Fruiting Bananas in North Alabama
 

I live in North East Alabama, I'm in zone 7 some maps list zone 71 - C or so I'm not far from the Tennessee line. I bought 5 different banana trees in small pots now. I want to grow them to fruit. As I see it I have several choices. I don't know which would be better.

I could plant them outside facing SW against the house which is white brick. I planed to put some lattes in front of them for the wind, I live on a bluff. In the winter I could put plastic from the ground in front of the lattes and attach a 2x4 on the side of the house and terminate the plastic there and enclose the sides, making a sort of green house. I could also put a lot of mulch on the ground.

Do you think I could get away with this without supplemental heat? If I need heat for 5 trees what do you suggest?

My 2nd choice is to plant them in a large pot. I bought some plastic trash cans 32 gals. I had planed to plant 2 in each pot. I could leave them outside in the summer and bring them in in the winter. Some will be 10-12 ft high so I would have to top them. I have a sun room that's on the same wall. Would topping them interrupt the fruiting? Is 32 gal 2 big for 1 plant should I use a smaller pot? I have seen that 5 gals is enough.

Any help, suggestions, opinions or ideas would be appreciated.

Re: Fruiting Bananas in North Alabama
 

What variety? :ha:

Re: Fruiting Bananas in North Alabama
 

Musa Ice Cream "Blue Java
Musa Manzano "apple banana
Musa Gros Miche
Musa Double Mahoi

Re: Fruiting Bananas in North Alabama
 

My wife's grandfather fruited a dwarf cavendish in Dutton, AL. He would dig it up in the winter and store it underneath his house until it warmed up.

Re: Fruiting Bananas in North Alabama
 

Lots of questions ...Great.

None of those plants will fruit in your short season.
And if you decided to grow them in your sunroom with heat it will cost you another 300 dollars.......guess

Re: Fruiting Bananas in North Alabama
 

Look up 2 posts

Re: Fruiting Bananas in North Alabama
 

Well Its been 6 years. I built a 12ft high lean to green house, its against the house. First year all the trees died back. The 2nd year I provided hear, same problem, more cost. The 3rd year I dug them up and put them under the house, same problem, although I saw several people do this, wondering what I did wrong. 4th year I gave up, although 3 still came back every year. This year I only see the gross Michael.

So Im stubborn, I still want to fruit a banana tree. My garden room is heated and air conditioned. I have a hot tub in there and we keep the Parratt in there in the day. I want to start over and put them in pots and grow on the open porch with afternoon sun or in the lean to green house also facing SW and before frost in the garden room which is all windows facing SW.

I plan on buying a
Musa Dwarf Cavendish
Musa Ice Cream "Blue Java, if I can find one under $20

The questions are.
1. Any other suggestions on trees.?
2. What size pots do I need.
3. Do I need to supply alternate light when I bring them in?
4. I may have to top them since the garden room is only 7' high next to the
windows.
5. Whats the coldest temp they can stand in the winter? I keep the room warmer than 48 F but no problem to make it warmer.

Re: Fruiting Bananas in North Alabama
 

I would suggest you try a dwarf variety such as the dwarf namwah. Cold hearty, good tasting fruit, and much more managable than full size species.

Re: Fruiting Bananas in North Alabama
 

The Dwarf Namwah is a better choice than the Cavendish. I've had multiple D.Cavendish plants lose leaves at 40 degrees, which makes getting a bunch of bananas off of it tough even after it warms back up. Namwahs have shown no damage at all down to 32 degrees in my yard.

Another route you could try is something like a Veinte Cohol. Its cold tolerance is similar to the Cavendish but grows quickly to only 5-6 feet and the fruit fill in in only 40-50 days. If you start in the spring with a 2-3 foot plant you should be able to fruit a VC before it cools down.

Re: Fruiting Bananas in North Alabama
 

What about:
“Dwarf Brazilian” Musa Banana
“Dwarf Orinoco” Musa Banana
“Dwarf Red” Musa Banana

Thank you people.

Re: Fruiting Bananas in North Alabama
 

I'm not familiar with Dwarf Red so I can't comment unfortunately.

Dwarf Brazilian is about as cold tolerant as Dwarf Namwah for me, that is to say the leaves are fine well down into the mid-lower 30s and the pseudostem will survive even colder temps. They can be anywhere from about 6 to 12' of pseudostem height though, so they might get too big.

Orinocos are known for being the most cold hardy of the common edible varieties. Some people aren't thrilled with the fruit but if you really want to grow your own bananas it's probably where you want to start.

If you're able to bring them into a room that doesn't get below 48 degrees for winter, you'll be fine with any of dwarf Namwah, Brazilian, or Orinoco. The bigger problem you'll probably run into is getting them in pots that are both big enough that the plants will have room to grow yet are also of a manageable size for when you need to move them. The pots will need to be quite large if you want to get fruit out of these types, though other members here have far more experience than me at container growing.

Re: Fruiting Bananas in North Alabama
 

I got a dwarf red from Cincinanna late last summer. I put it in the ground despite being towards the end of growing season. As he promised, the plant is a beast.. and quickly too to its new environment and kicked out a few pups while growing about a leaf a weak. I potted up one pup to overwinter in the garage for insurance.. and left the plant out over the winter. We had a pretty cold winter by our standards with a few night in getting in the 20s. I covered it with a light frost cloth and that was it. The plant never lost a leaf, and when i removed the cloth once the cold spell was gone, it was pushing a leaf already. I cant speak to fruiting time as its still a small plant, but I would recommend it based on its managable size and cold tolerance. The pup that i grew in the garage under a light did great as well and is now planted out, so you could always overwinter the plant in a semi conditioned space.

Re: Fruiting Bananas in North Alabama
 

I now have a new Dwarf Cavendish, and Dwarf NamWa, and ordered a Blue Java. I also have 2 of the first ones I ordered years ago coming up. I don't know what they are. They are 2 of these.
Musa Ice Cream "Blue Java" Banana
Musa Manzano "apple banana" fingers
Musa Double Mahoi Banana
If I get pups I will plant them in a pot.

The Gross Michael is also growing and put out 5 pups so far and looks like more are coming, I sold 4.

Re: Fruiting Bananas in North Alabama
 

I would recommend dwarf Orinoco or dwarf Brazilian. The dwarf namwa should do great also. With dwarf Orinoco the min temp you need to shoot for is about 26f.

Good luck. Also remember do not water unless you see growth! A lot of people think the cold killed them when it was actually overwatering.