AlyssaK

So, basically at some point I want to get a Mahoi (I've never grown bananas before), but I don't really know anything about how to properly raise bananas, and specifically this type. There's also not that much coherent info out there on the interwebs...uh...so, can anyone tell me some info? These are probably some dumb questions but I don't want to end up killing a plant.

1. What exactly do you do for each stage of its life? (Like, step by step how do I take care of it? What type of maintenece?)
2. How long does it live?
3. Does this kind have those really big seeds inside like some have?
3. How risky is it to cut off a..."pup" I guess they're called? (Like, how easily can something go wrong?)
4. Can someone explain all the vocab to me??
5. What is different about keeping it in a container?
6. What kind of soil?
7. Does it need any sort of cross a pollination or can I just have a single plant?
8. How does Mahoi's compare to commercial store-bought bananas?

I will probably have more questions later. I'm sorry I'm not very edumacated in this stuff. :(

Abnshrek

Better off to start with an Orinoco, Raja Puri, or a D. Namwah or all of them, before you dive into not cold tolerant types.. :^)

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AlyssaK

But the catalog I was looking at didn't have those. :/ And what exactly defines "not cold tolerant"? I'm guessing maybe under 65 F would be where you start to worry?

Abnshrek

If your going to Dive-in grow Veinte Cohol you have a better chance of collecting fruit in your 2nd or 3rd year.. :^)

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AlyssaK

The catalog doesn't have that kind either. Of course either way, my general questions still remain unanswered...ah life.

AlyssaK

Thanks anyway

Lau

What catalog are you looking at? Caveat Emptor Buyer Beware. You don't always get what you order from the catalog. I have ordered a lot of Bananas Plants from online catalogs and by the time the bananas plants get large enough to tell the different characteristics of the plant you realize you did not get what you ordered.

I would start with a Namva or Namwa. Easy to grow and produces bananas each year. Try to get a plant from a neighbor you might even get to try some bananas.

Good Luck

AlyssaK

It was one I got in the mail. Ugh. Nobody believes in me. You all are probably just trying to sell me your own so you can scam me. Maybe I'll just reconsider! Good grief I wasn't asking to be everyone's best friend. All I needed was info so I can be sent on my way. Still no one had said anything about how to raise ANY frikin variety! Well I guess, like everything else in life, I am left on my own. Oh well.

boffcheck

Ok i try to give some informations to you since we are in a close growzone...

Order it, pot it in a pot and let it grow but keep it warm. If its getting too cold (below ~60) take it inside or protect it on the outside to prevent damage. Thats pretty much it.. watering and fertelizer as you can found in this forum.

Thats easy... even for you to find... It lives till it blooms or it get killed before that. Once it flowers a bananas life comes to its end but it gets several pups so allways new plants

ahm look here Musa Double (Mahoi) is a cavendish varity so I'd suppose it has no seeds at all but i never had them.

Second point 3?

If you cut it with the rusty chainsaw from last movie experience many things could happen.. Ok jokes gone.. don't worry that much about what could happen just try things with your banana they excuse most of your mistakes except of too much water

Oh boy thats a life-long-task.. Get to Main Banana Discussion and pick some posts and read them.. most of the terms are selfexplaining.. if not: google/yahoo/bing/whatever should be helpfull.

Bananas will stay smaller need less water/fertelizer. They are less cold hardy aaand so on.. BUT they are moovable without digging them up.

Well there is not much you can do wrong. You can get some infos here

Many bananas are sterile. So no work for you there. The best thing about Bananas is: There are allways (correct me if im wrong guys) male and female flowers.. so bees and flowers.. you know the rest.

Own-grown > store bought means if you get your hands ond Mahoi from the store they will taste for you in a way god damn am i realy trying to do this... Try it yourself if it can compare with store bought bananas. Its a cavendish varity so it tastes better if you grow it yourself. (And taste differs a lot in the heads of people)


And please take no offense from this post..


As I read this:
I wasn't sure if I should give an answer at all.. but i still hope you got some informations from it.

