Saturday 9 April 2011

Banana Babies

Bananas, beautiful lush tropical trees, can I call them that?  Apparently not.  They are actually the worlds largest herb.  The banana plant is the largest perennial plant on earth without a wooden stem. Its trunk (called pseudo stem) comprises a series of tightly overlapping leaf sheaths and is comprised of about 90% water.  Enough with the data and on with the story.
I love them as a plant but not as a food.  Every year or so I am determined it will be different.  This year I will enjoy eating a banana.  Wrong!
I like the look of bananas, the texture doesn't worry me and I know that they are packed with nutrients and very good for me. 
But get that bite of banana in my mouth and yuck.  Nope sorry can't do it. 
Although I can eat banana cake.  Just call me complicated.
Luckily Hubby is a banana fan because there are only the 2 of us (one who doesn't eat bananas) as I have 4 plants in the garden that should fruit in the next few months, then it is wait and see how soon they ripen.  In addition to the big banana plants each of these has produced suckers and 2 of these suckers are at the stage that I could remove them and plant elsewhere.
As I don't know when the big bananas will fruit I don't know weather to remove the suckers.
Dilemma. 
I am told I should remove them to stop them taking all the nutrients from the yet to be fruiting plants, but I also know I need to leave some suckers as these will replace the big banana plans after they have fruited and get cut down.
To cut or not to cut, that is the question.
Maybe I should cut the first ones from each big plant, plant them somewhere else and wait for another sucker to grow and be left as the replacement.
Does anyone have any ideas on this matter?

Banana shoots coming up around the parent plants apparently they should be transplanted at this stage while the leaves are sword shaped

3 comments:

  1. I have no idea, sorry! If I could grow bananas where I live, then I would and then I might have some handy tips for banana propagation. My MIL managed to grow a banana plant in a hot and dry Perth and had a little success with it.

    Good luck, and hopefully someone out there in blogland will have some ideas.

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  2. you can replant the suckers into pots with cow manure and keep them going in your garden or give them away(if you get to may,Not that i think you can) but from what i read it is important to take the suckers away because you crop(if you get one) will be poor
    Cheers

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  3. wow! Bananas! that's very cool. No idea how to help with your question but am very impressed anyway :)

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