Steps to Growing Bananas

Planting Bananas

• Bananas prefer a warm location with full sun and fertile, well-drained soil for best results. They prefer acid soils and are not salt tolerant.

  Bananas need plenty of moisture, but do not tolerate wet conditions. Give them plenty of space, the plants spread by underground roots and can quickly take over a large area. Allow 12 feet or more between plants, buildings and other trees.

Water

• Bananas require consistent irrigation throughout the year. Apply 1 to 1 ½ inches of water each week unless rainfall has been sufficient.

  A layer of organic mulch, 3 to 4 inches deep, helps conserve water and protects fragile roots close to the surface.

Fertilizer

• Banana plants need plenty of nutrients to support their fast growth. Fertilize them every two to three months with a high potassium fertilizer. They also require nutrient sprays one or two times a year.

Pruning

• Banana rhizomes put out numerous suckers that quickly grow into pseudostems and rob the plant of nutrients. It is necessary to leave three or four pseudostems to take the place of the main trunk after fruiting, but additional stems need to be removed. Cut off new suckers as they appear and remove the fruiting stalk after harvesting. Chop up the plant material and add it back to the plant as mulch.

Cold Weather Care

• Bananas need protection from the cold whenever temperatures drop below freezing. Freeze damaged leaves take on a water-soaked appearance and die. Protect banana plants by wrapping them or covering them with tarps or blankets.

  Banana trees killed to the ground grow back again in the spring as long as the root lives. In areas prone to hard freezes, gardeners dig up the rhizome in the fall for replanting in the spring. Trees grown this way are beautiful for landscaping, but do not have enough time to produce fruit.

Flowers and Fruit

• Banana flowers appear in two phases after 10 to 15 frost-free months. The first flowers to appear are small female flowers, which eventually form into bananas. The male flowers appear last and really serve no function since most bananas form fruit without pollination.

  It can take several months after fruits appear before they begin to grow and ripen. The fruit does not grow during cold weather but will begin to fill out in the spring.

  Harvest bananas when they just begin to turn yellow and ripen them on the counter as desired. If you leave the bananas on the plant, they will all ripen at the same time.