How to Grow Banana Tree Varieties in Colder Areas

Match your banana variety to the space available. Certain banana trees get taller than 25 foot high and their leaf spread can be over 10 feet, but there are also dwarf bananas for smaller spaces. The Chinese dwarf banana, Musella lasciocarpa, is a good ornamental variety that gets 4 to 6 feet tall, with beautiful yellow flowers and inedible fruit. The cold hardy velvet banana will produce sweet, if seedy, pink bananas, and only gets 4 to 6 feet tall. The Dwarf Cavendish is one of the most popular small bananas getting 4 to 7 feet tall and producing top-rated fruits.

Select ornamental bananas, some with colorful foliage, if you want a plant only 1 to 4 foot tall. For the medium-sized yard, banana varieties that will get 10 to 15 foot high include the Apple or Manzana, the Ice Cream or Blue Java, the Hawaiian or Popoulu, and the Darjeeling. All of these varieties are known for their tasty fruits of various flesh colors and flavors. Some of the taller bananas that require more space include the Lacatan Cavendish, the Lady Finger, the Orinoco, and the Williams, which can reach 20 to 25 feet tall.

Set the banana plants in an area with lots of sun, water and well-drained soil. Direct all-day sunlight is especially important in northern growing areas to get the banana plant to grow as fast as possible before the season ends. Bananas trees quit growing when temperatures go below 60 degrees for extended periods.

Buy banana tree varieties suitable for the climate if they are to be planted outside. The Basjoo banana can survive winter temperatures as low as minus 20 degrees Fahrenheit. It is an ornamental banana, with inedible fruit, grown for its 10-foot tall tropical foliage. One of the hardiest banana plants that will produce a nice crop of delicious fruits if given the right conditions is the Orinoco banana. It can survive up to zone 7 if protected well. Ensete glaucum, the snow banana, can be grown up to zone 7 and Musa velutina, the velvet banana can be grown up to zone 6. The Darjeeling banana can be grown up to zone 5 or 6 with protection and produces fruit that is sweet but may have some seeds.

Grow a banana tree in a container or pot, if there is not available space or it is too far north. If it is easier to move the banana plant inside each winter, planting it in a pot may be the answer. Bananas work well as container plants as they have shallow root systems and the smaller varieties don't need overly large pots. A Dwarf Cavendish can be grown in a 3-gallon pot and if kept warm enough, well fed and adequately watered, it will produce fruit.

Check the soil every few days and if the top 2 inches is dry, water the plant. Bananas are heavy feeders and should be fertilized regularly whenever they are actively growing. By adding a small amount of soluble fertilizer to water, it is possible to feed them regularly with each watering.

Drench the soil every three months or so if using chemical fertilizers to remove any salts that might build up. Repeatedly wash the soil by watering the plant heavily and allowing it to drain freely several times with clean water.

Cut down an old stem once the potted banana has produced ripe fruit and repot one of the young banana shoots that should have come up around it. allow at least a couple of young replacement banana shoots to come up around the main stem each year.

Cut the leaves off the banana stem and use a shovel to dig up the swollen base of the banana before the first hard freeze. It only extends some 4 to 6 inches into the soil. It won't hurt the plant to cut off the thin roots and it is best to remove all the soil, just don't cut off any of the main banana stem.

Store the banana stem with its corm attached in a cool, dry, dark area where it will not freeze. Crawl spaces, basements, and garages are suitable places where the banana plants can be laid out or leaned against a wall till dangers of frost pass. The reason for not cutting the banana stem back is that it already contains a fully formed flower bud inside it, grown during the first season. By keeping this bud intact to continue growing next season, it is possible to greatly increase the chances of getting banana fruit by the season's end.

Plant the banana back out the following spring. Support it till the roots grow back out. Put three equally spaced ground stakes around the stem 6 feet away. Tie the banana stem to each stake by encircling it with 6-inch wide pieces of strong cloth that are then tied to ropes that connect to the stakes. Plant the corms just as deep as they were before and scatter balanced fertilizer around them no closer than one foot.

Protect, water and feed bananas over-wintered outside. The more of the banana main stem kept from freezing the faster the banana plant will recover the following spring and the greater the chances of getting fruit next fall. With ornamental bananas, saving the stem is not as important but protect the underground corm and roots of any banana by mulching them heavily. The corm will die if the ground freezes. To protect the stems of fruiting bananas, cover them with insulating material such as bags of leaves or fiberglass insulation mats wrapped around the stem, or wire cages covered with plastic bubble wrap. Don't wrap the stem up in sheet plastic as anywhere the plastic touches the stem it will freeze and when the sun comes out it overheats. It is best not to try to save any banana stems more than 6 feet tall simply because they are too hard to protect.