Good luck, I just lost one of my small Banana plants. I have a larger one that still looks pretty good.

Thanks, I'm determined to win and grow this plant. A friend of mine has one and its gorgeous. She keeps hers in the garage in the winter.

Here is a little encouragement. My daughter (really the SIL) had one that he grew from a small pup. He grew it in half a whiskey barrel, in their living room. They have a modified A-Frame with the front wall all glass so they had plenty of height and light to grow it inside. Here are a few progression shots.

Wow! That's amazing. Do they move it outside in summer, or pollinate by hand?

Wow, That is great! If mine ever grows and blooms then it will die and no pup. The information said the bloom is worth it. We shall see. This one only grows to about 10 ft.

Those were taken years ago and they don't have it any more.They only moved it in and out for the first couple of years, then it was too big to move. After it bloomed it died back and I think it did that naturally but it put out a pup before it bloomed and afterwards my son removed the pup and started growing it. He moved it in and out of the house keeping it going in his dining room over the winters for the last few years. Now it is too big so this fall we tried pulling it out of the dirt and wrapping it in burlap and storing it in his basement. This is the first time we tried this so we will see what kind of shape it is in come spring.
His house he has pretty standard ceilings but they are on the high side maybe 9 or 10 ft. Here is a pic of it last year.

You should try to find some Dwarf Cavendish Bananas. I've seen them flowering/fruiting at 1.5 metres tall. Not sure though whether they might stretch taller under low light conditions (ie indoors).

".....or pollinate by hand?" Bananas don't need pollination to fruit. Commercially seeds in bananas are undesirable. Some wild species do produce seed, but otherwise in cultivation they're propagated from suckers.

yes, mine grow to a out 6'. Great tasting bananas too, very sweet.

Nancy

I hope some one who is either very near Annapolis or glen burnie Maryland has a bananna they either don't want or would like to trade. I'd love to try to grow on but it would have to live inside all of the time because I wouldn't be able to get it in and out of the house. Is there a way to start such a plant by finding either fruit or something around somewhere?

Any information about how to acquire one of these plants and take care of them is appreciated. Oh, I have cats, 8ft ceilings, and my service dog as well as my birds. I hope these plants and the animals will get along.

If your cats have a scratching pole then they should leave the plants alone. The trunk of a banana is just layers of leaf sheaves. If the cats did damage the outer one the only thing would likely happen is the older leaf would die prematurely. You could then cut off the lead blade but the sheaf would stay and protect the plant.

There are bananas that can be grown from seed, but the commercial ones commonly used for fruit normally have to be grown from suckers. This is a link to a source for banana seeds (Musa species). They have quite a range and are very reliable. Make sure you pick small growing species, will save you a bit of trouble in the long run. I have a purple flowering one which only grows about 1.5 metres tall, ideal for pot culture. And remember to add the height of the pot in any calculations. They are 'greedy' plants, you need to keep them well fed. And they multiply quite readily.

www.rarepalmseeds.com/small.shtml#bananas

Thank you very much.
The purple flowers seem like an interesting color to go with the plant.
I'll look at the information. Hopefully I will have some banana plants in the future.

Banana plants love very high humidity and water..they thrive so well in the Philippines with our heavy moonsoon rains. We love this plant there, so many uses from the leaves, flowers to its fruits. Interesting to see it grown indoors...

I'm almost done with one of the bunches that I have now. When they fruit, there are a LOT of bananas on the stalk and after the first few 6 or 8 ripen every day. I've been busy giving them away, freezing them, sending them home with anyone who stops by... I need to get through this stalk because there is another one that will be ripening soon.

Only a few remain on this one.



but this one is right behind it.



My cats do use the trunks as a scratching post, they haven't hurt any yet. The trunk is about 8 inches in diameter by the time it fruits, that may help. It isn't a favorite of the cats however because of the sap that runs out. It dries very sticky and it flows a lot if there is a cut. I don't think the cats like it on their paws and the taste is not something they want to lick off either.

Here's some pics of my purple flowering one. Note that unlike most other bananas this one has upright flowers.

If you know what species your Banana is you could put those pictures in the database.
I'm intrigued by the upright flower - what happens when the fruits start?

That's an incredible one. It looks like it does well in shade too. Most of the fruiting ones need sun.

Very beautiful flower Zig! I remember the heart is harvested and added to a vegetarian dish in the Philippines. Maybe that's why I hardly see it bloom open like that.

I like seeing the banana stalks Jonna! Reminds me of home Reminds me of my grandmother, she was said to be a banana merchant.

tropicbreeze said:Here's some pics of my purple flowering one. Note that unlike most other bananas this one has upright flowers.

Wow! This is a must have for me. What kind is it and does it produce etible fruit? How tall will it be and where can I get one? Or if not this type is there another etible fruit, purple flower, smaller banana plant? One which likes shade to some degree would be very nice.

I don't know the name of this species, where I bought it they didn't have a name either. It's a small growing banana, as I said before, only about 1.5 metres tall. This one is probably in too much shade, but it does get sun in the morning and middle of the day.

Most bananas are edible, although some a lot better than others. This one has quite small fruit which get seed but I've never tried it. However it's quite attractive.