Central Florida and I have good humidity and water my Banana daily and heavily and use All Purpose Miracle-Gro usually twice a week and my Banana (possibly a Dwarf Cavendish) is big, lush and the flower is getting ready to open. The soil here is quite sandy but it is doing great. I mulch the flower bed it's planted in with regular wood mulch. It helps hold in the moisture.

Good luck and post some photos of your Banana plants.

harveyc · 11-13-2012, 02:51 AM

Belated welcome. A friend in Tempe has been growing Tall Namwah for many years and they looked very nice when I saw them as well as in other photos I've seen. You might want to give this variety a try. I know he adds a layer of bark of maybe 4"-6" deep over his entire garden (not just bananas) to help reduce soil temperature and improve moisture rentention.

10-23-2012, 10:42 AM	#1 (permalink)
JohnnyRotten Zone: 9 Join Date: Oct 2012 Posts: 4 BananaBucks : 7,166 Feedback: 0 / 0% Said "Thanks" 8 Times Was Thanked 9 Times in 2 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 5 Times	Hey Hello.......I stumbled upon this site today and WOW am I impressed. Planted 2 banana trees this year in March .... a dwarf Cavindish and an Ice Cream. and lo and Behold they burned up in the hot sun!!! So a few days later I noticed a few new pup's emerging from the ground. So I covered them with landscape sunshade and they are slowly comming back!! I love the tropical look and feel. Hopefully they will bear fruit for me at some time if not they are just beautiful the way they are!! Hopefully my Banana education starts today and I'm hoping to learn alot from this site!!!! __________________ LIVIN' LIFE IN ARIZONA

10-23-2012, 11:12 AM	#2 (permalink)
Abnshrek Happy Growing Abnshrek 's Photo Gallery Location: Beaumont Texas Find me on the map! Zone: 8b, but 9b weather.. Name: Migael / Michael Join Date: Aug 2009 Posts: 9,493 BananaBucks : 282,100 Feedback: 45 / 100% Said "Thanks" 10,447 Times Was Thanked 16,443 Times in 5,238 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 2,318 Times	Re: Hey Hello, Welcome & Happy Growing. :^) __________________ I'm a Nannerhead :^)

10-23-2012, 09:17 PM	#4 (permalink)
caliboy1994 <div style="font-style: italic;"><div style="font-style: italic;"></div></div> caliboy1994's Photo Gallery Location: SFV, California Find me on the map! Zone: USDA zone 10a; Sunset zone 18/19 Name: Andreas Join Date: Sep 2011 Posts: 2,301 BananaBucks : 292,927 Feedback: 0 / 0% Said "Thanks" 1,474 Times Was Thanked 2,196 Times in 1,148 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 236 Times	Re: Hey Welcome! Ice Cream should definitely fare better in your area than DC. __________________ "The ultimate goal of farming is not the growing of crops, but the cultivation and perfection of human beings." ~ Masanobu Fukuoka Find me on linktree here as Solarpunk Farmer: https://linktr.ee/solarpunkfarmer

10-23-2012, 09:46 PM	#5 (permalink)
hybridpower Join Date: Oct 2011 Posts: 97 BananaBucks : 36,244 Feedback: 1 / 100% Said "Thanks" 13 Times Was Thanked 169 Times in 58 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 2 Times	Re: Hey Of all the bananas that I burned up the first year, only the dc didn't come back. The other thing I learned was that using any native soil was a death sentence for them. Likewise, dig the hole out as large as possible, as I had an 8' IC start to die, and upon digging discovered that the dense native soil had formed a "pot" of sorts that the roots couldn't penetrate. It was the most root bound, plant I've ever seen! Amazing that it was in the ground. I've had good luck with "palm and cactus" soil. What part of the valley are you in?

10-24-2012, 09:08 AM	#6 (permalink)
sharont Sharont Location: Perth - Western Australia Find me on the map! Join Date: Apr 2012 Posts: 6 BananaBucks : 4,017 Feedback: 0 / 0% Said "Thanks" 2 Times Was Thanked 7 Times in 4 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 20 Times	Re: Hey Hi This is an awesome site. I live in Western Australia and continue to be amazed with the information that is freely and enthuisiastically given. enjoy Sharon

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10-24-2012, 09:14 AM	#7 (permalink)
austinl01 Got pink bananas? austinl01's Photo Gallery Location: Little Rock, AR Find me on the map! Zone: 7b/8a Line Name: Austin Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 1,288 BananaBucks : 228,310 Feedback: 13 / 100% Said "Thanks" 1,590 Times Was Thanked 907 Times in 397 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 507 Times	Re: Hey If you are in AZ, you should definitely improve the soil as much as you can with organics (such as compost, peat, etc.), water very often (maybe a drip system), and think about putting in a misting system for humidity. That's my advise from talking to folks trying to grow bananas in a desert climate. __________________ Austin Arkansas River Valley Average January Low: 31°F, Average August High: 92°F Extreme Winter Lows: 5-15°F, Extreme Summer Highs: 100-112°F, Annual Precipitation: 52 inches

10-26-2012, 02:34 PM	#9 (permalink)
bbradley64 Location: Ocala, Florida Find me on the map! Zone: 9 Join Date: Oct 2012 Posts: 14 BananaBucks : 6,775 Feedback: 0 / 0% Said "Thanks" 15 Times Was Thanked 16 Times in 6 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 1 Times	Re: Hey Welcome! I am new too. My Mom lives in Casa Grande, AZ and the soil is not the greatest and it is very hot for many months at a time. I would say to keep the plants well watered. I am in North Central Florida and I have good humidity and water my Banana daily and heavily and use All Purpose Miracle-Gro usually twice a week and my Banana (possibly a Dwarf Cavendish) is big, lush and the flower is getting ready to open. The soil here is quite sandy but it is doing great. I mulch the flower bed it's planted in with regular wood mulch. It helps hold in the moisture. Good luck and post some photos of your Banana plants.

11-13-2012, 02:51 AM	#10 (permalink)
harveyc Been nuts, gone bananas harveyc's Photo Gallery Location: Isleton, Calif Find me on the map! Zone: 9b Name: Harvey Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 5,119 BananaBucks : 376,106 Feedback: 5 / 100% Said "Thanks" 6,025 Times Was Thanked 4,460 Times in 1,896 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 1,785 Times	Re: Hey Belated welcome. A friend in Tempe has been growing Tall Namwah for many years and they looked very nice when I saw them as well as in other photos I've seen. You might want to give this variety a try. I know he adds a layer of bark of maybe 4"-6" deep over his entire garden (not just bananas) to help reduce soil temperature and improve moisture rentention. __________________

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