Ever seen a banana in bloom?

[Fuerte Rav]

Thanks for the pics Yug.

Was delighted with my banana recently. 204 edible fruits, each hand having around 20 fingers!









You can see some of the male fruit here, tiny little things that dry up and fall off.



The next banana that hopefully will be fruiting in my garden is a red variety - this is an internet pic, not mine, (yet!).

[Dollythehun]

My husband heard that bananas have to be hand-pollinated. He also heard that they die after they flower. So what kind is yours? And is it going to keel over now? (Inquiring engineering minds want to know.)

[Fuerte Rav]

Hi Dolly
No hand pollinating went on here! The stem that flowered is finished - once and done - I cut it off at ground level once all the fruit was off. Pups develop around the plant and best practice is to remove all but one of the strongest which will grow and take over as the next fruiting plant. This is why they say that bananas 'walk' - the next fruiting plant will be be to whichever side of the old one that you have chosen to leave it, and so on and so on. The diameter of my fruiting plant was about 12 inches so in 3 years it could be 3 feet from where the first stem was! Unfortunately I can't dig out the unwanted pups to use elsewhere due to my rock base and the roots getting trapped - I just keep cutting them off at ground level.

[yug]

That information is correct. Only one bloom, one bunch of fruit (unless it is a double mahoi), and then the main plant dies, and one or more of the 'pups' take over. Just prior to the bunch emerging, it puts up a 'flag' leaf to let you know the flower is coming.

[Fuerte Rav]

Originally Posted by yug

Just prior to the bunch emerging, it puts up a 'flag' leaf to let you know the flower is coming.

Hi Yug
Could you expand on this 'flag leaf' please? It's not something I've noticed or was aware of. TIA.

[estación seca]

They eventually develop a large underground corm. New growths come up from the edges.

If you let them run wild and have many stems they fruit less. In the US people recommend to have no more than 3 stems on a plant at a time - one to fruit this year, one next year and one the year after that.

If you let them get to a certain size and are careful, you can separate extra growths during warm weather and grow them on. But bananas are slightly tricky to establish. If you keep newly planted shoots or tubers too wet they will rot. If you keep them too dry they die.

One of the gardening clubs I belong to is the Arizona chapter of the California Rare Fruit Growers. We used to hold two plant sales, spring and fall, of things members propagated, and also the club propagated. We would buy tiny mericloned plugs of various dwarf bananas (easier to keep from frost here) from AgriStarts, then grow them up into 1-gallon pot size for sale. It takes about 6 months in our heat to go from a tiny little thing to something the looks appropriate in a 1-gallon pot.

My favorite dwarf banana is Raja Puri. The top of the stem, where it starts to bend over towards the ground, is about 5 feet / 1.5 meters. The bananas wind up at dog's mouth height, so you need to protect them. Mine died a few years back during a very hot summer. I still have a Dwarf Orinoco that fruits every year. I'm always on the lookout for a replacement. I've considered establishing a business and getting a tax-exempt license so I could order from AgriStarts, just to get this banana back in my garden.

[yug]

Originally Posted by Fuerte Rav

Hi Yug
Could you expand on this 'flag leaf' please? It's not something I've noticed or was aware of. TIA.

Well, the flag leaf is the last leaf to emerge before the flower bud pushes through. The bud may be green, yellow, orange, red, or dark-red. A flag leaf is highly variable, but the ones I've seen are sometimes shaped like a regular leaf, but only about 1/3 the size or smaller. Other flag leaves hardly show any 'blade' at all above the cone covering the emerging flower bud.

Flag leaf is the smaller one leaning to the right.


Flag leaf is the smaller one in the center.


Flag leaf actually attached to the top of the emerging bud.


Flag leaf just to the right of emerging bud.


Pointed top of flower bud emerging.


An ordinary leaf emerges looking like a long rolled up tube (we call them cigar leaves), and once it has attained the proper length, it unrolls into a normal leaf. Each banana will continue pushing up 'cigar' leaves until that last one; the flag leaf emerges followed by the bud. The bud will curve over on one side or the other and begin to open.

Normal 'cigar' leaf on a young banana


Hope that clears it up, unless you have more questions.

[Fuerte Rav]

Thank you very much for such a comprehensive reply, I much appreciate your efforts. I must keep a closer eye on my next plant that comes to fruit!

[yug]

It's great to see the flag leaf emerge. You know the bud is on the way.

We'd love to see the pictures, too.

[SADE2020]

Bump!

I have a banana bunch too!!
I don't think it will develop into a full eatlible bunch, but I enjoying every little moment since I was born in a Banana Country!!