andy17

@ palm tree From my limited experience, Bordelons are fast growers. I rescued one from the clearance section of a local garden center and planted it in the ground and it really started to take off toward the end of the summer. Unfortunately we had a colder than usual winter and being stressed from its days in the clearance section, the cold was too much for it. They really take off in the right conditions, however. As to growing them in a container, I'm not sure how fast they would grow. Bananas always tend to grow slower and more compactly in a container (their size and growth rate seem to be relative to how much root space they have). Starting from 6-12 inches though, I would say by the end of the summer 3-5 feet would definitely be possible.
I would really like to try growing a cavendish, it's good to hear they do well in containers. I guess even if they don't fruit or take longer to do so, banana plants have such striking foliage, it always makes a good accent and conversation piece!

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andy17

@Dalmatiansoap that's great! Did you experience any leaf burn at those temps?

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"Gardening is the purest of human pleasures." --Francis Bacon

palmtree

Thanks for the info! I'm excited to add it to my collection, the foliage is really nice on this banana plant and at least if I run out of room for it in the ground next year, growing it in a container will be an option!

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Location: New York City, zone 7b

jeffreyp

truly tiny is a good one too

GreenFin

I absolutely love my TT. It was just a 2" tc with 2 leaves when it arrived 3.5 months ago, but it has loved my environment and is now super stocky with about 1.5' of p-stem. Of the 15 varieties I'm growing, TT and Dwarf Namwah have grown the most vigorously.

I've only been growing for about 3.5 months, but here's how I'd categorize their growth in my hot humid greenhouse environment to date (all tc's, and all are basically grown in a large container)--

Mega-vigorous: Dwarf Namwah, TT
super-vigorous: Dwarf Cavendish, Gros Michel
vigorous: Raja Puri, SDC, Little Prince,
semi-vigorous: 'Ice Cream' (probably some type of Namwah)
lazy: Dwarf Red, Double
severely stunted (my fault): Grand Nain*, Zan Moreno**
noobs just added: Williams Hybrid, Dwarf Brazilian, Dwarf Orinoco

*the Grand Nain was growing mega-vigorously until cooked
**I transplanted the Zan Moreno twice and cooked it all in its first week a couple of months ago, so it just kind of sat there not doing much until two weeks ago, when it suddenly started growing vigorously (pushed out 3 nice leaves in that time).

If I had to suggest just one of these as a first plant for container growing, I'd suggest Dwarf Cavendish. Beautiful, vigorous, short, and heavy-yielding.

Best of luck OP on your selection(s)!

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Set out runnin', but I'll take my time; a friend of bananas is a friend of mine.

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