rhymechizel

I live in utah (zone 6) where it is quite dry. Just wondering who is growing bananas in such a climat and what people have had success with.

thanks-DAN

lorax

I have grown Cavendish, Dwarf Cavendish, Plantain, Rojitos (local red-skinned fruiting variety), and Rosados (local pink-skinned fruiting variety) in the tropical high-altitude deserts around Loja in southern Ecuador, so it is possible. I had to water them twice daily or they drooped and stopped pupping, and I ended up re-planting a tall male papaya to the middle of my banana ring to give them a bit of shade. Once you get fruit in such a sunny environment, it's almost essential that you bag it on-tree. This means taking a blue plastic bag and hanging it over the forming bunch. This prevents sunburn on the bananas, as well as keeping pests off. I reccomend blue because it's easily available and it's what I use; any plastic bag with about 50% light transmission will do.

If you're going to do this, you will probably want to install a dedicated watering system. I was living out in the sticks and my hoses didn't quite reach all of the plants; this means that I was schlepping pails a lot of the time. How hot do your hot days get in the summer? You will absolutely have to mulch them in for the winters, but Nannas should just love your hot season. Ask Alan, who lives quite a bit north of you, what he does to overwinter his bananas; he's in Zone 3.

Damaclese is growing nanners in Las Vegas; he's a lot closer to you and probably has some great ideas. I'm pretty sure we have members from Arizona, and I know we have Texans. They should all have great tips for dry-summer growing.

damaclese

Dan i live in zone 9b. its hot as hades here and dry are average humidity is 20% or lower. i grow my nanas in pots. they get 60% shade nothing after 12. i rape the pots in shade cloth to keep the sun off them. watering is pretty much a every day thing. i haven't grown them through a summer yet. I'm probably going to have to water twice a day in the hot months. I'm using Vigro palm food which was recommended to me by Jared (Medea hound). i also put trays of water out three per pot to help with the humidity. i spray around the pots in the heat of the day. At Best my nanas are doing OK not grate just OK they still get some sun burn so I'm contemplating erecting a permanent shade cloth over them that lets approx. 50% of the light throw.
when the Temp gos over 100 I'm going to bring them inside for the moths of Jul., Aug., and Sept.
i know it sounds a bit complicated. but I'm really in to them so at least for this year all try. hope this helps! i think the thing to keep in mind is they are tropical and need lots of care if your are going to grow them. a green house would be ideal and thats my plan for this fall. but if your sun is as intense as mine then thats complicated too more of a cave with shades and water. that would certainly lower the care level. I also grow orchids which allot of people think is imposable in the Mohave. trust me its not that hard. lastly i just want to say i have the worst luck Murphy is my constant companion. So if i can do it you can to. I really think the key is humidity and keeping them cool.

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D_&_T

Dan like Lorax said you can grow any type but will need to water, mulch will help hold some moisture! We basically had a drought here last summer, we had pails collecting water dripping from A/C in the window. If you plan on leaving any out your best bet is Basjoo or Sikki with protection, everything else will need potted, or bare root storage.

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dablo93

I saw a picture of a musa basjoo growing in Luxor, Egypt, even hotter then Las vegas I think and he looked quite nice, just give them enough water.
are you in the south of utah?

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microfarmer

Ok, let's talk dry...

I live in California's central valley, and it gets over 100 degrees and less than 20% humidity...like today, for example...

Currently, I'm growing...

Goldfinger,
Ice Cream,
Dwarf Orinoco,
Orinoco,
CA Gold,
Red Iholene,
Manzano,
Lasiocarpa,
Cheesemannii,
Cardaba,
Praying hands,
Double Mahoi,
Mysore,
Saba,
Dwarf Brazilian,
Pitogo,
Monkey Fingers,
Balbisiana,
Black Thai
Basjoo
Bordelon
E. V. Maurelli
E. Superbum

Here's a post about heat tolerance you might find interesting...

What bananas are most heat tolerant?

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rhymechizel

Thanks everyone! The info has been helpful. We occasionally get higher than 100 but normally stay in the 80s-90s. I just worry about the dry heat. I will water lots (like we do everything else here) and I hope to see some good growth this year. I have a few different bananas so I hope at least one variety will enjoy or at least tolerate our weather. I'm glad to here success stories, it gives me encouragement in my new found hobby.

Thanks again-DAN

damaclese

are pleasure Dan Good luck!

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Dean W.

Now that's quite a list.

