South Tampa News Featured Article
Bunches of Bananas
In his campaign to rule the ancient world, Alexander the Great stopped in India in 327 BC and relished his first taste of the banana. He exclaimed that it was an unusual fruit growing on such tall trees. But did you know bananas don’t grow on trees? They don’t because bananas are actually the world’s largest herb! Herb or tree, most of us will agree they are great and tasty (and easy to grow).
History tells us the banana and plantains are native to Southeast Asia, where they have been cultivated for thousands of years. The Portuguese introduced bananas into the Canary Islands and the Spanish to the Island of Hispaniola during the 1500s. Bananas grow freely below the freeze-line in Florida. In South Tampa, they can grow everywhere.
Bananas are probably the second easiest fruit that I grow in my yard. Only papayas are easier (another topic all together). Bananas are really that easy to grow and of course the results are delicious. Not only that - my neighbor’s love the free fruit!
Did you know bananas are among the healthiest of fruits? As far as ease in eating, few fruit top the bananas. Peel it and eat but don’t throw the peel on the ground, they are slippery. Because of their extraordinary potassium content, bananas are highly recommended for anyone suffering from low potassium. One large banana possesses a whopping 602 mg of potassium. It’s also low in calories with only 140 calories per banana with 2 grams of protein and 4 grams of fiber thrown in. It’s low in sodium and for those carb counting individual’s, there are only 36 grams of carbohydrates per banana.
Bananas like good well-drained soil to grow in. The soil should be prepared with a fertilizer that is rich in potassium, nitrogen and magnesium since bananas demand high mineral requirements. To get optimum growth and healthy fruit you’re going to have to fertilize these puppies - bananas are heavy feeders. Their rapid growth rate makes bananas heavy feeders. During warm weather, which is most of the year here, apply a balanced fertilizer once a month. Any of the good 8:10:8 NPK fertilizers appear to do the trick. A mature plant may require as much as 2 pounds of fertilizer each month - they need that much! That’s a lot of food, but the end results are worth it. Young plants need a quarter to a third as much. Spread the fertilizer evenly around the plant in a circle extending 4 - 8 feet from the trunk. Do not allow the fertilizer to come in contact with the trunk (it will burn it). Feed container plants on the same monthly schedule using about half the rate for outside plants.
The best way to have a productive banana crop is to plant a proven variety. Most people grow bananas by planting suckers or pups. Very small pups are called buttons. Large pups are the preferred planting material. These are removed from vigorous clumps with a spade when they are at least three feet tall. Large leaves are cut off of the pup leaving only the youngest leaves or sometimes no leaves at all. Some nurseries supply banana plants as container grown pups. The optimum size for transplanting should be between 3 to 4 inches in diameter. Anything smaller might not have the stored energy to grow or if it does, will take much longer to mature. Container-grown banana plants are simply transplanted without trimming.
Only one primary stalk should be allowed to fruit at a time. This helps channel all of the plant's energy into fruit production. I like to have at least two pups growing with my primary stalk. That way, when I harvest the fruit, the next one is only a few months behind. When the fruit is harvested, cut the fruiting stalk back to 30 inches above the ground. After a few weeks, I cut the stalk into smaller pieces and spread it around the base of the bananas just like mulch.
Banana plants are very sensitive to frosts and can be killed back to the ground even in the lightest freezes. But have no fear; new pups will grow back the following spring. Unless the ground is going to freeze in Tampa, we’re safe.
The only problem I’ve had with my bananas is the tattering of the leaves due to wind. Lower leaves which hang down the trunk can be cut off if desired.
Plant banana pups in full or near-full sun for best production. Southern exposure is the best. When bananas get too much shade they become stunted and may produce small, poor quality fruit.
(Be really careful when you buy bananas because scorpions like to hide out in between the fruit!).
After 10 to 15 months your banana has produced about 30 leaves. The last leaf to be produced is actually the flower. When bananas flower it’s called shooting. And the flowers that develop into the fruit are called hands. You usually get 3 to 4 hands per bunch. Once your banana shoots, that specific stalk is going to die. Nothing you do will prevent that from happening.
Although most banana cultivars produce seedless fruit, some are fertile and can set seed. They taste good, but boy, the seeds will drive you crazy. Thankfully, that’s a rare occurrence.
Bananas are ready for harvesting when the fingers are plump, green and almost ready to turn yellow. A few years back, Mr. Frank Tintera, “The Banana Patch, Inc.”, taught me a neat trick to measure when the fruit will ripen. When the first petal opens, mark the date on the fruit with a pencil. Don’t puncture the banana but write it so it shows thru the skin. From that date to twelve weeks later, the fruit should be ready to be cut down and enjoyed.