Yes, we have no bananas...
New to Florida you know I had to plant everything tropical. So here we have a mini banana grove. Actually I didn't plant it my father did. I planted a bunch of other stuff. Pineapples, avocados, papayas, figs... I don't have the slightest idea where he got the seeds. Maybe he took a cutting from somewhere.
Cute song from the 20's. "Yes, we have no bananas."
Bananas grow very slowly. They need a lot of water.
This patch has disappeared for some reason. Maybe some virus. Some of the other plants in that area also have left. I was forming compost in 2 large plastic barrels aerated with drilled holes all around. I heard recently that unless compost is aged properly it contains a lot of harmful bacteria, viruses and fungus and molds than do more harm than good in a garden.
Video is really good. He explains about the problem with making your own compost.
This is his Facebook page. A storehouse of sustainable living. This is his facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/uguerrero
I was placing the compost in the banana grove thinking it would enrich the soil. I may have inadvertently contaminated the soil. Luckily, before the plants began to fail I had taken a small "sword"...that's what the new shoots with pointy leaves are called... and planted it in another area. It's doing fine and starting a new grove.
They are hard to grow in central Florida. They end up chalky. You have to take them off a little before they are yellow or the rats(not a joke) will eat them. It also takes 18 months between flowering and if it doesn't hit at the right time where it over 80 degrees they tend to not be very good. Good luck I have been trying for three years and only had them turn out well twice. They taste like a cross between banana and a pineapple there pretty awesome.
I noticed the chalky bananas here too. I got two good crops. The others were not very impressive. the new grove is pretty small right now. I wonder how the commercial growers get such a high yield. I'm sure they have their ways, probably not organic and environmentally friendly.
I use organic fertilizer...its probably my problem.
Evidently it has to be aged properly.
Bananas often die after producing fruit, and the new shoots take over for them. But there is a banana disease going around. If you use "Indian River Bananas" they are resistant. Those are the very small banana fruits you can find near Cocoa Beach in Florida.
That is awesome. I wish I could grow bananas, too. But, I don't think that would work out here in the desert. Great song, too. I find myself singing it from time to time!
Very nice! I was thinking of growing banana here but I think they might not fruit much.
I Like Bananas Because They have No Bones
Funny songs from that era. Age of a kind of innocence.
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