The knowledge about how to grow a banana tree properly is crucial when you are thinking about having one at home. A lot of people think that they always need a lot of space to grow the tree. In reality, though, the plant can fit into any available space, even the limited one. It’s even possible to grow a tree inside your house.
How to Grow a Banana Tree: The Facts
A banana tree is typically tall and big – leading to people thinking of it as a tree. However, the banana tree is actually a type of herbaceous plant that is pretty big in size. As a herbaceous plant, it doesn’t have any woody stem. What you think a stem is actually a fleshy stalk standing upright, tall, and straight with elongated, bright, and big green leaves.
In spring months, you will see beautiful flowers that will turn to elongated and fleshy yellow or green fruit. Keep in mind that bananas are coming in different varieties and species. Most people think that the banana fruit is edible, but it actually depends on the variety. Some varieties may produce inedible fruits.
Starting It out
There are several ways to grow a banana tree. The first one is a banana sucker, which is basically a small shoot of a banana plant’s base. You can find one at the nursery or commercial grower. You can even find one online.
Another option is to grow it from tissue cultures that are commonly made in laboratories. This type of base is believed to generate higher fruit outcomes. You can also consider having a banana corm or rhizome. This one is the base where the suckers grow.
You can also transplant the already mature plant. Whatever option that you pick, make sure that you have prepared enough space. Dig a hole with a fitting size. Keep in mind that the most ideal sucker would be the one having 6 feet to 7 feet of height with sword shaped and thin leaves.
It’s also possible to use smaller suckers, but they should come from healthy mother plants. Don’t go with the ones having round and big leaves. It’s an obvious sign that the mother plant doesn’t have enough nutrition, which affects the quality of the suckers too.
If you have a corm without the suckers, no worry. You can still plant it, as long as it has a bud or a proto sucker. It would be a good idea to chop the corm into pieces. Each of them has its own bud and it will grow to a plant. However, this process will take longer. You surely need to be extra patient about it.
If you want to grow the banana tree indoors, make sure that you use big containers. The containers should be able to accommodate enough space for the growth too. You don’t want to limit the natural growth of your tree.
Final Words
Having (and caring) for a banana tree may not be the best option for beginner growers, but it doesn’t mean that it would be an impossible feat. If you are ready with the extra work and the long-term commitment, you can learn about how to grow a banana tree correctly and properly – and enjoy the satisfying outcome.
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