gaudesys

My Bananas got taken over by grass, which I mow, but one guy says I should remove all grass. If I remove the grass or dig it up and over, I wil damage a lot of banana roots. Will bananas fruit growing in grass?

edwmax

If you can if you keep the Cops out. Hehehe


I mow the grass around my banana patches every couple of weeks. I'd rather have the grass than the weeds or briers.

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Akula

I remove St. Augustine that grows into my patch during the winter when I unwrap my plants. Just finished the job this past week. During the season its not really a problem due to mulching with grass clipppings and shading from the umbrella canopy. I do it for aesthetics and to reduce competiton for nutrients. I use a four tine garden rake and usually hit a few roots near the surface but its not a big deal.

Jeff zone 8 N.C.

The banana will do ok, but not to it's potential, with the grass. Grass robs a ton of nutrients, air and water from the roots of the banana plant. I would mow it and then cover with a mulch. Cardboard, laid over the mowed grass will suppress the grass and probably eventually kill it and not damage the banana roots. Maybe put a bark or straw (not hay/it has grass seed in it) mulch over the cardboard for a better look and to help the cardboard break down faster over time. If using smaller pieces of cardboard overlap them a lot, if the grass is a running type as the grass will try to find every crack in the cardboard to grow through.

gaudesys

Thank you! Will do that with cardboard and mulch. Do you by chance know of some kind of "grassy plants" that are best to plant around bananas, which will not compete with bananas and protect the soil from weeds plus keep the soil moist?

cincinnana

In the backyard garden your plants will be shallow rooted......so most plants you choose will compete.

You may also spray your banana circumference with grass killer and then immediately lay a layer of your favorite colored mulch
this will not harm your plants.

We have no issues spraying the grow area of a plant with a roundup type spray.

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twotallgirls

Don't know what type of grass you have but I have St. Augustine that one can easily remove without damaging roots. I pull out any runners by hand and I mulch heavily with cypress mulch. That way I can control the occasional runner / weed. I would think you'd have difficulties fertilizing and would worry about damaging plant if mowing/weed wacking. When I add composted manure I just pull back mulch, add, and then recover. Did I say mulch enough times?

I'm putting in perennial peanut plants this year to test under one of my patches. I used it on a portion of side yard to keep my sandy soil in place (FL summer rains) and it worked great. Its a nitrogen fixer, adaptable, grows fast, blocks weeds, and competes little with established plants. If you are in a warm enough location, you might look into that.

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Blue Java, Raja Puri, Goldfinger FHIA-01, Mona Lisa FHIA-02, Sweetheart FHIA-03, Pitogo, Saba, Dwarf Cavendish, Super Dwarf Cav., Namwa, Brazilian, Mysore, Dwarf Red, and a mystery or two

cincinnana

You will have no issues with a roundup type spray or equivalent in your grow area....
Use good gardening judgement when you overspray..

A person with great spray skills is worth keeping.

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Kimberlibre

I think the easiest thing now would be to put artificial grass so that no one competes and your bananas will grow in a peaceful environment. Especially since there is itsartificialgrass.com, which will help you install artificial grass and tell you how to care for it to be in good condition properly. Even now, until the winter comes, you could install it quietly and not worry about it anymore. After installing this grass, I realized how good this decision was and how it would help me. Especially after installing it, I got more rest.

Janelle525

I use mulch to keep the grass away. Though it does take a lot of mulch so I am hoping to find a nearby arborist trimming trees so I can get a big load of it.

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Super Dwarf Cavendish, Tall Namwah, Goldfinger, Praying Hands, Raja Pisang, Manzano.

Valor_X

Glyphosate (Round up) doesn't hurt Bananas at all? Not even the roots?

This is the first time I'm hearing about this...

One of my raised beds is getting taken over by weedy grass.
Even so... is it safe to spray that around the roots of the plant which will eventually give you fruit to eat?

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Varieties I'm Growing

From Corm/Pup
Dwarf Cavendish ○ Super Dwarf Cavendish ○ Grand Nain ○ Niño ○ Manzano ○ Raja Puri ○ Tall Namwah ○ Blue Java ○ 1000 Fingers ○ Praying Hands ○ Orinoco ○ Variegated Florida ○ PR Red ○ California Gold ○ FHIA-03 Sweetheart

Plantains
Puerto Rican Dwarf Plantain ○ African Rhino Horn

From TC
Truly Tiny ○ Manzano ○ "Blue Java" ○ Dwarf Namwah ○ Thai Black ○ Veinte Cohol

DiyaMeadows

NathalyReed

Growing bananas in the grass can be a bit tricky. While some grass can coexist with banana plants, too much competition can hinder fruit production.

DeangeloDouglas

If the grass is taking over, it might be worth considering ways to manage it without damaging the banana roots. Perhaps mulching around the base of the plants or using a selective herbicide could help control the grass while still allowing the bananas to thrive. I recently moved to Canada and started growing fruit trees in my backyard. It's been an exciting journey! If you're interested in fruit tree care, I came across a helpful resource. They have a great article on growing mangoes in Canada, which might provide some useful insights. You can find it at https://thedailyfarming.com/farming/...ngo-in-canada/

caliboy1994

Definitely keep cutting the grass and use the clippings to mulch the bananas. It also sounds like your bananas can use some companion plants that will shade out the grass around them. Tithonia diversifolia and bananas are the dream team in my opinion. Tithonia creates dense shade on the ground and grows very fast. You can cut it for additional mulch to feed the bananas. But you won't be able to grow that if you're below zone 9. If you are in a cooler zone, maybe try thornless blackberries or raspberries.

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sirdoofus

I often grow Tithonia rotundifolia I(I love the orange, reddish flowers) as an annual here as one of my many tools to attract pollinators. I think its pretty similar to diversifolia, although I don't really know that for sure. Rotundifolia does get quite large quickly here (5-6 ft tall and wide by the end of the season), so maybe diversifolia would too. I haven't ever really thought about using it as a shade/mulch plant for bananas, but it certainly does cast a lot of shade during the second half of the season....interesting idea. I am assuming in your area diversifolia is perennial? Is it evergreen? Do you have any pics?

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caliboy1994

Yes - T. Diversifolia is an evergreen perennial. It is usually propagated from woody stem cuttings. They root easily. Like bananas, they retain their leaves and slow their growth in the winter, and will be knocked back by a light frost and killed by a heavy freeze. They are tough plants that grow very fast, but the seem to be more susceptible to cold rot than bananas. They can get rather large (I have seen 15 ft ones in my area), but they tolerate heavy and repeated pruning, so you can control their size. I grow mine for mulch and green manure, but they are good for covering the ground and make pretty flowers.

When planting into grass or turf, I think it is advantageous to establish plants from tubers or strong cuttings, since there is a lot of energy stored in those kinds of structures compared to a seed. This gives whatever plant you are growing a leg up so that it can grow large enough to outcompete the grass. Maybe rototill up the area you are planting your cuttings into, and sheet mulch around the cuttings to slow down the grass.

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"The ultimate goal of farming is not the growing of crops, but the cultivation and perfection of human beings."
~ Masanobu Fukuoka

Find me on linktree here as Solarpunk Farmer:
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sirdoofus

That is a good looking plant. Looks a bit different than what I have grown, more open and with bigger leaves than I have seen here with rotundifolia....although that may be a matter of growing conditions. I will have to see if I can find seeds for that one around here and give her a go.

OK, now back to bananas growing in grass

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