fish2026

Ok I havent been reading the forum a long time. I found a bunch of banana trees in a swamp several years ago and convinced my (then) girlfriend to help dig them up and plant them in my yard. She moved far away and my bananas are all clumped up together with tall grass- its like Jurasic Park. I hired (bought) a rabbit and contracted him to eat all the grass but he prefered flowers and waiting home for me to bring goodies from salad bars I frequented. He has moved on as well. Ihave two children however they are less reliable than the rabbit was although almost as cute.

So-- what do i do specifically? Do I cut plants from the bottom that are a few feet tall and plant them somewhere else? I do try to remove the dense grass at times, and the hordes of mosquitos hiding there waiting for me are quite supportive of this foolishness.

Finding another girlfriend or rabbit is currently out of the question. My pet possums are no help as they prefer salmon steak with a bit of lemon.

I have acquired land on a lake for a wildlife refuge ( anyone surprised?lol) and will put bananas there too. I thought of buying several thousand seeds and rather than go through germination - plant them all in the ground. Even a 5% success rate would be fine.

Any ideas?

Steve - Rockport Texas

momoese

Buy a goat and your problem with weeds and grass will be gone.

fish2026

Is this the best advice I can get on here?!

A goat would eat the flowers too... and probably my kids as well.

LOL- thanks anyway

the flying dutchman

You have to tie the goat with a rope I think so he can walk in circles.

Ron

MediaHound

lol

Wildlife refuge south Texas

You should get some trays of tissue cultured bananas and spend a day out there popping them in the ground around the lake.

The thread on splitting the pups off the mother plants is here, if you would like the steps and suggestions:
Time to separate the pups for the Spring

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fish2026

The tutorial was excellent even if it did put the goat idea out of business.

fish2026

Are those tissue samples - such as AgriStarts sell so viable that one can go around planting them as is and most will live? Thrive?

I wonder because one tissue sample costs about as much as 15 seeds. If 15 seeds were dropped into 3/4" holes in moist earth as opposed to one tissue sample which would have a better success rate?

MediaHound

Yes they are extremely hardy and should most all survive.
The difference when you compare them with your seed idea is that you can get many types of banana plants as opposed to some seedy non-edible type.

Wouldn't you rather have 30 or whatnot different types and flavors of bananas versus one type that chips your teeth?

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fish2026

You are correct and earier this week aside from 300 seeds I ordered one tray each of

African Rhino, Ice Cream, Monkey Fingers,Red Inholene, and Cordaba. They didnt have many varieties in stock.

My plan is to let them sit in my greenhouse of sorts - water them and later transplant them - I think at 6 inches into bigger pots. Some will be planted around my house and then next year I will do some clearing and plant whats left at the wildlife area. The problem with the wildlife area is aside from the lake there is no reliable water source. I have to depend on 22" rain per year and its not uniform. There's only so much I can do at a time or I will surely go broke.

bigdog

Steve,

The problem with direct-sowing Musa seeds is that you are not in a tropical area. Some seeds take a while to germinate, so say you planted some out tomorrow; They might all germinate in August (if you are lucky), and only have a couple of months of growing season left to accumulate enough of a corm to survive the winter. Not a very likely scenario for a Musa of any species. You have a much better chance of starting them in flats or compots, potting them up individually and growing them on until next Spring to plant outside.

With those TC plantlets, you should grow them in pots and water and fertilize them well for a month or two before setting them in the ground, IMHO. Small plantlets are susceptible to trampling, getting eaten, etc. Especially in a wildlife refuge! Sounds like a fun project though. Good luck with it!

Frank

MediaHound

Steve, that sounds wonderful!

way to go!

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