New way to grow Bananas in colder climates??
 

I'm in Banana Grow zone 6a and have this idea I thought of that I'm trying....not sure if it's been done before. I'm 99.9% positive it will work even though there may be some minor tweaks to work out.

The jist of the idea is to cut an opening in the side of a plastic 55 gal barrel so that the Banana can be grown vertically upright during the warm season and then rolled 90 deg to then grow horizontal to the ground in a simple low profile greenhouse when cool weather arrives. When Winter arrives, simply roll the Banana plant and barrel 90 deg so the Banana is horizontal with the ground and a few inches off the ground. Now put a bunch of straw bales all around it or something similar form of insulation, and maybe even stack them 2 bales high.

Now you can make a simple flat greenhouse frame with 2 layers of clear plastic and cover the whole thing. It probably will need a small vent hole with screen or foam to allow a little air circulation but not too much. In effect, this idea will create a low profile greenhouse that allows you to roll the Banana horizontally and continue growing it horizontally in the shoulder months. Then maybe for 2 or 3 months during the coldest part of the Winter, completely cover the top clear greenhouse cover with more insulation and allow the plant to go dormant.

When , the worst of Winter is over, expose the clear top so sunlight enters the greenhouse and Mr.Banana starts growing again. Then when the last frost nears, remove the clear cover, and roll the Banana plant back upright to resume normal growth up vertically until next Winter.

To make the rolling of the barrel easier, I'll be using a hand crank winch or maybe even a small electric winch. Anyway, this is the basic idea and I'll post more details and pics here as I progress. For efficiency of space, I'll be having barrels on both ends opposite of each other so one can roll horizontal, and then the other roll down over top of the other one. Sorry if this is a bit confusing...I'll post pics which will help it all make sense.

I think this may be a way for people in colder climates as low as zone 5 and 6 to have around a 9 month Banana growing season. Super excited about this idea!

Re: New way to grow Bananas in colder climates??
 

I'm interested to see this theory in action!

Do you plan on trying this out once winter comes around?

Re: New way to grow Bananas in colder climates??
 

Nope, not waiting, I'm doing it right now! We'll still have potential night temps down into the 20's here in Utah for the next month so I can test out low profile greenhouse concept for the next month. I have an extra 3 ft tall Dwarf Namwah that's perfect to try out. I'll try and get this setup built in the next few days and get the D.Namwah transplanted a.s.a.p.

Got so many ideas running around in my head how to expand and improve this setup.....what to call it? Banana Barrel or Banana Box maybe? :08:

Re: New way to grow Bananas in colder climates??
 

In theory, this should be an extremely easy and inexpensive setup anyone can make for less than $100 or even free scavenging materials. It could also be upscaled and many barrels attached to make one longer tube that can be rotated with one single action to raise and lower many Banana plants at once.

This could maybe also be relevant even in warmer 9 and 10 grow zones to completely mitigate any cold or frost all together and provide a full 12 month grow season. It's a little more work but could be a fun way to grow Bananas

Re: New way to grow Bananas in colder climates??
 

You should give it a try but be aware that it may not work the way you expect. Banana plants strongly seek for the trunk to be somewhat vertical looking up (at the sun I suppose). If you roll them over on their side for winter the trunk will begin to turn upwards very quickly. This will begin to happen within hours but in 1 to 2 days the trunk will be reaching for the sky so much that, in a conventional nursery pot, it will not be able to be turned back to its original upward angle as the trunk will now topple that pot over with it's weight. Yes the barrel can be rolled to correct this but the trunk will never recover back the other way. The trunk will not turn up with a long curve (like a coconut palm) instead the whole trunk will stay fairly straight but will angle near the soil line leaving the top part of the trunk above the base somewhat straight. I have had potted bananas be blown over in hurricanes and if not set back up within a day they begin the angle and if left for another day they have to be repotted to correct the trunk.
Yes you may be able to put the plant into the dark or dormancy to stop that. I have never tried. Or you might be ok with the barrel opening being not on the top after the winter. Also I do not know for sure if the trunk seeks light or if gravity tells it to stand upright.

Re: New way to grow Bananas in colder climates??
 

True, I'm hoping it wont be an issue, but we'll see. It takes 2 seconds to rotate the barrel 180 deg so that the opposite side of the trunk is facing down which would force the trunk to correct if it want to grow up because it would now be angling down to the ground. I could see it being a hassle if you had to rotate it every day or two, but we'll see. Worst case scenario, the growing horizontally idea could be skipped and one could just grow vertically as long as the season permitted, then when the leaves die back, roll ithe barrel to put it down into dormancy for the winter, which would be 4 months here in Zone 6.

