notrecruiting

LMAO....I really enjoyed this thread. I hope your plant does well, and fruits for you in your indoor environment. I personally think it's cool that you got a pup. I think a pic would be nice because I'm not understanding what you mean by having a pup under the "lid" and a stem growing above the "lid". I guess that if I were to grow a plant in a bucket I'd not have the lid on it. Anyway thanks!! Please keep the updates comming.

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If it'll hold soil or grow don't throw it out

Kevin

You put marshmallows in salad???

wordwiz

Kevin,

I do in fruit salad!

Mike

wordwiz

An update:

To notrecruiting: It is a hydroponic grow, using Deep Water Culture. That's where the plant sits in something resembling a pot, but with lots of slits in the side so water can circulate around it. The roots tend to grow out the bottom of the pot (Google Net Pot if this doesn't make sense). The water/nutrient solution is aerated via something like an airstone that delivers lots of oxygen to the water, which the roots absorb.

Now for another update. Though I thought the main plant had died, I was wrong. Sunday, I pulled up the U-shaped thing and one end came loose. It turned out to be a leaf. Today (Tuesday) another shoot appeared. Not a little, tiny shoot as most of the others started out as, but a rather decent size one. It's almost like the plant decided to take nap, woke up, and has the energy of a superman!

I'll try to take some pics tomorrow after I finish my day job.

Mike

notrecruiting

I guess I missed the part about it being a hydroponics grow. I thought I'd read that it was in a 5 gal. bucket, and was getting excited that I might actually be able to grow a banana on my balcony after all. Anyway, thanks for the update. Sounds like it's still doing nicely.

__________________
If it'll hold soil or grow don't throw it out

tucsonplumeriaz

here are some ice cream pups. all of the growth you see is from being grown under CFL's. i started out with a 2700K 68w bulb. then, i changed the bulb to a 6500K 125w bulb. light stays on for 16 hrs each day in my bedroom and the pups were w/i 2 ft. i recently got tired of dealing with the fungus gnats, so i moved the pups to the garage. that's why the unfurling leaf is pale. there is a small CFL that stays on in the garage 24/7, but it's far from the pups.

Attached Images

IMG_0682.JPG (265.9 KB, 27 views)

The Hollyberry Lady

tucsonplumeriaz

you're welcome Hollyberry Lady. i have been quite surprised by these CFL's. they cost almost nothing to power and have good light ouput for the plants.

i tried two products for gnat eradication before trying nematodes. the nematodes took care of the problem. what was nice is that i didn't have to water the whole pot to apply them. next time i'll start treating the plants before bringing them inside for winter.

The Hollyberry Lady

tucsonplumeriaz

thanks for the tips hollyberry lady!

wordwiz

An update:

Nearly two months later, the plant is doing great. The pup kept growing and it was about 16" tall with six-seven leaves - everything under the lid where it didn't get any light at all. I had no clue what I was doing but four days ago, I removed the pup and stuck it in some potting mix that I have kept completely saturated. It's still too early for me to tell but today I did see a new shoot developing.

Meanwhile, I also had a dwarf orange tree, also growing in a DWC system. I moved it under the LED light from a 400-watt MH bulb Saturday and today I noticed a couple of white flowers that had bloomed!

If this pup still looks good in a couple of days, I'll post a pic. I'm afraid I'll jinx everything if I do it too soon!

Mike

Dentate

Very entertaining thread with quite a bit of information to boot! From a novice, thanks to those of you that participated in the discussion. I hope the bananas are continuing to proliferate, Mike.

harveyc

Hey, Mike, I just saw this thread and would like to see some photos of your set-up.

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wordwiz

Harvey,

It's not much of a set-up! A 5-gallon bucket with a hole cut in the lid with a 5" net pot in it, the banana sitting in the pot with some lava rock, roots growing in the bucket and an air hose running through the side. The light is a 125-watt Tri-color LED panel and hangs from the ceiling.

This is what the plant looks like:



And its pup:



Mike

imclueless17

Neat. Does anyone know if putting a mirrored box around the light and bananas increases the growth rate?

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Richard

It increases the cooking rate.

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Back in business at plantsthatproduce.com

wordwiz

Mirrors are not good, something like Mylar or just a board painted with flat white paint will increase the luminance. With LED lights, it is not as important as the lights do not diffuse much.

Mike