In principle, growing bananas is not possible in Germany: it is far too cold for the plants, and the growing season is far too short for the fruits to ripen. However, with the right care, you can harvest fruit yourself.
How are bananas harvested?
When harvesting bananas on the plantations, the perennials arecut downand then the unripe fruit heads are removed. Banana plants only bear fruit once in their lives anddie afterwardBefore that, however, they formkindles, which ensure the continued existence of the plant.
How to harvest bananas?
If you want to harvest bananas yourself, you need a lot of patience - it takes several monthsup to a yearfrom flowering to ripe fruit. During this time, the plant needs constantly warm temperatures, high humidity of at least 50 percent and lots of light all year round - this is possible in the autumn and winter monthsonly with additional plant lamps. Otherwise, just continue to care for the plant as usual, because it only blooms and bears fruit when it is doing really well. After harvesting, cut down the mother plant and continue to care for the children.
Are bananas always harvested green?
In the plantations, the bananas are actually harvested when the fruits are still green and therefore unripe. The approach hastwo reasons:
- The fruits still have tolong distances to travel before they are in our supermarket and, if they were harvested ripe, they would already be mushy before they arrive.
- Bananas that are harvested when ripe quickly take on afloury taste instead of sweet. This can be avoided with an early harvest.
If your banana plant has set fruit,ripening is unlikely. However, you can support the plant (see question 1). Cutting off the blossom also helps the fruit ripen because the banana then has to use less force.
What happens to the banana plant after the harvest?
Bananas only fruit once in their life anddie after harvest. Before that, however, they formKindel, which you can continue to care for and which grow very quickly. This means that you can simply cut the mother plant down to just above the ground and leave the offshoots standing. Plant separately.
Tip
How long does it take from flower to banana?
Bananas bloom between 80 and 180 days before the first small fruit sets even appear. On the large banana plantations, the harvest takes place after about one to one and a half years.