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I'm not nuts! I'm Bananas!

AlyssaK

Thanks. It helps. Sorry for the drama.

crazy banana

You came to the right place for all banana plant related questions. All the info is here and we can teach you "how to fish" but you are the one who has to fish.
Please take no offense, but I would highly recommend you read through the various threads and posts here first to get a basic idea on how to grow banana plants and to learn about the different varieties. The info you will find there will be much more detailed than a short cut answer to your post.
Abnshrek has given you a very solid advice on cultivars which possibly will set up any beginner for success and I can certainly second the Namwah suggestion. Go to the bananas.org Wiki for descriptions of the different varieties. The Wiki also has a soil, fertilizer and morphology section.
After reading through the various threads and posts, you will soon find out, that many of us have been scammed by "mail order" nurseries selling mis-labeled plants, small tissue cultured plants etc. I personally would always buy a nice size pup from a knowledgeable bananas.org member first before considering a questionable catalog offer, but that is of course just my personal preference. If you feel that Double Mahoi from your particular catalog is the way to go, go for it. I think it certainly is an interesting plant, but it would not be my first (second, third..) choice to grow in my climate zone and I am supposed to be even 10 compared to your growing zone 8.
Happy reading.

AlyssaK

OK sorry a couple more questions though, it is Raintree Nursery I was looking at. Has anyone had trouble with them? (I'm getting the vibe that ALL nurseries are evil!)
And which varieties specifically have edible flowers?
By the way the wiki, at least for that page, has mostly blanks that are not filled out yet. How is it supposed to help me if not all the info is there? The whole reason I posted was because I couldn't find one place that had everything laid out in one place.

cincinnana

So..... What kind of plant do you want.
And lets go from there....
Most of the questions you have asked are found on the web or You tube....and most are very accurate...
I could answer all your questions ...... But all you have to do is SIRI each one....and you will get a broader more accurate response.

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AlyssaK

Because EVERYONE has Siri...
And I have searched the internet countless times already. The only reason I'm here is because I can't find coherent information, its either too vague or its conflicting with other sites. Well it seems people want to me to be left in the dark. I guess it's all trial and error then.

cincinnana

SIRI says.."..
You cannot grow banana plants out doors year round in your zone.
All flowers are edible.....
The plant you mentioned will not grow outdoors in your zone...you will have to bring it indoors and take it out doors in the spring.
The plant in question will not taste any better than anything you can get in the store for the cost.
And there is a snowballs chance in hell that it will flower where you are at.
Many times it is more cost effective to go to the specialty mart and buy the stuff you want.....example....flowers 1.80lb.
You can also buy this online....which is kinda cool.

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AlyssaK

Grow lights...?
Plus I have already been growing other "impossible-for-my-area" plants. I baby them and make sure they get what they need. I know it's obvious that I will bring it in when it gets cooler. And I'm not even getting yhid one til the spring anyway.
I know it's going to be a challenge. I get that. But this is a challenge I'm willing to take, and it's something I need to do. Being that I will be graduating in a few months and getting out in the "real world", I'm not going to have money for everything, but I can and will grow most of my food. This is a life goal here, something I will continue to do hopefully forever. i want to be semi-self-sufficient. If that makes sense.
And I'm used to being beat down and discouraged. It's not going to stop me.
Why would it not flower? Nutrients? Easy to get. Light? Harder but doable with grow lights. Space? A reeeeally big container (on a wheeled platform of course) will do, I think. Heat? Easily doable. I don't see what the problem is. Pests and disease are something I gotta watch out for, but again I don't see why it's such a hardship. I wasn't asking IF I could do it, I was asking HOW do I do it.
Also in searching the internet I have found websites that say some of the flowers are not edible. See the inconsistency I face?
So idk.

boffcheck

Ok i try to answer here. Just give it a try if you allready don't get discouraged by anything. How it is done? Just try it! Its a plant. You have to do not much! Noone can tell you what EXACTLY you have to do. Get the plant you want search the web and this Forum about all you need and go for it. But please stop the Drama and get the f**ing light on your topic glowing on your own!

