TropicalUpNorth

Hello fellow banana lovers!

I realized I hadn't yet written my introductory post yet, so here I am :-)

I'm still browsing all the forum posts to look for answers to my questions, as I didn't want to ask a question that might have already been answered a thousand times before ;-)

I live in the Twin Cities of Minnesota, and am planning on keeping my newly purchased bananas in containers on my small patio. It's bright here, but the patio doesn't get any direct sun until after 12pm (I think?) and after 7pm the sun is lower and off & on due to trees. Also, I fully anticipate/accept my bananas dying inside this winter, but I will do my best to keep them alive.

Twenty years ago I bought some (likely dwarf) bananas from a nursery and brought them home, enjoying their looks before they died on me as an indoor plant in their original nursery pot.

This week I bought two similar looking bananas from a big box hardware store, however they're a bit bigger at roughly two feet tall from the soil. They have several little pups growing at the base, even after I accidentally broke some off. I can't tell if they're healthy or not.

I have to research whether or not to remove the pups prior to potting banana in their larger summer outdoor containers, and if so, whether to try and plant the pups or throw them out. I also need to research what kind of bananas they are, to find out how big they might get this summer (which dictates where I want them on the patio & what to plant with them).

At a local nursery I bought, iirc, a Bordelon banana. I can't find the tag anymore, but it looks like Cinncinnana/Hostafarian's photos. It has one center plant and two thinner ones on each side. All are around 4'-5' tall from bottom of pot.

Also purchased at the nursery was an Ensete ventricosum*'Maurelii.' It's in a larger pot, with a nice thick stem, about six feet high from bottom of pot? Huge circumference! This was the reason for my trip to the nursery. :-D I bought a 55 gallon heavy duty tote & spray painted it beige for use as its pot.

I wish to repot all of them in the next few days. I still need to research the following:

- Best growing medium for outdoor container bananas (and can/should all three use the same mix?). I'm leaning toward a mix of tiny pine bark / perlite / MiracleGro Moisture Control potting soil mixture, but unsure of ratios & resulting pH.

- Soil pH & bananas+ensete. How sensitive are they?

- I saw Hostafarian's photos of lump charcoal, so I need to research the purpose of charcoal (I have a bunch sitting in my garage!).

- How best to wash & screen perlite. I haven't touched perlite in seven years, when I made "Al's Gritty Mix" for my indoor tropicals

- Do I need to wash or do anything with my tiny pine bark, or can I throw into mixing bin directly?

- Does pine bark change the soil pH? Is that something I need to account for? (I get overwhelmed/confused a bit by pH topics.)

- How much & what kind of fertilizer to use. I have "Osmocote Smart-Release Plant Food Plus" 15-9-12 and wonder if I should follow directions on package (...55 gallon tote = 27 capfuls = about 5 cups!!) I also plan to use Miracle Gro potting soil for part of my potting mix. Maybe 1/3... Maybe 1/5..?

- I've read that in addition to the Osmocote granular fertlizer, it might be a good idea to use a weak liquid fertilizer as well. I have DynaGro Foliage Pro 9-3-6 liquid.

- Not a banana question, but will I be able to use the potting mix I make for bananas, for ficus, bird of paradise, palms, hibiscus, mandevilla..?

So, those are the questions in my head that I need to find answers to in the next couple days so I can pot my bananas & keep them healthy/help them grow.

Like I said, I don't want to ask questions that have been asked & answered many times before, so I'll be researching the answers on these forums.

That being said, if anyone feels like answering them here, I certainly won't object :-D

Well, that's me!

cincinnana

Welcome to the Jungle.....

Grow Your plant as you would any tropical.
Our plants will only do so much in the short grow window .
We live in a poor zone to grow the good stuff....

Do not sweat the small details.
Miracle grow fertilizer and a good soilless mix will get you through the 5 month growing season for all your plants.
You may vary the ratios on ingredients to suit the plants needs or you can purchase a universal mix.



Happy growing!!!!

__________________

TropicalUpNorth

Thank you very much for the welcome! It's nice to bring a bit of the tropics to these northerly states :-)