Planethill

Hey everyone! First real post!

So excited to show you my plant! I've had it for over five years now and after reading through the Wiki and the forums realize I have been doing everything wrong. (blush). It was a gift from my mother in-law, so I have no idea what kind it is. She got it from a relative in Texas who said it did fruit down there. They called it a plantain, but they aren't exactly botanists.

Here she is:


Now as you can see, Newb mistake #1 was the number of stems. There are EIGHT in the pot. Hey, I figured the more the merrier! There used to be three that were all as tall as the one large stem, but they turned to mush over the winter due to accidental neglect. I believe they were the actual mother plant and first pup. Not knowing anything about corms or pups, I figured they were DOA so I got out the sawzall and cut them off clean at the bottom. (Newb mistake #2!) Imagine my surprise when both started growing like crazy from the severed stumps!

I also fertilized occasionally with a high nitrogen fertilizer (Newb mistake #3!) I thought "Big leaves...Green plant...needs nitrogen!". D'oh!



So! Here are my questions to you the great Banana Gods!

1 - Fruit? Is it even possible to actually get Bananas in New York or is this just a pipe dream without a full-on Greenhouse? The plant is out by my pool during the warm weather (and loves it), then gets moved into a warm sun room in the fall. Although not true grow lights, the room does have full spectrum lighting for my wife's parrots. Maybe one of the cold hardy varieties?

2 - Should I kill all those pups? Chop & Gouge or actually remove? How many is optimal?

3 - Bigger pot?

I guess the good thing is it has been in this pot for several years (5+) so the Corm is very well established. Despite all my mistakes, she seems very happy overall.

Thanks so much for any & all advice!

banana13

why kill? why don't you separate the clump and have more bananas?

kaczercat

looks like an orinoco but maybe a plantain. Yes a bigger pot would be great a wide one works well. also you can add a little soil to the bottom of the pot, you'll get a much bigger plant. You should remove some of the pups. 4 would be plenty. If given ideal conditions "up here" I've seen people have them fruit in 2 or 3 years.

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Matt

Planethill

Awesome. Guess I have a project for the weekend! Getting this plant to flower is now my goal in life. :lol:

Thanks all!