MICHAELGRANT

Hi all,

I live in Palm City, Florida (near Stuart) and would like to plant bananas along my back fence to block out our neighbors two story house. Which species grows the tallest the fastest?

Thanks,

Michael

momoese

Even after they reach the desired height there will still be areas that you can see through. I'd recommend Bamboo for a screen instead. I would imagine Bamboo would hold up to the winds better and you never have to cut it down like you do bananas after they fruit.

Dalmatiansoap

Hey Bamboo live fence! Great idea. Is Bamboo fast grower? How do U plant it?

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MICHAELGRANT

Thank you for the replies. For me, bamboo is not an option, I need to stick with bananas. Which species will provide the most foliage cover? Doesn't need to be sold, just something to break up the big house and their kids looking into my living room.

lorax

I'd go with giant plantains, personally. They go to about 20' and have nice, spreading canopies. Fairly fast growers above Z9, too. If you plant a full row, they'll give each other wind resistance.

Tog Tan

OMG Beth! What giant plantains are those? They originated here and they don't get over 8ft in p-stem and they are skinny compared to the normal Pisang. I am curious, names please?

Michael, well, something easier for you locate, maybe some Saba's which are pretty good eating or you want an easy to get species, the Musa balbisiana.

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lorax

Those would be the giant plantains grown all down the coast of Ecuador, Tog. They get friggin huge, both height and girth-wise, and then they throw 5 to 7 big big hands of super big fruit. They're called 'Platano Gigante' or 'Platano Macho' here.

Tog Tan

I must really try to get them here to scare the crap out of the locals and the Thais. The Pisang Lang here gets approx 5 hands of fruits. Each fruit weighs about 1 kg each. Slender plant at about 8ft p-stem. This is the commercial version of the famed Pisang Tanduk from which all the plantains came from. It only bears 1 hand of 3 huge fruits well over 1kg in weight each. This is an obsolete heirloom cultivation which I must locate!

Sorry Michael for side tracking!

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Tog Tan has sadly suddenly passed away 6/16/09. We will miss you Tog Tan.

momoese

I never give much thought to where everyone is even though I realize you are all over the place, but look at this thread!

Florida
Los Angeles
Croatia
Ecuador
Malaysia

That's pretty cool!

Dalmatiansoap

Yes, that is what I allways talk about. All over globe spirit!

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just j

might want to try ensetes they grow super fast and u can change it up a little put a maurelli a ventricosum a glaucum and keep it going like that will make a nice colorful wall all upright leaves i think i might do this lol

proletariatcsp

I have to agree with Just-J, probably the best screen and longest lasting. If, however, you want bananas for later fruit you will have to wait at least 12 months before they are tall enough to block the view from the neighbor. After fruiting the new pups will take over in their place, and you will be without privacy for a few months until they grow taller. If you buy a variety that is too tall, it will not provide much privacy at all.

Bird of paradise is a really good choice, and they look very similar to bananas. Keep in mind, nearly anything you choose may or may not last through winter. Birds are very cold hardy and many bananas are not. Bamboo was also a really good choice and would provide an extremely dense screen that you cannot see through. Some bamboo is very fast growing and with all the clumping varieties you will not have to worry about it spreading under the fence to the neighbors side. Most bamboo are cold hardy but not all tolerate direct sun. There are a few species that will withstand hurricane force wind and grow to 50+ feet.

Bananas are a poor choice for privacy, instead, think clumping bamboo or some nice palms which will stand up to the wind and cold and provide you with a screen that will not die back in winter.

Chris in FL.

P.S. Let's suppose you do plant the nanners along the fence in the back, you wait 15-18 months for them to finally fruit, and then the bunch hangs over on the nieghbors side of the fence and they cut them off for themselves? I have seen this happen, and the people living on the other side of the fence found some nice bananas hanging right within their reach!

Rmplmnz

For Florida I would go with Saba...

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Rmplmnz

Bamboo can be a bear to deal with...the poles can get 40 feet and 200 plus pounds (with all the lateral growth), my neighbor complains incessantly about the leaves dropping. Not to mention the roots are like wood and will push over/out any fencing (I cannot begin to explain how much work it is trimming bamboo that butts against fencing..not to mention it will over power "any" type of fencing). I hate trimming our bamboo (the most dreaded garden task by far), between the telephone and cable lines..the neighbor's fencing....bamboo is best grown in the open when you can maneuver 360 degrees to trim. As a point of reference we grow Gigantochloa atroviola, Bambusa Vulgaris Vittata and Bambusa ventricosa "Buddha Belly"

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Some of the[IMG][/IMG] lateral growth has already been trimmed;'

After trimming a "truckload" of lateral growth:
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Check out all the leaves (which drop constantly in our yard and our neighbor's yard)....the lateral growth is full of very strong dense bamboo sticks/poles
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Ask Chong or Tog about dealing with Bamboo....lots of "open" space required...

mskitty38583

i have noticed in tn where i live my basjoos came back before anything else did. my sabas( i got 2) are running a close second( they were heavily protected this winter) . where my oronico is running third( i have 3 pups....wahoo they were protected well too). my dwarf oronicos havent done anything as of yet(they only had 6 in of mulch-as my science project went) and my ornatas are running fourth. i have some other ornatas that havent even peeked out the ground yet and they had 6 in of mulch on them. my ee's that i got from randy4ut last summer... have finally came up( the purple ones). and my angles trumpets(brugs) i got from kylie are starting to come into some greenage( heavily protected) my green castorbeans are even coming back (these are the seeds i got from magicgreen).

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momoese

Chris, we have a screen of Alphonse Karr Bamboo that was planted with a plastic root barrier 4 years ago and has never created any problems. At the same time it has created an absolutely perfect screen from the 2 story house 2 doors down. I know that if I had bananas there that house would still be able to see into our yard and at this point i would have had to harvest and remove at least 12 full size banana trees by now. As you know that's not easy! I think the choice of bamboo is also very important, but it's still much less work as a permanent screen than any kind of bananas will ever be.

Lagniappe

This photo is a perfect illustration of a plant that has bloomed or is about to bloom. The meristematic tissue is evident in the center of the p-stem's cross section.
I hate to see it when I cut my plants down in the winter, but I'm sure that wasn't the case here.

Bananaman88

Chris,

How long is that saw? 36"? That Saba base is huge!

snc

My sabas and mysores both went from 1ft to about 14ft in 6 months here in zone 8 (southern NC) the base was 12" diameter when they were chopped this spring.

Rmplmnz

Opinions will vary, in my opinion Bananas are much easier to deal with than bamboo (not to mention Florida gets significantly more rainfall than Southern California; which equates to faster and more lateral growth). Although this is probably a mute point as you have already ruled out bamboo. "For me, bamboo is not an option, I need to stick with bananas." (post#4).

Good luck!!