The cance to flower is so little because it will take so many time for a Banana to grow tall in our Zone and during this time it could die of any reason. But simply try it by pretending a tropical climate. And no i dont know what you need for that but google does. If you need Infos about growlight look for dutch weed growers they are professionals in growlights. Count with thousands of $ and € for that Equipment.

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I'm not nuts! I'm Bananas!

geissene

Becoming semi-self sufficient would be a remarkable accomplishment. I'd love to do that myself. If it was easy and practical, everybody would be doing it. If only my day job didn't get in the way....

I'm growing bananas and figs as a 'hobby' but its more of a financial loss. The large pots, fertilizer, soil, and grow lights have cost me a pretty penny. I'll probably never recover my initial investment and certainly can't compete with store prices. I also don't want a house full of plants in the winter time so that sort of limits what I grow here.

The good news is plants are relatively cheap so you can experiment and try different things.

Good luck in whatever you try!

crazy banana

OK, I have checked the nursery you have mentioned and it does not give you any choices. They only offer the "Double Mahoii" and the Basjoo. The Basjoo is a cold hardy plant but does not produce edible fruit. There is a chance that the Mahoii will fruit for you, but for the already mentioned reasons the Mahoii might not be worth while to grow in your zone.
Your intention of "babying" your plant is a good one and simply a MUST for a banana plant.
Putting it outside during the summer is a very good idea. The challenge will be your winter climate. As soon as the temperature drops below 55F You need to be on alert. Now the size of your plant will matter: if you do have a tall greenhouse with the ability to put in some source for warmth, you can pretty much try to grow any variety. The p-stem height will range between 6' to 20' from Namwah to Saba (add another 3' with leaves). Next challenge you might encounter is that if you ever get a flower/fruit bunch to get it to fill in and ripen properly. The average time to do that in my zone 10 is six month ( from the moment you see the first fruit)
There are varieties that are supposed to be smaller, can be grown in 40+ Gallon sized containers, maybe a Veinte Cohol, but I have no experience with it.
In regards of your question about the edible inflorescence: I have Asians coming to my house asking for the Namwah ones. Apparently those are supposed to be delicious, never tried it myself.
Not all nurseries are evil at all, you may just have to check other options to obtain a good plant. If you have read the bananas.org forum posts, you will know by now which ones to avoid religiously. One thing to keep in mind when buying a banana plant via catalog is to acknowledge, that it will most likely be a small tissue cultured plant that will have to grow root and corm mass ( tough to get pups instead of TC's, because each state has its own import laws to avoid the spread of diseases) and that will also add time and planning on how to treat your plant.
There is no reason to be discouraged if you are willing to take all these things into consideration. If you get it to work for you, you will be able to contribute a lot of information to this forum and encourage other growers to do the same more than we can encourage you at this moment. Go for it, best of luck!

cincinnana

Perspective of idea...Costs involved.
Quality plant that will fruit in your area<
dwarf cavendish 20.00
Plant materials. pot ,soil less mix ,fertilizers...25.00
Hydroponic lighting....250....1500.00.
Youtube videos can help you here.....It has me.
Cost to maintain and grow the plant over the winter....45.00+
Actual cost of a single banana grown under the conditions which I/you are willing to provide IF they fruited and have decided to grow....about 40.00 per banana.
Remember your ceilings will need to be 8-15 feet tall
Sooooo......



Lets change that to zone 10+..... grown outside.
plant ....20.00
fert 20.00-
light 00.00
water 2.00
cost per banana at a much higher yield...+-.30 each.
This is not a scientific answer I know .....but it is a real answer.



Keep reading your resources.....your doing good..
Take what you want from them....you stated that you are a zone pusher .....now push it!!!!
A true gardener knows what to take and ignore the rest......like you/me.

Buy your plants from this site if possible in the spring....you will get a bigger/better plant with an accurate heritage.

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