Largest banana grown in NC?
 

What is the largest height anyone has ever seen or heard of grown in NC? Just curious as I have seen one in Richlands NC which was a good 15ft tall. Guy covers up his greenhouse roof over it,he has had to build the roof higher several times. Not sure what kind,cause its off the road and private land.

Re: Largest banana grown in NC?
 

Ive thought about getting a Saba i heard they get huge. I dont know what i would do with it after it starts getting cold. The Wiki says its survival zone is 8-9 you should try one and see how big you can get it...

Re: Largest banana grown in NC?
 

Yes I know someone that has some,said they got hit hard this winter and not sure they will come back.

Re: Largest banana grown in NC?
 

How big did theirs get??

Re: Largest banana grown in NC?
 

I have no idea how old the plants are but I think he said like 12ft or more don't quote me on that.

Re: Largest banana grown in NC?
 

I think sabas can reach 15' or higher. I am in 8b and planted a small one earlier this month. I think I have a year or two for that size, assuming we don't get a winter like the last one.

Re: Largest banana grown in NC?
 

I have over 20 different species of banana & live in NC with no greenhouse, I dig everything but my Basjoo & Velutina's to over winter them, My Orinoco's I have about 6 are over 6 foot tall with all the leaves cut off, I just replanted them today outside & the largest was about 8 feet tall. I get about 10 pups every year on average, I sell them off on eBay or give them to friends who are local. I experimented this past year & I know for a fact Siam Ruby, or siam yellow & Orinocos will not survive my zone.

Re: Largest banana grown in NC?
 

In Maryland my 4 year old basjoo clump will get to 12+ft. tall.

Re: Largest banana grown in NC?
 

Sounds cool guys! Bdollarbill can I see some pictures of the 20 you grow? Most of mine died off or really died back when I stored them dry in my storage unit here in zone8. I had them inside for acouple months,then had problems with ants so the plants had to go out side. Even with the huge temp swing being in the unit that never bothered them. They dried out way too much.

Re: Largest banana grown in NC?
 

Really? Can banana corms dry out in cool conditions?

Re: Largest banana grown in NC?
 

mine did. from being in dirt and getting water once a week for 2-3months. Then being removed from all that stored away with temps in the 50's then over time temps in the low 20's. We keep the house at 72* in the winter. I checked on them after a month of being in there and they had some leaves kinda dried out. I had no way to water them though. Sucks cause I lost alot,plus Ice cream,laterias,Skiss all shrunk to nothing but are still alive. Next year they will go away in the pots with dirt,and water them alittle bit.

Re: Largest banana grown in NC?
 

Here are mine from last year. I believe sept or october time frame. The saba is the stand alone one with the fence being 5' and the bottom edge of the gutter close to 12-13'.

The mysore is on far left in 2nd pic and the top of deck rail is about 7'.

They both get 5-10 gallons of water/day + daily watering from the sprinkler system in the morning. ( I basically live on a sand dune so its always dry.) Also quite a bit of fertilizer monthly.

Both have shot up 2 pups this spring.

Both of these started out as pups popping up in the spring from previous years mom. I dont do anything with protection except cover them during the first couple of frosts and maybe add a little mulch for the winter as they get to big to mess with digging up. I have tried leaving them standing and cutting off at the ground prior to winter with the same results.

Re: Largest banana grown in NC?
 

Heres what was left after cutting past the rot on the saba....not much. This years emerging plants are in the yellow boxes. I expect them to get at least as large as last years.

Re: Largest banana grown in NC?
 

Hey todd figured you would hit up this thread. Only nanner out of storage thats doing anything is the yellow banana. Others the p-stems aren't great looking but still green. No action from the ice cream's sad looking corm but it does have green on it. If it doesn't come back I will have to go downtown and buy one. Guy at some store down there has them sitting on the curb and for a 3ft plant sells them cheap. Thats where mine came from and it grew in two months more then 2ft of the bought size. Hope all your come back nice and strong after this winter. Hope your foot is healing :nanadrink:

Re: Largest banana grown in NC?
 

Hey whats up, plants are just starting to grow here on the ocean,Ice cream was first, orinocos are sending up pups now,all of my stuff I dug up is still the same with no growth yet except for the ensete it has grown three leaves this month.
There is a local Greenhouse here that had some plants that would grow about 15 foot of stem every year, with no protection and they would fruit every two years,unfortunately they dug up the huge corm and split it off and sold the plants and they had a mix up and did not save any, I did get one pup last year and it is currently about 6 foot and green and so far it has three or four pups but nothing yet from the main stem should be any day now.

Re: Largest banana grown in NC?
 

Sounds cool man! Where is there a GH in the OuterBanks? Must be a Orinoco banana if it fruits and holds the winter fine. Sucks I lost most of mine!!

Re: Largest banana grown in NC?
 

I have one growing at the wifes office havnt seen it in a while its a pup from last year if you want we could trade I could use a basjoo

Re: Largest banana grown in NC?
 

What kind is it?

Re: Largest banana grown in NC?
 

Have fun with Saba in a greenhouse! Somewhere at this site is a picture of an 80-ft tall Saba growing wild in the tropics.

Re: Largest banana grown in NC?
 

My
sabas' leaves are as tall or taller than the roof of my house. They must be 18 feet. My Basjoos had bananas last summer, but I doubt if I get any this summer as N.C. had a bad winter this year. Usually my Basjoos stay greener all season to include winter.