Allfoliagenofruit

My 2 ice cream (namwah?) starter plants arrived through the mail today and I potted them in 50% potting mix and 50% perlite. I added some pine bark woodchips as well to one of them as a sort of experiment.

I'm going to keep them in the shade for now since I imagine they are not used to direct sunlight.

I'll probably go check out the Going Bananas booth at the Indian River Garden Fest coming up in Vero Beach, FL to see if I can get the Blue Java.

I'm hoping I can get these to grow tall in containers and shade my porch like a forest.

cincinnana

Give them a call and reserve one with your name on it.
They go fast at Vero.

Great find on the plants ....hope they do well.
Are you going to put them in the ground soon?

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Allfoliagenofruit

Good idea on calling them.

I'm planning on keep these in containers for a while and see what they do. I only grow in containers myself on my porch because I have a limited amount of yard space. What isn't lawn is various palm trees and ornamentals and hedge.

However, I will likely give one or a pup to my neighbor. She has room to plant in the ground and loves bananas.

cincinnana

Great plan...you are going to have an enclosed oasis in no time.

Really ...do reserve your plant if you want one.

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Allfoliagenofruit

I was able to get the Blue Java on reserve.

Also, good news on my Ice Cream plants. I brought them indoors since it got down to 40's here and I figured they would be more cold sensitive due to transplant shock. They began to perspire almost immediately when I brought them indoors I think they were saying finally spring is here.

I applied some plastic wrap over the soil surface after I saw a tiny bug in the soil. Also the tips of the leaves were sitting in water from the perspiration and starting to brown so I put some paper towel under the tips of the leaves.

Since I brought them indoors it seems to have triggered a growth spurt in both plants. Here's a Before (Saturday) to after (Wednesday) with this new leaf unfurling.

Allfoliagenofruit

Hi all,


I was able to pick up a Blue Java plant at Vero Beach today from Going Bananas.



I was surprised with how tall it was in a small pot. I ended up planting it in a much bigger one with a heavily pine barked mixture with some potting soil that had perlite added. I hope that I didn't use too much pine bark but I am glad that it drains very quickly and is light to move around.

Also my Ice Cream namwa plants in 50/50 perlite and potting soil are both continuing to grow quickly.

Allfoliagenofruit

Hi all here is an update on these 2 bananas if anyone is curious how they turned out. I seem to be having some luck with the heavily pine barked soil mix.

The ice cream agristart I gave to my neighbor stopped growing for some reason so I've taken it back for now and given it extra fertilizer and water but the one that I have kept for myself has been doing great.

Blue Java


Agristart Ice Cream

cincinnana

Looking nice and healthy..

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edwmax

You are doing great with the little plants. They still have the 1st leaves on them. which is as it should be. ... Foliar feeding helps a lot while the roots & corm are growing. Humidity, shading (indirect sunlight) and misting is the key to growing small TC plants. Keep up the good work!

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beam2050

the first tc's i bought were icecreams/namwa and the easiest to grow in pots of them all, even lasted thru the winter great. i bought 7 of them. but when they got 3 and 4 ft tall [p-stem] some started to act up.

doing great there. now is the time to plant them in the ground the last one i planted was one of the worst ones i had trouble with, pupped many times and still doesnt want to get big as the rest.

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npk of wood ash 0/1/3 to 0/3/7

npk of banana leaf ash 1.75/0.75/0.5

Backyard Banana Joe

[quote=Allfoliagenofruit;330102]

Blue Java



What are the other banana plants?

Allfoliagenofruit

Those two large ones in the back are cavendish I think. I bought them at Walmart but it made no mention of the type of banana on the labels. The third from the back is a pup from those cavendish and the second from the front is a very small sweetheart. I also have 4 small ensete maurelli.

Allfoliagenofruit

I ended up planting the agristart ice cream one in my neighbor's yard (with permission ). And it seems to be doing well so far.

Here are some of my ensete maurellis. I love the look of them and can't wait to get them as big as I can this summer in containers. It should be a good race against my elephant ears.