Musa acuminata
Produces crops of very sweet bananas that have a creamy texture on a dwarf growing plant.
The skin changes from burgundy to orange as they ripen and the flesh is pale orange-pink; the fruit is ready to be harvested once the bananas lose their ridges, become more rounded, and when the black withered remains of the flowers at the end of the bananas are dry and crumbly.
Great eaten fresh when ripe or baked, fried, or toasted when still green.
Red bananas have more beta carotene and vitamin C than yellow ones.
Tree maintenance
As soon as a bunch of bananas has formed, cut the bell off. (leave some bells though, for the hummingbirds!)
After the fruit has been harvested the main stem should be cut down to around 2m high. Cut the felled trunk horizontally into pieces, then vertically (to check for borer); cull all suckers, but leave one spear (a ‘sucker’ coming off the main stem - it will have narrower leaves than the broad leaf suckers) to replace the main stem; cover the smaller spears with mulch over winter to protect from the cold.
Remove dead and yellowing leaves (a sign of fungus) regularly (will be particularly prevalent from Dec to March) (cut using an under strike, not from above)
Banana plants are heavy feeders, so it’s important to feed the plants with garden lime and a balanced organic fertiliser (eg potassium, potash, charcoal, blood & bone, urea, nitrogen) and compost, every few months during the spring and summer months, and throughout the year with chicken manure (slow release).
Bagging the bunches will keep the birds etc off, keep the bananas clean, and will enable quicker fruiting.
The bananas will taste better if left to ripen on the tree, but there will be more risk of being eaten by marauders.
Banana plants need lots of water and they should be watered every day during periods of extreme heat or drought.
Bunchy Top
The most devastating viral disease worldwide, for all varieties of bananas - using ideally a magnifying glass, regularly inspect the back of the banana leaves for darker lines hooking into the ribs.
Produces crops of very sweet bananas that have a creamy texture on a dwarf growing plant.
The skin changes from burgundy to orange as they ripen and the flesh is pale orange-pink; the fruit is ready to be harvested once the bananas lose their ridges, become more rounded, and when the black withered remains of the flowers at the end of the bananas are dry and crumbly.
Great eaten fresh when ripe or baked, fried, or toasted when still green.
Red bananas have more beta carotene and vitamin C than yellow ones.
Tree maintenance
As soon as a bunch of bananas has formed, cut the bell off. (leave some bells though, for the hummingbirds!)
After the fruit has been harvested the main stem should be cut down to around 2m high. Cut the felled trunk horizontally into pieces, then vertically (to check for borer); cull all suckers, but leave one spear (a ‘sucker’ coming off the main stem - it will have narrower leaves than the broad leaf suckers) to replace the main stem; cover the smaller spears with mulch over winter to protect from the cold.
Remove dead and yellowing leaves (a sign of fungus) regularly (will be particularly prevalent from Dec to March) (cut using an under strike, not from above)
Banana plants are heavy feeders, so it’s important to feed the plants with garden lime and a balanced organic fertiliser (eg potassium, potash, charcoal, blood & bone, urea, nitrogen) and compost, every few months during the spring and summer months, and throughout the year with chicken manure (slow release).
Bagging the bunches will keep the birds etc off, keep the bananas clean, and will enable quicker fruiting.
The bananas will taste better if left to ripen on the tree, but there will be more risk of being eaten by marauders.
Banana plants need lots of water and they should be watered every day during periods of extreme heat or drought.
Bunchy Top
The most devastating viral disease worldwide, for all varieties of bananas - using ideally a magnifying glass, regularly inspect the back of the banana leaves for darker lines hooking into the ribs.
March 2013
