Climate Change

Re: Bananas in the Garden

M&MBM — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 20:16:40 GMT

Alas, though my M basjoo fruited, the fruits are not edible. I was told that M yunnan does bear edible fruit in this country, but mine didn't prove as hardy as the basjoo. For real bananas we need the dwarf cavendishii (off the top of my head). I had one in a large pot in a cool greenhouse but it snuffed it over the winter. I have just come back from Madeira where I saw lots of bananas growing, and the dwarf cavendishii does look the right one to pick as it is really quite short.

Re: Bananas in the Garden

Arrem — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 20:21:14 GMT

Surbiton Flowers wrote:

that is definitely and upside to global warming! i want bananas in my back garden.

--------------------------------

And I'd like a garden big enough to grow bananas in.

Re: Bananas in the Garden

bigsusan55 — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 13:54:07 GMT

You can just seein the photo, on Blaise's left shoulder, the banana flower - that gets eaten cooked as a veg as well. Can't say that I was impressed, but it was OK.

Big Susan

Re: Bananas in the Garden

Digger — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 13:00:05 GMT

What a splendid picture! a young happy chap indeed.

Re: Bananas in the Garden

bigsusan55 — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 20:58:46 GMT

I'm with Digger and (someone else, apologies I've forgotten who) on the dying off once fruited and producing new plantlets around the base thing. Certainly that was what happened to all my Dad's banana plants when they fruited. He lives in India which is how he had a number in the garden. Lots of coconuts as well -don't sunbathe under a coconut tree!

Big Susan

Re: Bananas in the Garden

Surbiton Flowers — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 20:47:56 GMT

that is definitely and upside to global warming! i want bananas in my back garden

Re: Bananas in the Garden

pelletizer — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 12:08:39 GMT

Banana is a tropical herbaceous plant consisting of an underground corm and a trunk (pseudostem) comprised of concentric layers of leaf sheaths. At 10 to 15 months after the emergence of a new plant, its true stem rapidly grows up through the center and emerges as a terminal inflorescence which bears fruit.

Re: Bananas in the Garden

Figwort — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 08:53:02 GMT

Wow, that's keen. I'm afraid I just have to let mine get on with it and battle whatever weather is thrown at it. But it has come through the last four winters with no protection whatsoever.

Re: Bananas in the Garden

M&MBM — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 15:14:12 GMT

Sorry about the empty posts, folks. Don't know what happened there.

The reason my banana is early is probably because I erect a plasic greenhouse over it for the winter, so the dormancy is quite short. (I know it's time to take it down when the cover starts being lifted off. Unfortunately this means the spike has come out before the leaves have grown and looks aesthetically displeasing. I don't lnow if I will get some leaves on this shoot.

Still exciting though.

Re: Bananas in the Garden

M&MBM — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 15:08:36 GMT

Re: Bananas in the Garden

M&MBM — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 15:08:36 GMT

Re: Bananas in the Garden

Figwort — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 12:00:47 GMT

Blimey that's early! I've got a Musa basjoo, which flowered in 2006, but had no flowers last year (not surprising, considering the weather). But it didn't start flowering until mid-July, but you are further south than me and in a warmer part of the country.

Re: Bananas in the Garden

M&MBM — Fri, 30 May 2008 17:59:56 GMT

I am so excited. I have a flower spike on one of the stems.

Re: Bananas in the Garden

M&MBM — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 15:53:33 GMT

Digger and Stevew are correct. Once the stem has fruited, it dies off, but the offsets will take over. I understand I should have removed all but one or two of my banana's offsets, but I like the forest effect. I'm growing Musa basjoo in my garden. I tried Musa sikkimensis and M. yunnan. Yunnan is supposed to produce fruit which is edible, if not particularly palatable. The dwarf M. cavendish is the one for edible bananas, but this is much more cold sensitive. I tried keeping one in my greenhouse but it died. I also lost the sikkimensis the first year, despite wrapping, and the yunnan the second, even though that was planted and protected in the same way as the basjoo. Afte some rather Heath Robinson constructions over the banana patch, I now erect one of those tent style greehouses over them to overwinter them. I have to cut them down to about 6 ft of course, which is heartbreaking at the end of the Summer. This year was so mild, they started growing quite early and lifted the greenhouse up with them. I have a musella lasiocarpa, which is supposed to be even hardier. That flowered for me last year, though no fruit was set. The wasps loved the flower. That stem dies, though I have a ring of offsets to take over. I have detached some of the offsets from both the lasiocarpa and the basjoo, though not all of them took. The lasiocarpa is more reliable in that respect (for me, at least). I'm very pleased with my bananas, and will maybe post some piccies when they look a little less winter weary.

Re: Bananas in the Garden

Digger — Wed, 22 Nov 2006 17:55:44 GMT

Nice one stevew, Thank you for pointing this out obviously tthe new shoots produced fruit on consecutive years givving the impression that the same stem was providing fruit, to a casual passer by this would appear the same plant fruiting each year, so i must have read it correctly thanks for support stevew through this difficult debate that did appear as though i was out numbered for a while and the debate would have reached a wrong conclusion just by sheer numbers of people,however in the UK bananas are not a regular crop so people could perhaps be forgiven for not having all the information immediately to hand. So there we have it a succesful conclusion is the outcome.