Cultivating a banana tree in your own garden is a special attraction for many hobby gardeners. Getting such plants to bloom is already a challenge. Promoting the fruits is considered a truly supreme discipline.
When are bananas in season?
Bananas are in season all year round in the supermarket, as they are harvested all year round in Central and South America without any climatic fluctuations. In your own garden, the banana plant follows a different rhythm, with flowering occurring under optimal conditions from the third to fifth year onwards.
Origin and growth
Banana plants grow in tropical conditions and are harvested all year round in Central and South America. Since they are not subject to climatic fluctuations, they produce fruit at any time of the year. Harvested green, the tropical fruits are exported with slight cooling. They then ripen and the starch they contain is converted into sugar. Bananas are in season all year round in the supermarket. The banana plant in the garden, on the other hand, follows a different rhythm.
Making a Banana Plant Bloom
Despite its tropical origins, you can plant a banana in your garden. The heavy-feeding plant requires a good supply of nutrients. Potassium-focused fertilizers encourage flowering when the time comes. The soil and light conditions are also important for the perennial to flower.
These varieties are suitable:
- Musa Basjoo: 'Nana' and 'Saporro' are frost hardy down to -12°C
- Musa sikkimensis: 'Red Tiger' is hardy down to -10°C
- Musa x paradisica: 'Dwarf Cavendish' is a non-hardy banana for the container
Flowering season
It takes a few years for a banana tree to bloom. This happens under optimal conditions from the fifth year and, for some species, for the first time in the third year. The strikingly large flowers are surrounded by purple bracts and exude a sweet honey scent. If the banana tree develops flowers, it means death for the mother plant. However, it has formed numerous offshoots in the root area, which continue to grow after it dies.
Do the perennials produce fruit?
In principle, it is possible for fruit to develop on a self-cultivated banana plant. In the tropics, birds are responsible for pollinating hermaphrodite flowers. However, from a botanical perspective, these berries require optimal conditions to ripen.
Development
After flowering, it can take up to 180 days and with good care between 80 and 100 days until the first mini bananas appear. It takes another three to four months until the fruits are ready to harvest. In most cases, the bananas rot on the plant. The warm period of the Central European summer is not sufficient for fruit to fully ripen, so cultivation in a greenhouse appears to make more sense.
Tip
When you see the first fruit sets, remove all remaining inflorescences. In this way, the perennial can invest all of its energy in the development of the existing fruits.
Use flowers
The flowers are a typical ingredient for Asian dishes, salads or provide a vegan fish alternative. Similar to artichokes, the heart is stripped of the petals so only the inside is used.
