Bananas.org - View Single Post - Growing Bananas at 8000 feet/searching for A'ea'e

WildernessGreen · 04-28-2024, 08:37 PM

Hi folks, I have been a lurker here for years, thought I would jump in with some details on how I recently killed my gorgeous 18 month old A'ea'e - and to ask if anyone knows of any available now, that they can ship to me. (zip 87544, NM USA)

I'm also looking for other variegated bananas - other than Florida which I already have in my collection.

I have around 50 potted banana's, about 20 types in my greenhouses, in the Southern Rocky Mountains, near the Colorado/NM border - at 8000 feet, not exactly tropical island conditions.......I live off grid with solar power, satellite internet with limited bandwidth which is why I haven't posted before, but my passion for growing bananas has grown over the years! I'm in the process of culling out around 300 Fig trees in my main Greenhouse and replacing with more bananas!

I killed my beloved, gorgeous, showpiece of my entire collection, my 12 foot high, 18 month old A'ea'e this past winter, and in case any of you out there, have too many A'ea'e's and are looking to thin them out, here are some simple, easy to follow recommendations!

1) When drilling all the extra holes for plenty of drainage in the whiskey barrel, make sure and use a small enough drill bit to where they can all get clogged up. Make sure the pot sits tight against the ground to help prevent drainage.

2) As the main growing season winds down, get really cocky about how easy growing this A'ae'e seems to be the last year and a half. No different than any other musa!!? Continue to water and fertilize heavily as you go into winter, with a lot of less light, and warmth for all your bananas. Pat yourself on your back, you are such a musa banana expert now with your towering A'ea'e........

3) When all of a sudden, on Jan 1, the dead of winter, your gorgeous A'ea'e starts losing leaves, instead of yanking her out of the pot right then and and there like you know you should do, let her sit there for the next three months, slowly going down-hill, rotting away, and a couple weeks ago finally realize she was a goner, pull 'er out, finding some moist muck on the bottom few inches of the pot - the holes were completely clogged up. The top 16" or so of the pot were fairly dry, which had totally tricked me. A HUGE, STUPID, IDIOTIC error for me, who although not a musa expert as many on here - by any means, I am an experienced hobbyist with over 30 years of growing bananas, such a bone-headed, expensive, rookie mistake........OUCH!

So now, I have some feelers out, and am searching high and low for a replacement A'ea'e......maybe even a few of them, as I think I have learned my lesson. If I ever kill another A'ea'e, it will be by UNDER-WATERING, and TOO MUCH DRAINAGE!!! This was by far my favorite plant, out of hundreds I have...I hope to have a few replacements in my collection soon....rest in peace my dear A'ea'e friend........

Pic below of how she looked last August. (I hope this pic loads, I have spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to post pics here!!!!)

Anyway, nice to post here finally!

Amado
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04-28-2024, 08:37 PM	#1 (permalink)
WildernessGreen Location: Northern New Mexico, USA Find me on the map! Join Date: Jun 2019 Posts: 86 BananaBucks : 19,045 Feedback: 0 / 0% Said "Thanks" 64 Times Was Thanked 128 Times in 50 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 0 Times	Growing Bananas at 8000 feet/searching for A'ea'e Hi folks, I have been a lurker here for years, thought I would jump in with some details on how I recently killed my gorgeous 18 month old A'ea'e - and to ask if anyone knows of any available now, that they can ship to me. (zip 87544, NM USA) I'm also looking for other variegated bananas - other than Florida which I already have in my collection. I have around 50 potted banana's, about 20 types in my greenhouses, in the Southern Rocky Mountains, near the Colorado/NM border - at 8000 feet, not exactly tropical island conditions.......I live off grid with solar power, satellite internet with limited bandwidth which is why I haven't posted before, but my passion for growing bananas has grown over the years! I'm in the process of culling out around 300 Fig trees in my main Greenhouse and replacing with more bananas! I killed my beloved, gorgeous, showpiece of my entire collection, my 12 foot high, 18 month old A'ea'e this past winter, and in case any of you out there, have too many A'ea'e's and are looking to thin them out, here are some simple, easy to follow recommendations! 1) When drilling all the extra holes for plenty of drainage in the whiskey barrel, make sure and use a small enough drill bit to where they can all get clogged up. Make sure the pot sits tight against the ground to help prevent drainage. 2) As the main growing season winds down, get really cocky about how easy growing this A'ae'e seems to be the last year and a half. No different than any other musa!!? Continue to water and fertilize heavily as you go into winter, with a lot of less light, and warmth for all your bananas. Pat yourself on your back, you are such a musa banana expert now with your towering A'ea'e........ 3) When all of a sudden, on Jan 1, the dead of winter, your gorgeous A'ea'e starts losing leaves, instead of yanking her out of the pot right then and and there like you know you should do, let her sit there for the next three months, slowly going down-hill, rotting away, and a couple weeks ago finally realize she was a goner, pull 'er out, finding some moist muck on the bottom few inches of the pot - the holes were completely clogged up. The top 16" or so of the pot were fairly dry, which had totally tricked me. A HUGE, STUPID, IDIOTIC error for me, who although not a musa expert as many on here - by any means, I am an experienced hobbyist with over 30 years of growing bananas, such a bone-headed, expensive, rookie mistake........OUCH! So now, I have some feelers out, and am searching high and low for a replacement A'ea'e......maybe even a few of them, as I think I have learned my lesson. If I ever kill another A'ea'e, it will be by UNDER-WATERING, and TOO MUCH DRAINAGE!!! This was by far my favorite plant, out of hundreds I have...I hope to have a few replacements in my collection soon....rest in peace my dear A'ea'e friend........ Pic below of how she looked last August. (I hope this pic loads, I have spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to post pics here!!!!) Anyway, nice to post here finally! Amado [IMG][/IMG]