I'm looking for some advice from the gentleman in Lag. Hills or Beach? on a
source for some banana plants and I have lost his E-mail address. I think
he's on this list. Please come out, come out, where ever you are!
l
l
The earth is the LORD'S and the fulness thereof!
Amy of Marvelous Gardens
delicious design in landscape
zone 22 or 10 and holding
Orange County Calif
http://members.ecom.net/~jimandmissi/marvelous/
marvlusgrdns@ecom.net
Hi Amy!
I'm not sure how far you are willing to travel, but we have an excellent
source for plants and information on banana culture down here in San Diego
county. Contact the folks over at Exotica rare fruit nursery 760.724.9093.
I hope this assists you in your search for material.
Donald W. Trotter Ph.D.
Organic Resources Co.>
I'm looking for some advice from the gentleman in Lag. Hills or Beach? on a
Donald Trotter
The Organic Resource Centre
295 Neptune Ave.
Encinitas, CA. 92024
curly@mill.net
1.888.514.4004
fax- 760.632.8175
Amy of Marvelous Gardens wrote:
They are available through Henry Fields (1-605-665-9391) but I cannot
recommend them. Their plants are very small and most have arrived in
very bad shape. In fact the first Banana plant I ordered was dead. The
second seems to be okay (I just got it last week) it cost around $5.00
Edible Landscaping (1-800-524-4156, www.eat-it.com) also has banana
plants. I have never oredered from them so I cannot comment but they
sell a Novak Super Dwarf Banana which they say does well in containers
and grows to only 5-6 feet. It will produce if placed outside in the
warm months. it comes in a quart, gallon or 3 gallon size for $9, 18,
45 respectively
sasha
Can anyone help this person? and PLEASE REPLY TO Myjod1@aol.com
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From: Myjod1@aol.com
Subject: banana plants
Date: Tue, Nov 9, 1999, 1:59 PM
Dear Sir,
I was hoping you could give me some advice. I recently adopted a
homeless
banana tree, the biggest philodendron I've ever seen, and a hibiscus(which
is
blooming ) I live in cleveland and as you might know we have wonderful
weather after october even though it's about 70F right now. one of my
biggest
questions is how can you tell (in banana trees) which is the female and
which
is the male. there are four plants in the same pot and two of the off shoots
have new leaves growing from the center. Also, is it normal for the outer
leaves to turn brown? I know the leaves form the trunk of the plant
eventually. I appreciate your advice . Please E-mail me at Myjod1@aol.com.
Thank you,
Terry Jozwiak
"Lon J. Rombough" wrote:
Dear Terry
I am replying to you as requested above by Lon Rombourgh.
1) Bananas do not have separate male and female plants. They do however
have separate male and female flowers on different parts of the same
infloresence. The female flowers are usually the ones which come out
first and the male ones are at the tip.
2) The shoots you see are actually only pseudostems, as the banana is
not really a tree at all but just a gigantic herb. It grows from a
rhizome in very much the same way as a flowering ginger or a canna -
just a size larger. The stems can get quite gigantic, but consist of
nothing but leaf bases (no wood at all). They usually flower and produce
a bunch of bananas after which they die and new shoots will then grow up
from the rhizome in their place.
It is customary when a bunch of bananas is picked to chop the stem which
has born it to the ground.
I havent actually had anything to do with the growing of bananas since I
left Africa more than 40 years ago, but I doubt the odd leaf dying is
anything to worry about. I should just be careful, though, not to
overwater, epecially during winter, when growth will presumably slow
right down.(I assume the pot will be sheltered over winter or the plant
will certainly not survive outside in your climate)..
Moira
--
Tony & Moira Ryan
Wainuiomata, New Zealand. (on the "Ring of Fire" in the SW Pacific).
Lat. 41:16S Long. 174:58E. Climate: Mediterranean/Temperate
You asked:
which is
Pat replies:
Most common cultivars of banana have both female & male parts on the same plant.
When it flowers, you will see the embrionic fruits in rows along the female part
of the flower. The male part of the plant is the large purple 'glans' (no nicer
way to put it) that hangs down at the end of the inflorescence. After several
rows of fruits form along the inflorescence, cut off the 'glans'. Removing the
male part stimulates the plant to mature the fruits already formed. (If you
don't, the plant will just keep producing more & more fruits on that
inflorescence & they'll never ripen). Virtually all bananas in cultivation have
been grown from root cuttings or clones for thousands of years & have lost the
ability to set seed. Therefore, you don't really need to worry about whether you
have a male or female plant.
You do have to select one healthy, suitable shoot from the many that will emerge
from bottom of the plant to be the successor stem. You must remove the rest of
the suckers that develop so that they dont drain all of the energy from the
plant. Just remove the dead leaves from the plant- they turn brown sometimes...
Remember, the banana is a lg grass- not actually a tree. The leaves fall like
blades of grass. They do require high fertitliy though...
