bendarlin

Hi, I think my first bunch of about 170 bananas are ready to harvest. What do I do after I cut the big bunch from the psudostalk? Do I break them up into their respective hands, do I hang this big green bunch in the garage or something...what? Do I immediately cut down the psudostalk? How far from the ground do I trim it? Sorry, just getting started! Thanks for any responses to the new guy...Oh, I'm 70,
a widdower and I live in Coral Springs, FL.

crazy banana

Welcome to bananas.org and congratulations on your first bunch of bananas.
Any idea what variety they are?
Are they not only all fat and filled in, but also changed color to yellow? Here in SoCal it takes an average of 6 month to do so. If there is no color change, leave them hanging. If some have changed color you can either cut those individual hands and enjoy the fruit as they ripen and change color or you can harvest the entire bunch, hang it in the garage and just eat the ones that are ripe. Usually, if the entire bunch has been harvested, all fruit will ripen very fast and you will end up with way too many fruits than you can process all at once.
After harvesting a bunch, we usually cut down the p-stem which gives the follower pups more light and energy to grow. If possible, you can chop up the leaves and p-stem and leave it as compost/mulch as is.
One thing about us banana freaks here on the org: we love to see photos of what other members have. It helps us to better help you

Abnshrek

Hello, Welcome & Happy Harvest.. :^)

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kubali

Welcome aboard ,
pull up a chair and have some fun learning.

bendarlin

how do you send a picture on this posting?

raygrogan

Great harvest!

Before harvest day, I find it handy to cut the male flower stalk off, all but a few inches to be a handle and to hang the bunch by. Oh, since it is your first, find a good strong string or strap to hang up the bunch. The first hour or so it will drip staining sap.

3 ways to cut the fruit off the bunch. My favorite is a cordless reciprocating saw with a 12" long blade (also good for cutting up the P-stem). Old favorite was a special banana knife I got somewhere long ago, probably not an option. My friend's way is to take big lopers and cut the stem.

laserlight

Welcome to the forum and congratulations.
I read that the banana stem needs to be cut all the way down to the ground then just put some dirt over that.
About posting pictures you can probaly find information in the Site Help and Feedback section. I just store my pictures at Flikr and copy and paste the BBC code.
Thats gotta be really epic to get a banana plant to make fruit.

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Вырвем оранжевому хорьку его гнилые зубы.