How to Grow Banana Trees

Pick green or ripe bananas.

Bananas are from tropical Southeast Asia, but they grow anywhere the climate is hot and humid, including South American countries and southern Florida. Although the two banana species that exist and their hybrids are fast growers, it takes them up to 20 months after planting to produce their first crop. They also have particular growing requirements, which, if not met, lead to disappointing results.

Things You'll Need

• Compost
• Pickax
• Shovel
• Rake
• Water
• Hoe
• Mulch
• 8-10-8 fertilizer
• Shears
• Machete

Instructions

1. Amend the soil with 3 inches of compost to a depth of 8 to 12 inches to provide banana's long roots adequate nutrients. Use a pickax and shovel to break the ground and a rake to smooth it out when you finish incorporating the organic matter.

2. Plant banana trees in a hot location in full sun. If structures that retain heat, such as asphalt driveways, have space next to them, put your banana there. Its fruit develops when the temperature range is consistently between 84 and 86 degrees Fahrenheit.

3. Grow the banana plant in any type of soil that has fast drainage. If water doesn't circulate well underground, build a raised bed 3 feet higher than the surface to keep the banana roots from standing in water.

4. Place the banana out of the wind's path to prevent leaf injury. Plant it in front of hedges or buildings, for example, that act as wind barriers.

5. Give banana plants 1 inch of water a week in one deep-soaking session. Don't divide the inch of moisture through the week.

6. Cultivate the area within 6 feet of the banana plant regularly to keep it weed and grass free. Build a mulch ring over the same area and 6 inches deep, using wood chips, shredded bark or other organic matter free of weed seeds.

7. Feed the banana tree 2 pounds of an 8-10-8 fertilizer once a month by broadcasting it evenly around the base and extending 8 feet out. However, keep the chemical from touching the plant. Reduce the amount to 1/2 pound of fertilizer monthly if the banana is newly planted. Water the fertilizer in after application.

8. Prune all shoots, leaving only one to produce fruit. Since the stalks bear fruit once, allow a replacement shoot to start growing when the stem you retained is between six and eight months old. Repeat this step every year.

9. Pick banana bunches as they ripen on the plant, using a machete to cut the stem. Alternatively, cut off the entire stalk while the banana bunches are still green and two weeks from ripening. Hang it in the shade.

10. Prune the stalk that just fruited back to 30 inches from the ground. In a few weeks, use a machete to cut it, separating it from the main plant. Discard it.

References

• University of Florida IFAS Extension: Banana Growing in the Florida Home Landscape
• California Rare Fruit Growers, Inc.: Banana
• AgriLIFE Extension: Home Fruit Production--Banana