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microfarmer

The list seems longer when I read it. I have them clustered in odd groups, in 4 plats, 3-7 bananas per plat, no duplicates in any one plat, and I still have more places to put bananas (in plats that still need a makin')

I am also going to use the support structure from the hops (which are planted alongside the nanas) to make a temporary shelter for some of the nanas to help them overwinter (bonus). It'll keep the frost, light, and water off them til after the last frost date and the temps go up.

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Zacarias

Now that I'm keeping my eyes on bananas, I've found lots of them around Phoenix, AZ. It is doable in dry areas. I garden on a balcony and have bamboo screen a that for protecting bananas, hibiscus etc... The bamboo screen allows very small slits of sun in during the day and it seems to work well. In fact, my fastest growing bananas only need water every few days. The babies need it every other day. When it gets 105, it probably will need more. But it's amazing... as I'm learning more about desert/patio gardening everyday. Of course I'm moving back to WA next year, but oh well

lorax

Ah, see now we got a lot hotter in the Southern Ecuadorian desert. Not sure about degrees F, but we had days that topped 48 C with a howling wind. That's the kind of heat where you water at dawn, again around noon, and again at sunset....

damaclese

Wow Lorax thats allot the most i ever watered was 2 times a day and thats only for maybe 4 weeks a year although there was the summer of 1996 we had over 120f 48.8888889c for 20 days i if memory serves me right i remember because boulder high way buckled for 17 blocks and was closed for repairs for moths any way i digress lol its fun to get old NOTTTTTT

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damaclese

OK i discover something new. not really new but i never thought about it before. i was trying to figure a way to make the humidity go up with out me having to go out side and spray all the time. and suddenly it cam to me. it was one of thous duooo moments. i have this fountain that i wasn't using so i moved it right over next to my bananas and plugged it in. well low and behold even with the wind my humidity raised to over 50%. which i know is still not that high for bananas but its way better then the up and down i was getting with just spraying the patio. so thats helpfully hint number 20 heheh just kidding i don't know what number it is

just a wacky Banana Grower in the Desert

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Zacarias

Foutains are great way to provide humidity for your nanners. I wish I had the space for one...ah well, next year. Also, the humidity will protect your banana from the infamous and dreaded spider mites!!

Zach

DarinAZ

That sounds a lot like here (Phoenix AZ). last year we had 32 days where our high was 110F or higher (43C or higher). our high this past year was about 48C.

ANyway, bananas grow just fine here, they just get a little dried out on the leaf edges, but with enough water, they do quite well, as long as they get a little bit of relief from the hottest sun (like a tree or wall to the west).

My Rajapuri is growing pretty well here, I will be moving it soon, but here it is today, i planted it as a 1gal about a year ago. It's not getting enough sun, I think it would have grown a lot more in a better spot.

lorax

We had two months where the daily average was 43 C and the windspeed average was 20 kph. Then we had a week of really hot weather, and broke a record set waaaay back in 1743. It was 52 C that day. We had the first thunderstorm ever recorded in August in the valley the next day.

damaclese

well Darin its got a pup so how bad could it be there it looks good to me that first years hard here in the desert it probably could do with a bit more open space to set root concrete it vary alkaline and I'm not sure on this but Bananas i think like a slightly acid soil condition i cant remember who said it but some one in a post explained the they put vinegar in there water to help the soil PH if thats wrong please some one correct me on that

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STEELVIPER

I live in a fairly dry climate. We get over 100F in the summer quit often. In fact it was 100F today. All i can say is that when temps reach over 100F you must water. And i mean water at least 2 times a day. Also it would be wise to plant your bananas in an area that gets some shade. Leaves will burn in 106F + temps.

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microfarmer

It was 103 today and my plants seem to do just fine in the heat. I have new leaves coming out all over the place, with no sunburn.

I use drippers for good soil saturation and drip sprayers for bringing down the heat and bringing up the humidity. I'll run the sprayers for less time (about 30-45 minutes @ 4-6 gallons per hour per sprayer) and the drippers for a couple hours (1 gallon per hour per dripper).

My drippers and sprayers are on 2 different supply lines, with 2 different valves, limited to 35 psi. I'll run the sprayers once every day, and my drippers every 2 days when this hot and every week if under 90 deg.

I don't have a lot of sandy soil so it stays more moist even if I miss a day or two. It seems to be enough for the bananas...

My Ensete Superbum (which I thought was dead) came back with no water since the middle of October...in a container...in my garage with only a shoplight. It didn't start to grow til it got to 90 degrees in my garage and then pushed out some new leaves. I stripped off all the dead outer leaves, and they had wet mushy rot in them despite the severe lack of water.

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