dwarfnana

Hi im growing some dwarf grand nain bananas and was wondering if anyone had experience with this type. Will I ever get bananas? I havnt used any fertilizer but do have some Miracle Gro Fruits and Vegetables ( I know its not ideal but wondering if it will help and not kill the plant). Any other advice is needed because this is my first time growing bananas.

smeash

Welcome. I think we would need some basic info like where you are located and are you growing in the ground or in containers etc. As far as fertilizer it depends on the size of your plants and whether they are in ground or pots. Any fertilizer will work, but the right application rate needs to be followed. A balanced fertilizer is an easy solution, such a 10/10/10 or 13/13/13. An ideal fertilizer would be a 2-1-3 NPK ratio, but those are expensive and the cheaper balanced will work just fine. You can also just amend your soil with compost, manure etc and grow organic.

dwarfnana

Ok thanks for the fertilizer info. As for the basic info, the location is southern california, plants are about 1 year old but had a slow winder so theres only about 8 leaves on both trees. Growing them in a ground planter thats half a circle about 5 feet wide. Im really hoping for bananas within 3 years as they are supposed to be fast fruiting. Thanks

smeash

Can you post photos of the plants? I grew most of mine from tissue culture plants and had fruit in about 16 months. The ones from pups fruited in about a year. Im zone 9a.

Backyard Banana Joe

Mulch is great for covering the soil and holding moisture. I would recommend tree trimming company wood chips. They hold moisture and rot down to create a rich worm filled black loam. However they would dump a whole truck load full so it isn't for everyone. I don't recommend the painted wood chips from HD or Lowes because they are painted, which makes them take a long time to rot down. Tree company wood chips also have a mix of leaves, twigs, and chips from larger branches that rot down at different rates.


Depending on how much yard you have, there are many awesome varieties to look into. Dwarf Namwa, Mysore, Manzano, Dwarf Brazilian, to name a few. Namwa is very sweet. Dwarf Brazilian and Manzano have a delicious apple flavor. Mysore is supposed to have a berry flavor (I have a bunch that will ripen in a couple months, very excited to try!). But don't fall for the ice cream banana hoax. What they are actually selling is Namwa, which doesn't taste like vanilla ice cream. It's just sweet.