In that case it would be the same as just making a huge cage around the pstem and filling with leaves, except the advantage to this method is that no Pstem cutting or die back would occur. Also, a huge advantage would be if your Banana plant fruited right before winter, you could roll it down into the greenhouse setup and continue growing until the harvest is ripe even into winter. I've seen Banana plants with a huge rack topple over horizontal to where the Pstem folds but the plant and leaves still stay alive and remain horizontal until the harvest without growing back toward the sky.

Re: New way to grow Bananas in colder climates??
 

I got it setup alot quicker than expected. Made a quick box out of 1.5" foam board, got the D.Namwah transplanted, and made a makeshift cover with plastic and some 1" mattress foam for extra insulation during the Night. I'll probably make a better top cover sometime this week but I only need this for the next month or so to test the concept and can build a nicer setup for next Winter.

All in all, took maybe an hour or two to set this up.

Re: New way to grow Bananas in colder climates??
 

When the Banana tries to grow upright, an idea I have is to have a bar or strap that goes above the top of the pstem so that it can't grow up past the bar. Perhaps several bars will be needed, or just keep moving the single bar forward as the pstem grows. This will be fun to see how it works.

Re: New way to grow Bananas in colder climates??
 

So far, so good....it only got down to about 40 deg last night outside, but the Transplant is doing great. No sign of the Pstem trying to grow upright yet.... I decided to expand the experiment and add growing Pineapple and eventually dragon fruit into the mix. I noticed there was so much wasted space around the Banana plant and wanted to use it efficiently, so I put a test Pineapple plant in there.

Re: New way to grow Bananas in colder climates??
 

Definitely interested in seeing the results. Did some undergraduate research in gravitropism and phototropism. These are the main concerns I could see affecting this negatively. You may end up with a curved stem. Either way would love to see how this pans out! Happy growing!

Re: New way to grow Bananas in colder climates??
 

Both (answer to your last question)! Known as phototropism and gravitropism, although I'm not certain if this occurs in banana plants but I would expect so.

Re: New way to grow Bananas in colder climates??
 

Thanks, I'll definitely be keeping an eye on this happening! Since my primary objective is to grow food, I'd be ok with a curved or otherwise deformed stem. After thinking it through, I'm pretty sure that when the trunk tries to grow upright all that would be needed is to mechanically stop it from happening which could be a simple bar or strap above that once the pstem hits it, it can no longer go upright past the bar. The bar/bars could be positioned anywhere needed along the length of the pstem.

I also suspect that once the pstem gets very long and large, it would weigh so much with the leverage point being right at the base, that it wouldn't be able to grow up and might actually need propping to not break or fold in half. Just theories at this point.......

Re: New way to grow Bananas in colder climates??
 

I've also thought that maybe a strap that goes over the pstem and connected to a heavy sandbag below would be an option to weigh down the pstem so it cant grow upward. Not sure if prolonged exposure ofthe strap would cause rotting underneath on the pstem, which is why I like the idea of a round bar which would have minimal contact patch with the pstem.

Re: New way to grow Bananas in colder climates??
 

That could work! There may be some literature online that has tested guiding growth with obstacles like that. I know they do it with bonsai all the time. That could be a start. Really interesting!

Re: New way to grow Bananas in colder climates??
 

Great idea. I look forward to seeing how this works long term.

Bill

Re: New way to grow Bananas in colder climates??
 

Thanks, yeah it will be interesting, and I also wonder how the roots will do long term. My plan is to grow 3 plants per barrel at different stages, only one fruiting at a time, and heavily water and fertilize appropriately. Eventually, I plan to upscale this and connect multiple barrels so its one long huge soil mass tube that all the plants can have root access, and a total volume of 200-300 gal or more to try and mimic being in the ground a little better. With such a heavy setup I'll need to build a sturdy frame and roll the barrels with a winch, but this could be really fun to see what's possible.

Re: New way to grow Bananas in colder climates??
 

I'm optimistic and hoping it will! I'll have to do a little online searching to see if there is anything with growth obstacles.....

Re: New way to grow Bananas in colder climates??
 

This is what would be expected for the roots as gravity plays a major role in its regulation. Will be cool to see what happens!

Re: New way to grow Bananas in colder climates??
 

Interesting! I didn't know the roots also would grow like that.....not sure how much it will matter with the roots since they'll just completely fill the Barrel anyway.....

Re: New way to grow Bananas in colder climates??
 

Day 3: The D. Namwah is doing great this morning, 3rd day 3 of being transplanted. Leaves look nice and healthy, and still no sign of upward growth. I put a small Oak stump under the Pstem to support it, so I'll use it lifting off the stump as a sign of upward growth.

I also added a second layer of plastic to filter the sunlight a little more so it's not so bright inside to ease the adjustment period.

I need to drill some watering holes on top ofthe barrel and contain the soil a little better on the side of the barrel, but all in all, things are going great so far. Added a Sugar Dragon, Dragonfruit inside to add growing it to the experiment.