Good companion plants for bananas
 

What are some good plants that bananas will coexist with? Do any for example Cannas transmit diseases to Bananas?

Re: Good companion plants for bananas
 

I've been reading about sweet potatoes, lemon grass and taro. (I planted sweet potatoes beside mine before I read anything and everyone is happy.) I have read that tomatoes and other veggies work well; they may not be happy with shade. I don't know so I"m watching this thread.

Re: Good companion plants for bananas
 

i live in idaho and its not too humid here so for the summer time im putting tons of ivey and water in pots on the ground and during the day it will soak up all that water and the ivey helps keep the humidty up. though ill still have to water twice a day :P

Re: Good companion plants for bananas
 

I have Cannas beside mine and they look really good, especially the yellow ones. I thought about getting different kinds of gingers as well. I bought some Pink China elephant ears that are hardy to zone 6, maybe 5 with lots of mulch ( supposed to be the hardiest elephant ear there is) but kinda wondering if they might push the bananas around. I have three plants in small pots, and they have already made 3 more baby plants in 1 week. I might wait to put them around the Bananas when the Bananas are much, much taller.:08:

Re: Good companion plants for bananas
 

Figs, peaches, plums, sugar cane, grapefruit, che, pecans, limes, passion fruit, boysenberries, cherimoya, coffee, etc.

Re: Good companion plants for bananas
 

My tomato's went buck wild, Cayenne pepper is doing awesome, and cucumbers are delivering these days.. :^)

Re: Good companion plants for bananas
 

I'm going to be growing legumes (beans, peas, etc.) underneath my bananas this winter. It should both provide a small degree of cold protection and enrich the soil with more nitrogen. The campus garden manager also planted squash underneath my Namwah and they got along very well.

Re: Good companion plants for bananas
 

Good idea with the nitrogen fixing beans, I bet there are ornamental beans of some sort that would look good under them.

Re: Good companion plants for bananas
 

Maybe some Scarlett runner beans like this as long as they didn't smother the banana plant.

Re: Good companion plants for bananas
 

My grandmother was a full blood Cherokee, and she told me her grandfather used to grow beans on corn as a trellis as a space saver. They would probably stick to the pseudostem because the leaves are too floppy.

Re: Good companion plants for bananas
 

Careful with those canna. I was growning tons if them around my bananas and unless you have a very vigorous plant they will compete for nutrients. After I ripped them out it was amazing how much faster my bananas started growing.

Re: Good companion plants for bananas
 

My bananas are in black landscape containers and my companion plant of choice is Oxalis aka Shamrock.
It comes in two leaf colors green and purple has nice flowers and is edible.
The plant does a good job of hiding the containers
It is an inexpensive fast grower, does not seem to compete with the banana and goes DORMANT when I overwinter them and the root is very resilient.

Re: Good companion plants for bananas
 

What are about strawberry as a ground cover?

I ordered 25 plants, I just have space for about 10 of them.

Re: Good companion plants for bananas
 

Damn, all in the same 30 gal pot lol

I like dat me:}

Re: Good companion plants for bananas
 

I'm sure you can put them in hanging baskets too.. :^)

Re: Good companion plants for bananas
 

Why not strawberries? They're not heavy feeders and don't have deep roots. I assume you'd mulch them which benefit your bananas; the plants themselves would act as a living mulch IMO. And they produce fruit a lot faster! ;)

Re: Good companion plants for bananas
 

Bamboo!






(Sorry for the crappy pics)

Re: Good companion plants for bananas
 

I plant tapioca, yucca root, taro, ginger and papaya next to my bananas. Since this is the tropics, everything grows year round. My 14 foot dwarf bananas are gigantic so I don't think there any nutrient issues.

All the plants get watered automatically twice a day and get a regular diet of horse manure compost and zoo compost.

Re: Good companion plants for bananas
 

I planted some Golden Bamboo, and I am going to plant my Mekong giant by it next year. I'm glad I have a big yard lol.

Re: Good companion plants for bananas
 

I hear bamboo can be extremely difficult to manage and get rid of. I'm sticking to edible cover crops. :ha: