How to Grow Hydroponic Bananas
Growing your own bananas requires water, warm temperatures, bright light and a little patience. Unlike standard fruit trees, banana plants flower in four months and produce fruit within a year under ideal conditions. Since bananas require a constantly moist soil, they are good candidates for hydroponic gardening. While a greenhouse or warm sun porch are among the best locations for tropical fruits, a banana plant thrives in a hydroponic flower pot in your living room. Does this Spark an idea?
Other People Are Reading
Things You'll Need
- Oil drip pan, flat with lip
- Pebbles or pea gravel
- 2 5-gallon buckets
- Measuring tape
- Permanent marker, black
- Drill
- Plastic tubing
- Aquarium pump
- Perlite
- Vermiculite
- Peat moss
- Dwarf banana rhizome
- Mulch
- Hydroponic fertilizer
- Spray bottle
Instructions
-
-
1
Place the oil drip pan in a warm, sunny location receiving eight to 12 hours of bright light daily. Fill the pan with an even layer of pebbles or pea gravel.
-
2
Nest one bucket inside the other. Measure the height difference between the tops of the two buckets. Remove the inner bucket. Add ½ inch to the measurement and mark it from the ground up on the side of the outer bucket, using a black permanent marker.
-
-
3
Drill a 1/16-inch hole through the side of the outer bucket at the black mark. Place the bucket on top of the pebbles in the center of the drip pan.
-
4
Turn the inner bucket upside down and drill 10 to 15 1/16-inch-diameter holes in the bottom. Measure the width of the plastic tubing. Mark and drill an additional hole to one side and through the bottom of the bucket for the tubing.
-
5
Attach the airstone to the plastic tubing. Place it in the outer bucket, or reservoir. Feed the tubing up through the hole in the inner bucket, and then insert the inner bucket into the reservoir. Pull the tubing up the side and out of the bucket. Attach to the aquarium pump.
-
6
Mix equal parts vermiculite, perlite and peat moss. Moisten and mix again. Fill the inner bucket within two inches of the top with the planting mixture.
-
7
Scoop a small hole in the center of the bucket and Insert the banana rhizome, covering it with 1/2 inch of planting medium. Cover the planting medium with 2 inches of mulch except for a 6-inch circle over the rhizome.
-
8
Mix the hydroponic fertilizer with water according to the manufacturer's instructions. Pour the mixture slowly into the bucket until it comes out of the in the side of the reservoir.
-
9
Plug in the aquarium pump and turn it on.
-
10
Monitor the rapidly growing banana, adding water as needed to keep the reservoir full. Add water to the drip pan as well to raise the humidity in the air. Mist the banana daily with a spray bottle.
-
11
Add hydroponic fertilizer weekly.
-
1
Tips & Warnings
Consult the local cooperative extension office for information on hydroponics and growing tropical fruits in your area.
Purchase a variety of dwarf banana; standard banana trees are too tall for indoor growing.
Bananas thrive in humid locations in temperatures of 75 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit.
Transplant to a 10- or 20-gallon bucket or garbage can system if necessary; bananas like a tight pot.
Prune as needed to keep the banana leaves from brushing the ceiling.
Hand pollinate when the flowers bloom, in approximately four months under optimum conditions. The bananas take six months to develop and mature.
Use a floor fan to circulate air in the room.
Wear gloves and safety glasses when using power tools, mixing the planting medium and preparing fertilizer.
Plug all electrical appliances into a GFCI-protected outlet. Portable outlets are available at discount and camping stores.
Bananas require high humidity and warm temperatures to produce fruit. Mold and mildew may develop in your home if you attempt to replicate greenhouse conditions indoors.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit Photos.com/Photos.com/Getty Images
