Author Topic: Banana tree in pot  (Read 3997 times)


561MangoFanatic

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Re: Banana tree in pot
« Reply #1 on: March 09, 2018, 09:34:54 AM »
Yes I have a TrulyTiny banana in a pot that is starting to flower to make bananas... I’ll try and post a pic if I get around to my parents house
Sergio

kh0110

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Re: Banana tree in pot
« Reply #2 on: March 09, 2018, 02:59:48 PM »
Dwarf Namwah grows and fruits well in pot. Nothing special about soil and fertilizer.


Thera

KarenRei

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Re: Banana tree in pot
« Reply #3 on: March 09, 2018, 03:06:18 PM »
Impressive, kh! That's the most impressive potted banana I've ever seen. Is that an air pot like your others?  Do you have a picture of how big of a bunch you get off of it?  I can't imagine what that poor corm looks like all crammed in there!
« Last Edit: March 09, 2018, 03:21:31 PM by KarenRei »
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Empoweredandfree

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Re: Banana tree in pot
« Reply #4 on: March 09, 2018, 05:12:37 PM »
They grow fantastic in pots. However, with the exception of the "tiny banana"  most will be too big to bring indoors if you have a cold season. They're not only tall but very wide.

fruitlovers

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Re: Banana tree in pot
« Reply #5 on: March 09, 2018, 05:30:43 PM »
Impressive, kh! That's the most impressive potted banana I've ever seen. Is that an air pot like your others?  Do you have a picture of how big of a bunch you get off of it?  I can't imagine what that poor corm looks like all crammed in there!
Bananas corms are not that large. They will easily fit into a 15 gallon pot. The challenging part is giving them enough nutrients inside a pot, as they are heavy feeders. Also that pot pictured would easily topple over in the slightest of wind.
Oscar

kh0110

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Re: Banana tree in pot
« Reply #6 on: March 10, 2018, 01:06:15 AM »
Impressive, kh! That's the most impressive potted banana I've ever seen. Is that an air pot like your others?  Do you have a picture of how big of a bunch you get off of it?  I can't imagine what that poor corm looks like all crammed in there!

The banana tree is in a Costco pot that my wife bought and didn't know what to do with it. Here's a photo of the bunch that I got. With proper care, it could be larger.


Thera

Mark in Texas

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Re: Banana tree in pot
« Reply #7 on: March 10, 2018, 08:22:38 AM »
The banana tree is in a Costco pot that my wife bought and didn't know what to do with it. Here's a photo of the bunch that I got. With proper care, it could be larger.



Wow, that is impressive!  I've got a Grain Nain coming and have a dwarf that took 18F but is coming back with a vengeance.  Might put it in a 20 gal. RootBuilder pot.

KarenRei

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Re: Banana tree in pot
« Reply #8 on: March 10, 2018, 08:42:21 AM »
I've had a number of problems with potted bananas over the years that I had long believed was mainly a fungus / bacterial problem, but have since come to realize is primarily a problem of underfeeding (particularly potassium). I dismissed the browning of the leaf edges and their eventual loss as normal leaf loss and/or attributed it to the periodic spider mite problems that are always a pain for indoor growers. The plants would get up to an impressive size, but then a foul-smelling rot would set in in the stalks, the stalk would die and the plant would have to start over from a pup. I've lost three very large bananas that way  :Þ   Potting up always seemed to improve things... for a time. But of course that repotting gave them fresh soil and made the job of them incorporating the nutrients in the soil easier, as they had more root space.

What clicked was when treating a particularly problematic banana (which experienced trouble even at a small size), and I finally ID'ed the soil as potassium deficient... and then in cross-referencing the deficiency found an article talking about bacterial stem rot on a particular plantation (the symptoms of which exactly matched my description) that had been traced back to severe potassium deficiency leaving the plant vulnerable.

Live and learn.  :)

Seeing KH's success makes me want to see if I can replicate it with a properly fed banana.  It'd be nice to be able to give the rain barrels to something else (hmm, the question is, what deserves them most...?  Maybe an annona?  ;)  )  At least spider mites shouldn't bother me any more.  I recently found a local (and affordable!) supplier of predatory mites/insects that I didn't know existed  :)
« Last Edit: March 10, 2018, 08:48:27 AM by KarenRei »
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lebmung

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Re: Banana tree in pot
« Reply #9 on: March 10, 2018, 03:54:34 PM »
Here is one of my Thai bananas I have like 7 species



During the winter and autumn, bananas need high potassium intake to make their cells stronger, I use potassium nitrate, a regulated substance not easily available to normal gardeners due to its explosive use.


fruitlovers

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Re: Banana tree in pot
« Reply #10 on: March 10, 2018, 04:00:11 PM »
Impressive, kh! That's the most impressive potted banana I've ever seen. Is that an air pot like your others?  Do you have a picture of how big of a bunch you get off of it?  I can't imagine what that poor corm looks like all crammed in there!

