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warblingostrich · 10-01-2006, 10:52 AM

Howdy Folks

Banana plants due to arrive this week. Excited, never having tried bananas here. As a child, living in Mexico City we had some that never produced fruit that I can remember.

As I am so far north, in a dry environment, that sometimes gets some pretty wild winds, it's obvious that I have to keep these plants in containers. I'm curious though, after a few days of reading posts here, I read a mix of opinions regarding size of containers and soil / media mix. Some say they do better crowded, (transplanting when growth seems stunted), others suggest up to 30 gallon containers from the start. Some say commercial mixes or equivalent mixes of soil, are just fine, others suggest more sand and perlite.

I do have a "portable" greenhouse to winter over some of my more fragile perrenials, but it does freeze in there. We do get spells of below zero that last 10 days or so, combined with an inversion where very little, if any sunlight breaks through the smog.

I have set up the single car garage and laundry room as growing areas with metal halide and HPS lights (as well as flourescents). I can control temps, humidity, and light intensity there as opposed to the rest of the house or greenhouse. I rotate my houseplants, orchids, bonsais, overwinter some what here are considered annuals, and start cuttings from interesting plants I find locally, (I also have a dwarf Bouganvilla that I can keep blooming year round, by rotation indoors in window, outdoors, and back under lights, and have several cuttings that might start blooming this winter). I find that I really do need the extra light and keep dirt under my fingernails to get through some of those bleak inverted days.

Besides the soil mix / container size question, is there some way to keep an "ice cream" under 6'? I have only 8' ceilings except in laundry room where I have 10', but still have to hang the lights. I'd be tickled to have it flower and produce fruit. Oh and anybody here so papayas in containers?

10-01-2006, 10:52 AM	#1 (permalink)
warblingostrich Junior Member Location: Boise, Id Zone: 6-7 Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 3 BananaBucks : 4,386 Feedback: 0 / 0% Said "Thanks" 0 Times Was Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 0 Times	Beginner in Idaho Howdy Folks Banana plants due to arrive this week. Excited, never having tried bananas here. As a child, living in Mexico City we had some that never produced fruit that I can remember. As I am so far north, in a dry environment, that sometimes gets some pretty wild winds, it's obvious that I have to keep these plants in containers. I'm curious though, after a few days of reading posts here, I read a mix of opinions regarding size of containers and soil / media mix. Some say they do better crowded, (transplanting when growth seems stunted), others suggest up to 30 gallon containers from the start. Some say commercial mixes or equivalent mixes of soil, are just fine, others suggest more sand and perlite. I do have a "portable" greenhouse to winter over some of my more fragile perrenials, but it does freeze in there. We do get spells of below zero that last 10 days or so, combined with an inversion where very little, if any sunlight breaks through the smog. I have set up the single car garage and laundry room as growing areas with metal halide and HPS lights (as well as flourescents). I can control temps, humidity, and light intensity there as opposed to the rest of the house or greenhouse. I rotate my houseplants, orchids, bonsais, overwinter some what here are considered annuals, and start cuttings from interesting plants I find locally, (I also have a dwarf Bouganvilla that I can keep blooming year round, by rotation indoors in window, outdoors, and back under lights, and have several cuttings that might start blooming this winter). I find that I really do need the extra light and keep dirt under my fingernails to get through some of those bleak inverted days. Besides the soil mix / container size question, is there some way to keep an "ice cream" under 6'? I have only 8' ceilings except in laundry room where I have 10', but still have to hang the lights. I'd be tickled to have it flower and produce fruit. Oh and anybody here so papayas in containers?