Hydroponic Banana Suggestions
 

Hi everyone, I'm new to the site and I wanted to start growing a hydroponic banana plant. I have several banana plants and dozens of other tropicals, as well as a little hydroponic experience. I've read all the other threads on the subject but I still had a few questions about the final results. Did anyone have a hydroponic banana fruit? And what was the final container size?
I was going to start off with a 5 gallon bucket and net pot setup, and use a small variety such as veinte cohol, super dwarf Cavendish, or Cuban red/dwarf red. Also I live in zone 5, so the whole setup needs to be a moveable size in order to bring it indoors. Any suggestions or input? Thanks!

Re: Hydroponic Banana Suggestions
 

So I've built a basic deep water culture setup in a 5 gallon bucket with an airstone. The man at the local hydroponics store said that he has grown bananas in the same size and type of system and was able to harvest fruit twice a year here in NY. He recommended an orchid fertilizer 3-12-6, so I'm going to try that out to start. I'll be using a lady finger banana plant from Logee's in the setup, and I'll upload photos when I get a chance.

Re: Hydroponic Banana Suggestions
 

Ask him for pictures.

Re: Hydroponic Banana Suggestions
 

Yes pics! I imagine you would have to have a bigger container than that, otherwise there would be no room for pups. Also his nutrient info seems really wack. Need something that is higher in K and N than P for sure.

Re: Hydroponic Banana Suggestions
 

Im no expert.. Just a guy who has had hydroponic garden for over 20 years. Been to a few collages to take courses on growing as the market changed and they became available last class was at university of Mississippi for a tomato course . That said I would love to see the pictures for the 2 banana bloom per year hydro set up. I personally would not attempt it in anything less than 15 gallon. Understanding the korm growth can be massive. Also you might need a extra job to afford the fertilizer it will use. Hydro plants get feed each time that pump turns on. I would think a banana would need 3 feeding a day. Those huge leaves scare me :-) knowing what I do about the uptake of liquid . So I would think a 20 gallon reservoir and a 15 gallon pot, I would use some Growstones for Substrate. The plant will grow quickly and if any wind hits it it could fall over, There is a lot of square footage on the plants leaves to catch wind. My choice of fertilizer would not include a high “p” I would think something more like 4 18 38 or close to that.
Hey one thing for sure its gunna be growing like a weed in any good formula .. It will also grow in hobby fertilizer 10 10 10 just with different results. I hope you get it up and growing sounds like great fun!

Re: Hydroponic Banana Suggestions
 

Instead of a 5 gallon bucket you could try using a rubbermade bin with a lid. Cut a hole in the center of the lid for an 8" net pot and fill that with hydroton. You'll probably want to make a water indicator tube by getting a biece of elbow tubing and a gromet, sticking that in the side, then attaching a vertical piece of clear tubing to the outside so that you can see the water level. Make sure you have a big enough air pump and put in a couple of air stones at different places to make sure that you don't have any anaerobic spots in the tank. If you can get the long air stones instead of the round ones you'll get better oxygen dispersion throughout.

If you want to get really fancy you can even throw a couple of goldfish in there and hang a waterproof LED light or 2 inside the lid to add a bit of natural fertilizer (won't be much). Just make sure to feed the fish and keep he air pumping through.

Post some pictures when you can so we can see your setup

Re: Hydroponic Banana Suggestions
 

I had an interesting growing expierience with a dwarf cavendish a few years back

The 5 gallon bucket grow was for for three years and the plant did well....no fruit or flower....just great foiliage.