HELP!! Newbie Here!
 

I am manager of an exotic animal park, and work part time at a nursery. We got "Gran Nain" banana trees in and I was thinking that if I could figure out what to do with them, it would be great to grow our own nanas for the rescue monkeys. I am completely clueless about these trees. I live in the Dallas area of Texas (out in the country though), and am wondering if it is even worth it to purchase a few of them.

Any advice that anyone may have would be greatly appreciated. They are gorgeous little trees, and would add a lot to our landscape, but I would love to find out if they might actually grow fruit, and if so when. They are small right now. They are in 2-gal. container pots. We could plant them in the ground, or in large pots. Whatever is best, we will do. We are willing to put a few years into them, but would just like more info about them. Just let me know.

Thanks so much everyone for any advice you may have to offer!!!

Lisa

Re: HELP!! Newbie Here!
 

well hello monkeylady. yes you can grow nanas in texas we have a lot of members from there. i would suggest putting them in the ground if at all possible. they do better. you will need a site that gets lots of sun. they will have to have good drainage and be where they are watered and fertilized. that is awesome wanting to grow them for the rescued monkeys. it would cut some cost at the zoo to do this. if might take you a while to get nanas from the tree but it would be worth it in the end. there should be more people in the world like you! we have the banana wiki at the top of your screen, click on it and it will take you to the next page. in the yellow box is a "list of nanas" click on that and it will tak you to a huge listing of nanas, click on the one you want and you have a description of your nanas. it is very useful info. like i said welcome to the nana org, enjoy your time here. we do!:abajo:

Re: HELP!! Newbie Here!
 

Lisa, welcome to the forum. I don't know the answer to your qusestions, but there are very helpful people here. :o

Re: HELP!! Newbie Here!
 

welcome Lisa its so nice to hear from you
u are in USDA Hardenes zone 8b and that is veary much a viabal zone for some banabas not all but alot will grow there
Musa 'grand nain'
'Gran Nain' is an outstanding banana variety growing from 6 to 8 feet tall and solid green in color. Very attractive for its landscaping potential and good wind resistance. The 'Grand Nain' produces very large heads of delicious fruit. Bunches may weight up to 150 Lbs. This is a commercial variety that you buy in the grocery store. The purchased ones are good but if you grow this one yourself you'll see how wonderful these can taste. The full sized fruit ripen rapidly.

Survival Zone -
8-10

so you see its going to be alot of fun in your neck of the woods i cut and pasted that from the banana wiki :2623:

Re: HELP!! Newbie Here!
 

I'd say go right ahead and buy those nannas! As Ms. Kitty notes it may take a few years for them to start fruiting, but in that time they'll probably set pups that you can separate off and use to start your banana grove. You're in a hot enough zone to stick 'em in the ground, and I'd reccomend you do it.

Gran Nain is a lovely cultivar and you'll find that once it gets going, the bananas it produces are great for both the rescue monkeys and your own consumption. It's one of the two main cultivars here in Ecuador for export bananas (the other being Cavendish.)

If they're in 2-gallon pots, you're probably about 3-4 years from fruiting. This said, they grow pretty fast and any banana, regardless of its initial size, is worth having in your landscape.

Betcha can't plant just one!

Re: HELP!! Newbie Here!
 

Monkeylady I would certainly go for it. I live in San Antonio and have found banana very adaptive to poor soil. The main thing to consider though is that they will need soil that drains.

So dig a test hole and fill it with water. If the water doesn't seem to want to drain from that hole, then look for another spot.

If possbile, when you plant, I'd recomend to add some compost into the soil. It'll feed the plant and help keep the water bill down. If you want it to fruit, it will need lots of sun. So with our hot Texas sun, the better the soil, the better you chance of fruit.

I think the plant will tolerate, perhaps even appreciate a bit of shade here in Texas. Especially if it was a bit of afternoon shade.

But do your own research here. Plenty of good information. Banana can multiply fairly quickly.

Good luck!