Originally Posted by sirdoofus

Extremely creative, big kudos for that. I hope it works!

Originally Posted by n8-r

Thanks, yeah it will be interesting, and I also wonder how the roots will do long term. My plan is to grow 3 plants per barrel at different stages, only one fruiting at a time, and heavily water and fertilize appropriately. Eventually, I plan to upscale this and connect multiple barrels so its one long huge soil mass tube that all the plants can have root access, and a total volume of 200-300 gal or more to try and mimic being in the ground a little better. With such a heavy setup I'll need to build a sturdy frame and roll the barrels with a winch, but this could be really fun to see what's possible.

Originally Posted by beam2050

for me when they grow crooked, [which they will do it with a quickness] straightening them back seems to take a lot out of them. they don't seem want to grow good again. i just plant them in the ground bent.

Originally Posted by Jeff zone 8 N.C.

Have you thought about putting a lever on the barrel end (like maybe a 2x4) to ease the rolling of the barrel.

Originally Posted by beam2050

for me when they grow crooked, [which they will do it with a quickness] straightening them back seems to take a lot out of them. they don't seem want to grow good again. i just plant them in the ground bent.

Originally Posted by n8-r

As expected, the Banana plant did start to lift off the oak stump about an inch, and slowly trying to now grow upward, so I put a retaining strap on it that's attached to a cinder block. We'll see how this does. I'll monitor how the strap effects the Pstem and reposition it as necessary.

For anyone interested, I'm documenting this also on Instagram.

https://www.instagram.com/horizontal...ExYjZkNGI0OA==

Originally Posted by Foxhound

I was thinking about this experiment earlier, and in theory, if its used for cold nights, in theory the bending growth should be very minimal if you tilt it back upright once the sun comes up.

Or... and hear me out,

You make ANOTHER box on the OTHER side, and rotate the sides it flips to every night.

More work, but definitely intresting because you might end up getting a wavey banana plant.

Great progress so far, we're all cheering you on!

Originally Posted by n8-r

Thanks Foxhound! That's actually a really good point , one could definitely just use this rolling barrel system for cold nights. It took almost 3 days before I noticed the pstem start to lift up about an inch.

I like your idea, and if a swivel base was put underneath the barrel, a second box wouldn't be necessary because once the plant was upright, the barrel could just be rotated 180 deg in about 1 sec, and then when you rolled it back down, the opposite side of the pstem would be facing down.

I think I will build a swivel to put under the barrel that way I can effortlessly rotate it 360 deg when its upright.

Originally Posted by Jeff zone 8 N.C.

Interesting that you plant them that way. I had not noticed a slow down after planting them upright again but I will have to look for that next time one of mine bends. Do the ones, planted out bent, produce fruit well after that?

Originally Posted by n8-r

Interesting.....are you disturbing the roots when you try and straighten them, by taking it out of the pot and then replanting it straight? If so, I would suspect it's the disturbance to the roots that is setting the growth back.....I'm thinking that having a rolling barrel so that the roots are never disturbed should work well, and I also plan to anchor downthe Pstem so it can grow crooked in the first place....all experimental and theory at this point so I'll see what happens!

Originally Posted by beam2050

no issues growing, but i am sorta like you a little to far north to get many varieties to fruit.

however planting an extremely bent one might make it produce another corm at the bend.



to straighten them i just set the pot upright. far better to just plant them upright in the ground. and what most everybody is thinking is that the banana will straighten at the bend, it will not, it will bend again above the bend. creating a relaxed z bend. now a banana sends the new leaf straight up the p-stem. when you create a z bend the corm gets stressed slowing the plant down and make the corm pup to compensate.

go to cinncinana's pics on one of his posts, he is very successful with bananas in pots. and he has some blow down and bend, i call them ohioleaners

Originally Posted by n8-r

I'm in Banana Grow zone 6a and have this idea I thought of that I'm trying....not sure if it's been done before. I'm 99.9% positive it will work even though there may be some minor tweaks to work out.

