Will fruit ripen on tree without leaves?
 

Hi, my name is Mike and I'm new to the forum. I live in Sarasota, Fl, zone 9b. I have a banana tree with a fruit bunch that flowered in August, but the tree has no leaves left on it. This may be because we had a very dry and coolish November, or maybe because I didn't water it enough earlier in the fall. The bananas are decent sized, but they are not yet fully mature as they have not yet plumped up. My question is this: Will the bananas continue to mature on a plant even if the plant has no leaves? As it is December and there is a good chance we will have a frost at some point this winter, should I just go ahead and pick the fruit now? Or if I leave them a little longer will they continue to mature, even though the weather is cool and the plant has no leaves. The mat does have a medium sized baby with leaves on it...will the mother plant get energy from the baby? In general, the temps lately have been about high 50's at night and around 80 during the day, but we have had cooler nights with temps in the 40's. Any advice would be appreciated!!

Re: Will fruit ripen on tree without leaves?
 

Hi Mike... I will let a more experienced banana grower answer the fruit ripening question. I am in Englewood, about 45 minutes South of you. Yes, it has been very dry. I have been watering my bananas about every other day. I try to get water on the leaves too, so that there is some humidity as the water evaporates. I don't go overboard with it, but bananas do like humidity. If your leaves are dessicated you should probably consider watering more often... you don't need to water in heavily... I'm saying a more frequent watering schedule is better than periodic drenching. It has been incredibly dry and there has been no sign of rain... so plants with big fleshy leaves need to be watered more often.

Re: Will fruit ripen on tree without leaves?
 

Yeah, I'm usually pretty good but I had a few weeks when I slacked on the watering and my heliconias and bananas let me know pretty quickly. However, the banana with the bunch is the only one that completely defoliated. The rest of the banana trees are still in pretty good shape.

Re: Will fruit ripen on tree without leaves?
 

Yes, they can continue to fill out even without any leaves. Happens on my neighbors Namwah regularly because her son doesn't like the esthetics of damaged leaves and he prunes them off even when they still have plenty of green. I've got to think would fill faster he would leave them on the plant. Personally, I'd leave the bunch on the plant until you are pretty sure you are going to get frost damage. Cut it off before that occurs. Good luck. Let us know how it works out.