banana education

After today the terraced part of my yard will be planted out, in terms of trees anyway. So, now need to fill in the spaces, and utilize space which will eventually be lost as the trees get larger. Bananas.......it is not clear if these are appropriate for this garden.
Many of you are bananamaniacs. Questions and planning revolve around
Irrigation requirements
sizes of plants, height and spread
foliage color
flavor of fruit
harvest calendar

George, zone 23. Max temp 110F, max temp for normal years about 103 with temps about 100F for 10 days/year. Min temps dip to 28F or so but not for long. This year's min temp was 35F at +5' above ground level.

The following thread was started by George on April 18, 2009 at 7:23 am PST

hello George,
love the terraced planting areas that you've shown in other posts.

not an education by any stretch just my limited experience:
bananas are water/fert hogs, depending how you intended to plant them they provide good amounts of shade too. This could be a bad combo for trees trying to establish.
a possible idea? maybe plant them at the very base of your terraced area? They could use any runoff or drainage water from the terraced area in addition to whatever you provide. In my collection, the dwarf Namwah is the shortest at flowering. It is about 12'(?) tall with a very thick trunk. Normal banana plant green, haven't noticed any extra color. No fruit yet though I believe others have enjoyed them (Jay, David, Jeff?) The most beautiful foliaged edible banana I have is the dwarf Jamaican red. Much more tender, I'm going to have to try harder to get it to fruit. It is beautiful in color and the fruits are red skinned (I've read). I think Encanto Farms had trouble with this one in the ground.
They are taller but I also have pitogo, misi luki, praying hands and dwarf Brasilian, no edible fruit yet. This year though...

-Ethan

last thought, they can require some work to maintain/harvest etc. A good machete and sharpener is worth the investment. I've the Kukri.
http://www.coldsteel.com/machetes.html

The above followup was added by Ethan-Bakersfield 9/9 on April 18, 2009 at 4:16 pm PST.

Ethan, Thanks for the info. Already own a machete but cannot remember the last time I used it.
There will be no "runoff" but the bottom of the terrace will retain more moisture in the soil, The flat of the yard is sloped back jut a touch toward the walls to give percolation time to any rain we get here.
What is required for them to bloom and fruit? I see the plants often but rarely see them with fruit.
George

The above followup was added by George on April 19, 2009 at 12:07 am PST.

I don't have a Machete, but I use a large serrated Katana shaped knife, maybe for bread, not sure as it is quite thick compared to most bread knives. the Serrated edge really cuts through banana stalks.

What makes bananas grow, damp soil, mulch on the ground and soil enrichment over time. They are somewhat heavy feeders, and need more potassium. I put rabbit manure on in spring once it warms and add fish emulsion and a little Lilly Miller Avocado/ Citrus fertilizer once a month for the first few months.

But the big deal is not allow more then one or two replacement corms to grow on a month plant here in northern/central CA. If you are in a frost free zone, you can even allow 3 to 4 and have them in spaced in a successive pattern to get fruit more often during the year.. In some more short season areas, it is only wise to allow one new pup on a mother plant for next nears plant, and not tax your mother plant too much, and allow the plant to bloom on time in June and early July. where winter cold can burn off the leaves.

I found low volume spray emitter, drip type systems, keep the surface soil damper and makes them much happier and I get much more aggressive growth especially in the heat of summer.

Basically you have to push their growth and limit the number of replacement pups you let stay and grow the second second, which should hopefully be your fruit/bloom season. Here one tries to get the tree within a couple feet of blooming one year, and hopefully it works out, that it blooms in June to early July the next season.

I find that allowing two pups to remain, if one does not bloom in time, maybe the other one will. And some times they both bloom in time. Some times it does not all work out as you thought or planned. I have seen the short one bloom on time and the taller one not, so it does not always go as planned.

David

The above followup was added by David Johnson, Waterford CA, zone 14 on April 20, 2009 at 1:30 pm PST.