Where Do Bananas Grow
• Banana plants are the world's tallest herbs and grow from underground rhizomes. They grow 7 to 30 feet tall, depending on variety.
• Banana fruit is actually a berry and is related to lilies, palms and orchids. • The trunk of banana plant is a single stem made of layers of overlapping leaves that grow from an underground corm. • A flower stalk grows through the center of the stem producing a huge bract with dozens of flowers. The females gorw into bananas! • The cluster of bananas (10-20 bananas) are cut off the plant and hung to ripen until ready to eat. • The stem dies and is cut down so "daughter plant" can grow.
Growing Bananas in Containers
• Banana plants can be grown in containers as ornamental plants indoor or outdoors.
• To fruit, temperatures must be be 75 and 85 degrees consistently over 10-15 months as in tropical climates. • Bananas need full sun or a bright room. • Bananas need consistent water & moisture in the soil and air. • You'll need ½ pound of nitrogen and potassium rich fertilizer per month per stem.
Banana Varieties For Container
• Super Dwarf Cavendish - 4 feet
• Rajapuri - 10 feet • Musa Basjoo - cold hardy to 15 degrees
"How long before you get fruit?"
• Most tall varieties need 10-15 months before you can harvest fruit, if you have proper climate.
• Veinte Cohol is a dwarf, faster fruiting variety ready in as little as 9 months. • Viente Cohol is also more cold hardy than others.
Cooked/Baked Bananas
•
PLANTAINS - are a cooking banana that can be prepared ripe or green. The starchy vegetable is a staple in tropical countries.
• RED BANANAS - are sweet and creamy with raspberry highlights and are best for baking sweet and savory dishes. They are also a great source of Betacarotene.
• BURRO - excellent for baking in banana bread- dense flavor.
Eat Out Of Hand
•
MANAZANO - wait and eat when overly ripe for rich, creamy pineapple-strawberry banana flavor!>br />
• BABY - perfect size for kids, full of fiber, low calories and delicious.
• BANANA LEAVES - Used in international cuisine to wrap rice, fish, pork, eco-friendly cooking wraps and plates, beer, roofing material, livestock food, table runner.
Thank you to Melissa's for providing our banana products today!
Visit Logees.com to order your own banana plants online!
Get more great gardening tips from Shirley Bovshow at
FoodieGardener.com &
@FoodieGardeners.
