shimmy

Hi! I'm new to this forum, and new to growing bananas, and new to growing anything. I have this dwarf banana tree that you see below, I'm not sure what kind it is. It bloomed a few times, but the last 2 times it never gave me bananas that I could eat. Most likely because I have no idea what I'm doing. Is it okay that the times turned black and dry at the ends?, anything that I need to do? It's been raining a lot here for the last 2 weeks, so it should be getting enough water.

cherokee_greg

Wow looking good were you from ?welcome

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Greg zone 9 Fresno,CA
http://gardenjot.com/garden/view/1980/Gregs-Banana-Farm

shimmy

I'm in South Florida, so they look good? How will I know when they are ready? I have never seen any turn yellow.

ron_mcb

i will just give you a quick tip.i know everyone else will ad a spin on this..
just get a pair of clippers/scissors and clean up. keep the dry leaves trimmed off the plant,and remove the spent flowers from the fruit as a p.m. that blackening on the fingers is probably caused by a bacterial infection. i wipe all of the fingers down with alcohol and a paper towel when i remove my flowers or do DE-belling. just be careful and take your time.

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naw mek smaddi ditate fi yuh. naw wan gwan a pawty yuh naggo.

shimmy

Hi, thanks but can u translate this for a newbie

"remove the spent flowers from the fruit as a p.m."

I'm lost, what part is the spent flower, and what is p.m.? Thank You!

ron_mcb

spent flower= a flower that has dried and withered.
p.m.= preventative maintenance

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naw mek smaddi ditate fi yuh. naw wan gwan a pawty yuh naggo.

shimmy

okay got it. Thanks!

raygrogan

I think your plants look a little deficient in nitrogen. They are what I call "barkie", which happens when the growing P-stem is not getting bigger in diameter and popping off the old petioles.

sunfish

You just need to give them a little fertilizer ad water it in. Make sure you water them durig your dry season. And follow Ron's advice

sunfish

Members Methods

The Flying Dutchman: Dried Cow Manure and once in a week a liquid fertilizer(7+4+6)
MediaHound: I make a compost mixture with surplus material from the kitchen combined with most all organic waste from the yard. I'm now using use three UCT9.5 compost bins. I also use a variety of packaged commercial fertilizer and micronutrients. Seaweed, liquid fish, composted manure, etc. MediaHound 09:46, 24 April 2007 (EDT)
Patty in Wisc: Tomato food 18+18+21 because it has more K.
Pitangadiego: Triple 16 is cheap and effective
Chong: I find that since bananas are heavy Potassium feeders, any fertilizer that has the K component the highest, the N second, and P the least, would be advantageous since the majority of the banana make-up is Potassium. In any case, I don't think that the "P" component should ever exceed the "K". recommanded-15+10+30 or 15+8+27 E.g.
Joe Real: I use 6+27+27 XB with minors from BEST fertilizer brand. It achieves a nice balance of growth, pup and fruit production.
momoese: I use loads of steer and chicken manure as well as worm castings from my own red wigglers that have taken over the garden. I also use homemade compost and EB-Stone organic plant food 2-3 times a year.
Frankallan: I use aged rabbit manure
Rmplmnz: Compost tea wich is more or less a liquid version of compost. You take your solid compost, and soak it in water and let the mixture sit around for a few hours or a few days. Then you pour the liquid through a screen, or through cheesecloth or something similar to strain out the solid material into a bucket. What you have then is compost tea. Compost tea is great, because it is a very mild, organic liquid fertilizer that provides beneficial live organisms that improve the soil where you use it. It doesn't burn plants like store bought fertilizers can.If you can not find any of the above dump a bag of cow manure in the trash can and fill with water..
Bananimal: I use a custom fertilizer blend of 6-2-12 with minors. And especially important - I apply fert monthly. Up to 3 pounds when the plants are bigger and show real vigor.
FunSoCalTiger: I use a balanced granular slow-release such as Dynamite 13-13-13, Osmocote 14-14-14, Vigoro 17-17-17 or MiracleGro 10-10-10 every couple months or so and at planting. I also use any of several water soluable mixtures at 1-2 times the recommended doseage/frequency such as the balanced Peters Professional or MiracleGro Select 20-20-20 or the MiracleGro Tomato Food 18-18-21 (has slightly more K and also has some Magnesium). I also supplement with Epsom Salt each week to boost the Magnesium content at the rate of 1-2 teaspoon per gallon.
Nanaman: I use about 50% Jungle Growth potting mix, 40% composted cow manure, and about 10% added vermiculite, plus a few handfuls of Pre Plant Plus 7-5-7 organic fert. I fertilize about once a month with whatever I have on hand at the time, some times palm fert., some times 10-10-10, miracle grow, etc... I water them every day, sometimes twice a day if its really hot, which it usually is. In colder climates this mix may hold too.
Richard: 5 lbs of water-soluble 20-5-30 with micronutrients per maturing plant in the ground per year, applied monthly during the growing season.
[edit]Pictures


(credit the flying dutchman)