Clark

Hello everybody!

I actually had a super dwarf Cavendish back in undergrad that I had 'saved' from Wall-mart at the low, low cost of $1 (because it was almost dead), but that plant unfortunately bit the dust sometime during the stress-ball that was grad school.

Now, I have a house in zone 8a, and my husband still reminisces about the apple and ice cream bananas we had on our honeymoon in Hawaii, back in 2010. And I like to push the boundaries of what should be feasible in a garden, so I'm looking to start growing bananas yet again. Only, I want to get them to fruit this time!

I've read of people getting fruit in zone 8a, but if I remember correctly, they were in North Carolina, which gets much hotter in the summer than we do.


Right now I'm considering pot-growing bananas, putting them in my lean-to greenhouse (not heated) during the summer, and bringing them into the house as soon as temperatures approached 50* or so, and trying to overwinter them as healthfully as possible. The other idea, much more risky, was to try to get the bananas that have that coldest survival rating (while baring fruit), and planting them in-ground in a south-facing, sheltered location, and mulching the heck out of them.

So far, for varieties, I'm considering:

Dwarf Cavendish (z 9), Dwarf Orinoco (z 7, fruit in z 9), Raja Puri (z 8), and Dwarf Brazilian (z 8, fruit in z 9) (which I've also heard is the esteemed Hawaiian Apple banana). I'm also considering Ice Cream Banana (because I read a thread that said they got fruit in zone 8a, though that was NC, not Wa.). Also really interested in Veinte Cohol, for it's short cycle.

I'm really excited, and hope to hear from others in a similar climate who have gotten bananas to fruit.

HMelendez

Welcome to the banana gang!.....

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Richard

A 15'W x 25'L x 15'H double-paned glass greenhouse with heater plus elevated intake/exhaust fans and supplemental lighting ought to do it.

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Clark

Lol, I was actually looking at some really interesting geothermally heated greenhouses, but that's a bit further down the road!

37.667910

I think as Richard was pointing out, even though your winters are relatively mild, your summers also lack the necessary heat to really push bananas to fruit.

I'm zone 9b with very hot long summers and it's hit or miss with us.
But good luck, no harm trying.

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Clark

Thanks! I was thinking the south-facing lean-to would provide a pretty big boost of heat, but I guess I'll have to try it and see!