Growing bananas in the Shade
 

A couple of years ago when I had too many Orinoco pups I planted several in dense shade to see what would happen. One is now pushing a bloom so I will find out this year. If it produces and matures fruit that would be awesome.

Re: Growing bananas in the Shade
 

Some of mine are also growing in the shade. They are slower but seem to be going strong. Far from flowering yet though. I plan to eventually open up their southern side so that they can get some sun during the morning hours.

Looking forward to seeing yours and how they produce! :)

Re: Growing bananas in the Shade
 

These are under are really dense and high Live Oak canopy. Other than just an occasional glimmer of the Sun they get no Sun whatsoever. I'll try to measure the trunk this morning and see what diameter and height it is. I have several mats in full Sun so we can compare them against each other. In shade it has grown slower than the ones in Sun but the bonus point is that it has not received any frost damage for two Winters.

Re: Growing bananas in the Shade
 

I have see bananas growing in the deepest part of the jungle in costa rica,spent couple of years there..was walking way out somewhere and came up on a big mat..no sun or VERRY little dapple light ever reached them..15 ft plus tall big bunches..how long they were growing there I could not say but they were not tended by anyone true wild mat,no sun just plenty of rain..

Re: Growing bananas in the Shade
 

Hummmm...Intresting... idea:}

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Re: Growing bananas in the Shade
 

Ok I went and measured it 10' 5" to the bloom exiting the P-stem. The trunk was 8" in diameter. The height is comparable to several other Sun living Orinocos but most of the Sun living ones had trunk diameters closer to twelve to fourteen inches.

Re: Growing bananas in the Shade
 

My unknown plant is in partial shade, for now at least. But it has a lot more space in the ground than my other plants. We'll see how it does.

Re: Growing bananas in the Shade
 

Many of my bananas thrive in the shade.
I grow for foliage only... because my growing season is so short, however I might have an Orinoco ready to pop.:)
I grow the plants for the awesome accent in my zone 5-6 jungle.

Re: Growing bananas in the Shade
 

My Orinoco's are growing in 3-4 hours of sunlight/day. They were planted as large pups last fall, went through the winter 8b and three of them have flowered. Not a lot of bananas. The ones in the heaviest shade have about 8 to 10 bananas, the one getting the most sun and attention(fish tank water) has 30 bananas.
Anyone have Cichlids? My banana loves our cichlid fish tank water. It has Epsom salt with a little sea salt, and baking soda and of course a healthy dose of fish poo. :lurk:

one of our Lake Malawi "Haps" Tramitichromis Intermedius or Lethrinops Intermedius


RECENTLY LEARNED - Salinity: Banana plants do not grow or fruit well in saline soils. Symptoms of salt damage include yellowing and death of the leaf margins and thin, deformed fruit. So the fact that I flushed my cicihlid tank water out on my banana plant 50 gallons at a time with about two to three teaspoons of sea salt in it was obviously not enough to poison my bananas, but I probably need to watch the salt!

Re: Growing bananas in the Shade
 

Well I now have a second mat in the dense shade with a bloom showing. This may work out well. Just the fact that they are blooming is enough for me to grow them as ornamentals in my shaded areas. As soon as I get my camera back I will post some pictures.

Re: Growing bananas in the Shade
 

Long overdue update!

The bananas did not ripen before a storm blew them over and the Winters of 13/14 and 14/15 were brutal

BUT

the mat survived and is growing. I'll report if I get a bloom this season. Good possibility since we had a mild Winter.

I have a Saba in light shade that has produced a bloom with one hand so far. Many large p-stems that should bloom this year by end of June. Could be a great year!

Re: Growing bananas in the Shade
 

Thank you for the update. :) I found this post yesterday while searching for the word shade. I was thinking about moving my dwarf cavendish to a shady spot and was trying to get a feel for whether it could handle it or not. So these responses were helpful to read.

Re: Growing bananas in the Shade
 

Darkman, good to see your post. Those Saba are tasty.

Re: Growing bananas in the Shade
 

I have dwarf orinoco and another unknown dwarf both in the shade of huge black olive trees. The growth is slowed as is fruiting but both fruit every year.