The jist of the idea is to cut an opening in the side of a plastic 55 gal barrel so that the Banana can be grown vertically upright during the warm season and then rolled 90 deg to then grow horizontal to the ground in a simple low profile greenhouse when cool weather arrives. When Winter arrives, simply roll the Banana plant and barrel 90 deg so the Banana is horizontal with the ground and a few inches off the ground. Now put a bunch of straw bales all around it or something similar form of insulation, and maybe even stack them 2 bales high.

Now you can make a simple flat greenhouse frame with 2 layers of clear plastic and cover the whole thing. It probably will need a small vent hole with screen or foam to allow a little air circulation but not too much. In effect, this idea will create a low profile greenhouse that allows you to roll the Banana horizontally and continue growing it horizontally in the shoulder months. Then maybe for 2 or 3 months during the coldest part of the Winter, completely cover the top clear greenhouse cover with more insulation and allow the plant to go dormant.

When , the worst of Winter is over, expose the clear top so sunlight enters the greenhouse and Mr.Banana starts growing again. Then when the last frost nears, remove the clear cover, and roll the Banana plant back upright to resume normal growth up vertically until next Winter.

To make the rolling of the barrel easier, I'll be using a hand crank winch or maybe even a small electric winch. Anyway, this is the basic idea and I'll post more details and pics here as I progress. For efficiency of space, I'll be having barrels on both ends opposite of each other so one can roll horizontal, and then the other roll down over top of the other one. Sorry if this is a bit confusing...I'll post pics which will help it all make sense.

I think this may be a way for people in colder climates as low as zone 5 and 6 to have around a 9 month Banana growing season. Super excited about this idea!

Originally Posted by beam2050

go to cinncinana's pics on one of his posts, he is very successful with bananas in pots. and he has some blow down and bend, i call them ohioleaners

Originally Posted by PR-Giants

There's a member from Cincinnati that has some photos of a very efficient technique that's basically a Master Class on "Mass Macropropagation".

Originally Posted by PR-Giants

Your idea works great when in the direct path of a major hurricane and I've only had 3 direct hits from major hurricanes over the past 60 years but there are much easier solutions to extreme high winds. After Hurricane Maria President Trump's helicopter circled my farm many times because they had to be shocked that there was nearly no damage to any of the banana plants on our farm while the neighboring farms were leveled.

The reason it works well for major hurricanes is that hurricanes normally pass in less than 24 hours and the plants can be stood back up quickly before any 'Growing Point' changes become permanent.

Pseudostem means fake stem and is not where the new growth is produced.

Once it's understood that it's the 'Growing Point' that grows away from gravity it's easier to understand what happens when a banana plant is laid parallel to the ground for a prolonged period of time. If the plant is small the 'Growing Point' can move forward quickly enough for it and the pseudostem to curve upwards. If the plant is large the 'Growing Point' will still curve upward but because the pseudostem is too large and will resist being curved the 'Growing Point' will eventually produce enough pressure to split the pseudostem and the 'Growing Point' will pop out the side of the pseudostem.

Originally Posted by n8-r

Could still also be useful for keeping your banana rack growing into the winter if it hasnt ripened yet...once the flower has emerged, and the Bananas formed, I imagine the growth point no longer grows so from then on the Banana could be in the Horizontal position to finish the fruit to harvest. But then all the new pups would start to grow in the new upright orientation.....

Originally Posted by PR-Giants

Good points.

When the 'Growing Point' emerges from the top of a mature pseudostem it's often referred to as the flower and after the fruit are formed it's referred to as the male bud.

If it's a Horn type variety the growth point no longer grows after the last hand of fruit is produced.

If it's a False-horn type variety the growth point no longer grows around a week or so after the last hand of fruit is produced.

If it's a French type variety the growth point continues growing and referred to as the male bud.

Here's a photo of some French type male buds.