TNAndy

In the past I grew the Dwarf Jamaican Red variety. Unfortunately, these grew too tall for my sunroom. If I planted the pup at the right time, I could grow it for about a year and a half before it got too tall to bring inside and the zone 6b cold killed it. None of these experiments ever resulted in flowers or fruit.

Now I'm growing Super Dwarf Cavendish. The pseudo stem of the main plant is 28 inches and the largest pup's stem is close to two feet tall. There are at least eight tiny pups that sprouted surrounding these two. These are all planted in a half-whisky-barrel-sized black plastic pot. I use regular Miracle-Gro potting mix because it drains so quickly. After the built-in fertilizer runs out, I use dried blood, bone meal, greensand... OK, I'll admit it, sometimes I use a little Osmocote, too.

The whisky barrel liner is mounted on casters. When the temperature starts to drop in the fall, I wheel my tropical plants into my sunroom for the winter. I only have a small heater, so my plants go dormant when it's really cold. In the spring, I roll them outside. After a couple of weeks under a tree to acclimate to full sun, I line them up on one side of my driveway. They get shade in the morning and late evening, but full sun for several hours around noon.

I've got ripening fruit on my papaya and citrus trees, but I WANT BANANAS! Is there anything else I should be doing to encourage flowering and fruiting? Or do I just have to be more patient?

Are there any other dwarf varieties I should try that bear tasty fruit (quickly)? They'd have to be really short. Between the top of the whisky barrel liner and the glass ceiling of my sunroom is only about six feet, maximum.

Thanks. I've already learned a lot just from reading earlier posts.