jnicholes

Hi everyone.

I am new to the forum, and I have a question about growing bananas.

I have a dwarf cavendish banana plant I have been growing in a pot for eight months now, and according to the seller, it does bear fruit. I have been taking good care of it so far, but I dont know when it will bear fruit and how long it will take. I am completely new to banana growing. Can anyone tell me how long it usually takes for a banana plant to flower and produce fruit?

Thanks!

Jared

kaczercat

Where are you located? cooler climates it takes several years

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Matt

Gabe15

Hello and welcome.

The amount of time it will take depends greatly on the conditions the plant is growing in. So, in order to even givea rough estimate answer to your question, we will need much more information. Please let us know: where you are located, if the plant is indoors or outdoors, how large the container is, how large the plant currently is, and what type of temperatures and light levels it is normally exposed to. Photos would also help a lot to get a better sense of the health of the plant.

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Growing bananas in Colorado, Washington, Hawaii since 2004. Commercial banana farmer, 200+ varieties.

jnicholes

Hi there!

Sorry, I am still getting used to the forum. I am in South Idaho growing zone 7, the plant is growing indoors, It has grown for 8 months now. It is in a south facing window. In the past 8 months it has grown tons of leaves but has not grown any taller. It is about 20 inches high. The pot it is in is a very large pot.

I honestly dont know if I am doing something wrong or not in raising it. It has not grown taller since I got it 8 months ago. I dont know if thats a problem or not.

How do I attach pictures?

Jared

Tytaylor77

Sounds like it may be a super dwarf. I have 2. One bought as truly tiny and other bought as super dwarf cavendish. I have tried very hard to get a bloom for years (growing in ground).

I have seen others on here who successfully fruit them however so it may depend what clone the pup or TC was from.

A normal banana planted outdoors here in zone 8b/9a it takes 300 days on average with most varieties to flower then another 3-5 months to ripen. I have a couple friends who live in your zone or lower who has had a bloom in 2-3 years but didn't get successful fruit yet.

In zone 7 I would recommend a dwarf Orinoco. They are the most cold hardy seedless banana. Taste is ok and they are very very strong plants. It's the hardest banana to kill by far to me. Get a big pup from someone on here (shouldn't cost $20) plant it out in the spring after last frost then dig it up in the fall before winter. You can dry store it anywhere above freezing (under house, basement, etc) This would be your best chance for producing your own fruit.

If you get a pup/corm you should have pups this year from it. Pot them up as backups and you could try other methods of winterizing. Just search this site there are many YouTube has lots of ways to try also. If you can't find a dwarf Orinoco pm me and I will send you one.

Good luck and welcome!

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sputinc7

Personally, I would go for Brazilian or SH-3640 since I think Orinoco (burro bananas) taste awful. They are strictly a cooking banana. Unless a cooking banana is what you want. Most people from the north think of dessert varieties as bananas and I didn't want him to be upset after waiting all that time for his own bananas is all, so I clarified. Namwah is cold hardy as well and most people like them well enough, but I don't care much for them, though.
Taste is subjective.

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If you lose your head and give up, you neither live nor win.

https://sputinc7.wixsite.com/covwc

Varieties I supposedly bought: Manzano, Cavendish, Blue Java, Sweetheart, and Gros Michel.
What it seems I actually have: Brazilian, Cavendish, Namwah, Dwarf Red, Gros Michel, Pisang Ceylon, Veinte Cohol and SH 3640, and American Goldfinger. FHIA 1, Paggi and FHIA 17... Always room for one more.

jnicholes

Hi everyone!

Sorry, my internet acted up and I couldnt reply right away. A super dwarf, huh? That actually makes sense, now that I think about it. Thanks for the information!

A Dwarf Orinoco? I think I heard of them once. I saw one on a website for sale. Maybe I should get one now!

Thank you!

Jared