timgarbett

Hi All,

New to the site, but excited I found it. I live in Chandler AZ. and when I bought the house there were three clumps of plants along the west wall of the property and the previous owner told me they were gold finger. Well its 11 years later and I still have all three clumps and have had some success harvesting fruit, but frankly I don't know what I'm doing. I would like to increase my fruit production and I'm jealous of some of the pictures I've see. I have one plant that has thrown a flower in the last month but like the others I've had, it look like I'll have a couple of hands and no more than a half dozen bananas. What can I do to increase production? Thxs

smeash

Welcome to the bunch! First thing would be to post a photo of your plants if you can.. would make it much easier to see whats going on. Not knowing much about your "clump", I can assume a few suggestions would be appropriate.
You should thin your plants to a main fruiting stem, and no more than 2 follower pups which will fruit the following year. I assume you havent done much in the way of fertilizing or soil building, so you will need to amend your soil with manure/compost etc, and mulch heavily with woodchips, leaves, grass clipping etc. Especially in Arizonas dry climate, you need to hold as much moisture and humidity near the bananas as possible. Which brings me to watering.. they need ALOT of water.. especially in your climate. Soak the ground well, and spray the plants leaves and all at least once a day.
There is good info on fertilizer in the banana wiki on here, and Ty Taylor has a fertilizer schedule on his page at bananapups.com.
You may need to do all, none or some of these suggestions, but without seeing you plants its just a guess. Welcome.

Snarkie

Hi Tim-

Welcome aboard the Banana Express.

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The Only Eastern Redwood Forest in America




"Nuke my 'nanners, will you?!"

timgarbett

Thanks to everyone, I'm overwhelmed by the groups generosity to help a new member. I understand they are heavy feeders and I have typically used a balanced citrus fertilizer a few times a year since I'm also growing oranges, lemons, and limes. They are on drip lines and are watered daily. Compost to amend the heavy soil as well as chips to hold the water is a great idea. I have chopped up the old plants and spread them around but since it's so dry here they never compost. Last summer was brutal and I thought I would lose them but they made it through. I'm on the edge of Maricopa county and we do experience frost so in the cooler months (I won't say winter here) so I do lose the leaves, but I just cut them back and they always grow out when it warms. Here are a couple pics. For context the wall is six feet high, the tallest plant is close to double the height of the wall. Thxs to Smeash for the suggestion.

[IMG]IMG_0967.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]IMG_0969.jpg[/IMG]

timgarbett

Hmmm, looks like I need to work on the picture posting

smeash

Yea I cant see the photos, but I see the links.. try uploading photos to your gallery and cut and past the link from there. This forum is a bit difficult to upload photos.
I would not cut your plants back, with the exception of removing dead material in the spring. In addition i would add spray irrigation as well as the drip to wet the growing area better and induce some humidity.

hdynad

Welcome from Texas , you have came to right place. Take some time to do a search threw old posts their is so much information and if you are thinking it someone else has thought about it too. Deffinately thinning them out is the 1st step.

Happy growing

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Currently growing, , DGM Highgate, Blue Java, Dwarf Red, Dwarf Brazilian , Ensete Glaucum, Pitogo, Hoa Moa, Raja Puri, Thai Black, VG Chaing Rai, Manzano, Praying Hands. Yunnan, Hawiaan Crown, Dwarf Red Plantain

timgarbett

Lets see if this works

Banana Gallery - BFF6A5A8-A6DE-4B21-895E-697645FDE903_4_5005_c
Banana Gallery - C082B4B9-ED08-4E16-AF66-4719987E22C2_4_5005_c

timgarbett

The links seem to work. Smeash, you're right, I only remove the dead leaves down to the crown. They start to regrow leaves once it warms back up. I appreciate everyone's advice and will thin out and amend the soil this week. I'll also be doing research on the site to learn from the other members. Appreciate the warm welcome, It's obvious you all have a passion for the plants. Have a great week.

Snarkie

You're getting closer. Use the first set on top.

If worse comes to worse, start another reply and follow the directions further down the page. Like Prego spaghetti sauce, "It's in there!"

__________________
Doug (D.A. Hänks) http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2955582/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1


The Only Eastern Redwood Forest in America




"Nuke my 'nanners, will you?!"