Do Banana Plants Produce Bananas Every Ten Years?

Roots

• Leaves and stems of the banana plant grow from a large fibrous root called a corm. New plants grow when a shoot or sucker is removed from another root system and planted in a different location. The corm sends out long roots called cord roots. A healthy corm will eventually have 200 to 300 cord roots extending as far as two meters from the central corm. This root system is called a mat and can support several stems.

Leaves

• The first parts of a new banana plant to emerge are the leaves. Many corns already have leaves growing when they are planted. The leaves grow close together in layers that look like a stem. A real plant stem will not grow until the banana plant has grown between 30 and 50 leaves. There will only be 10 to 15 leaves active at one time, however. It can take 8 to 11 months for the plant to produce the right number of leaves to produce a stem.

Stem

• Once the banana plant has grown enough leaves it will grow a stem through the center of the layered leaves. The stem grows into a sturdy trunk. A mature corm can support several stems at one time. Once the stem is fully-grown it develops a large, oval bud at the end which will become the flower. The flower opens into blossoms whorled around the end of the stem. When the banana plant begins to flower it stops sending out new roots and stems in order to use it’s energy ripening fruit.

Fruit

• How many large leaves are growing when the plant begins to flower determines the size of the bunch of bananas that will grow. Once the banana plant flowers it begins to produce hands of bananas. Some varieties take nine months from the time the stem begins to grow until the bananas are ready to harvest. Usually this is determined by the size and shape of the fruit rather than color. Bananas harvested a week or two before fully ripe on the plant are actually sweeter than those ripened on the plant. After the bananas are harvested the stem will die and the corm will begin producing a new stem.