sandylbuck

Ice cream banana plant appears to be flowering...what now?

1. I live near Philadelphia...zone 7. I purchased this plant last spring. My plants live outside in the summer and spend the cooler months inside with supplemental grow lights. This plant will need to be moved into my foyer...should I do it right now or leave it outside for the next few weeks?

2. I am hoping that with very careful/cautious/sloooooow movement we can get this plant into the house without a problem as we did last year. I know the plant will continue to grow BUT I am wondering about the spring...first, the growing will slow, even with the supplemental light...do you think this banana has a shot at producing fruit as it would in a warmer zone under these conditions? And if so, will I be able to move it back outside in the late spring of 2017 or is this plant stuck inside for the duration.

3. I am beyond excited about this plant and the fact that it is producing fruit and I realize that purchasing this size plant in my growing zone was perhaps an exercise in poor judgment but at this point I refuse to be defeated (I get a lot of abuse from family members over the size of this banana plant that seems to do nothing but grow!)

I posted some pics in my gallery of what the banana plant looked like as of today. I really have no idea of what to expect and when.

Thanks for your suggestions!
Sandy

sputinc7

You are right, that is a big one... Too bad it couldn't wait for spring to flower. Is it in the ground or a pot? I would leave it out there until the weather forces me to bring it in either way. The more sun the better, especially if there is any hope of it fruiting. I don't know what to tell you about whether or how to get it to finish fruiting. You might have hope if it's potted, I don't know about if you have to dig it.
Be patient and someone will answer. The board's been a little slow lately.

__________________

If you lose your head and give up, you neither live nor win.

https://sputinc7.wixsite.com/covwc

Varieties I supposedly bought: Manzano, Cavendish, Blue Java, Sweetheart, and Gros Michel.
What it seems I actually have: Brazilian, Cavendish, Namwah, Dwarf Red, Gros Michel, Pisang Ceylon, Veinte Cohol and SH 3640, and American Goldfinger. FHIA 1, Paggi and FHIA 17... Always room for one more.

sandylbuck

The plant is potted. I removed 2 pups a few weeks ago and now there are 3 that have taken the place of the 2...and already they are close to 3 feet tall...not sure about whether I should leave them or remove them too.

sputinc7

From what I have learned here, you never remove pups after it flowers. My guess would be it will continue trying to make fruit after you bring it in, and the plant might have enough stored energy to finish since it is so big. I hope it does, for you.
Maybe the cold will wait until the end of Oct. this year. I would keep it out as long as possible. If all they forecast is one night's light frost followed by another week or so of warm n sunny, I would cover it for the night. The longer it's outside the better your chance of success.

__________________

If you lose your head and give up, you neither live nor win.

https://sputinc7.wixsite.com/covwc

Varieties I supposedly bought: Manzano, Cavendish, Blue Java, Sweetheart, and Gros Michel.
What it seems I actually have: Brazilian, Cavendish, Namwah, Dwarf Red, Gros Michel, Pisang Ceylon, Veinte Cohol and SH 3640, and American Goldfinger. FHIA 1, Paggi and FHIA 17... Always room for one more.

geissene

Hi Sandy

Congrats on flowering that up here in PA! I live in North Wales, so you aren't far away.

I would leave it outside until the overnight temps are in the low 40s. That is when my plants bascially are done growing. (Probably mid to late Oct)

My gut feel is it would take until early October before the flower starts to open. Then another 3+ months for fruit to ripen... If your foyer doesn't have adequate light / heat, I would expect a small harvest but still amazing for PA!

Erik