The banana tree is in a Costco pot that my wife bought and didn't know what to do with it. Here's a photo of the bunch that I got. With proper care, it could be larger.


How do you keep that from toppling over? Seems like it would be very top heavy, especially with the rack of bananas on it?
Oscar

fruitlovers

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Re: Banana tree in pot
« Reply #11 on: March 10, 2018, 04:02:27 PM »
Here is one of my Thai bananas I have like 7 species


During the winter and autumn, bananas need high potassium intake to make their cells stronger, I use potassium nitrate, a regulated substance not easily available to normal gardeners due to its explosive use.
What is the advantage of using potassium nitrate? Isn't it much easier to get potassium sulfate, which is not prone to exploding?
Oscar

kh0110

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Re: Banana tree in pot
« Reply #12 on: March 10, 2018, 04:11:14 PM »
...
How do you keep that from toppling over? Seems like it would be very top heavy, especially with the rack of bananas on it?

All the air-pots around the banana pots are not there just for decoration, Oscar. :) And it's next the walled fence which limits the direction of the Santa Ana wind that we get here in So Cal.
Thera

lebmung

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Re: Banana tree in pot
« Reply #13 on: March 10, 2018, 04:22:14 PM »

What is the advantage of using potassium nitrate? Isn't it much easier to get potassium sulfate, which is not prone to exploding?
[/quote]

Potassium nitrate is one of the best fertilizers, very easily absorbed by the plant, it can be even sprayed. The downside is that is expensive and a precursor to explosives. Potassium goes straight to the cells, plus it has nitrogen in a nitrate form. Potassium sulfate will make the soil more acidic.

pineislander

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Re: Banana tree in pot
« Reply #14 on: March 10, 2018, 09:09:05 PM »
Potassium Nitrate is sold in the USA as "Stump Remover".
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Spectracide-16-oz-Stump-Remover/4764059

Can be used to stimulate mango bloom in tropical conditions.

KarenRei

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Re: Banana tree in pot
« Reply #15 on: March 11, 2018, 05:02:43 AM »
The NPK on pure potassium nitrate is 14-0-46, or 3,3x as much K (K2O) as nitrogen (N).  The info I find suggests bananas like 2,5-3x as much potassium as nitrogen, so that's a pretty close match, particularly once you add in a balanced NPK to give phosphorus.  It's also very soluble.  I find lots of mention of it being used in commercial plantations.

Funny that they're concerned about it being misused where you are; I just walked into a store and bought a 25kg bag  ;)  More to the point, at the same time that I bought a 25kg bag of sulfur.  If I had also bought a 25kg bag of charcoal, do you think Iceland would have put me on a registry?  ;)

(Note to self: don't premix dry fertilizer mixes containing potassium nitrate, sulfur, and any flammable carbonaceous compounds)
« Last Edit: March 11, 2018, 05:10:36 AM by KarenRei »
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561MangoFanatic

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Re: Banana tree in pot
« Reply #16 on: March 11, 2018, 04:17:10 PM »

Sergio

KarenRei

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Re: Banana tree in pot
« Reply #17 on: March 11, 2018, 04:43:40 PM »
Já, ég er að rækta suðrænar plöntur á Íslandi. Nei, ég er ekki klikkuð. Jæja, kannski...

561MangoFanatic

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Sergio

fruitlovers

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Re: Banana tree in pot
« Reply #19 on: March 11, 2018, 07:12:33 PM »
Dwarf cavendish? They are ideal for pots.
Oscar

561MangoFanatic

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Re: Banana tree in pot
« Reply #20 on: March 11, 2018, 07:59:39 PM »
Dwarf cavendish? They are ideal for pots.

Yes, I also have dwarf cavendish in a pot.. as a matter of fact all my bananas in my collection are in pots and do well as long as they’re watered and fertilized.. my truly tiny didn’t start flowering until I gave it high  potassium fertilizer.
Sergio