Banana Tree Care

Banana tree care tip # 1
An important part of proper banana tree care is to keep your banana plant protected from draft, since rapid temperature fluctuations and cold air can harm the banana. If you plant a banana outdoors, you should choose a sheltered spot if you want to avoid having the banana leaves torn apart by the wind. (Torn leaves are not harmful for the banana plant; this is how you usually see banana plants in the wild.)

Banana tree care tip # 2
The banana rhizome can be very productive when provided with proper banana tree care. It is however a good idea to limit the number of pseudostems to three if you want the plant to concentrate on fruit production. Always have one large pseudostem, one medium sized pseudostem and one baby pseudostem growing simultaneously. For this part of the banana tree care, you will need a sharp knife to regularly cut off all the other emerging pseudostems. Place the cut below the soil line.

Banana tree care tip # 3
Selecting a suitable fertilizer is an imperative part of proper banana tree care, since the fast growing banana plant needs a lot of nutrients. A fertilizer rich in potassium and comparatively low in nitrogen is recommended. If you don’t wish to use chemical fertilizers, there are organic alternatives.

Banana tree care tip # 4
When your banana plant starts flowering and producing bananas, it can need a little extra banana tree care. When you notice that no more “banana hands” are forming around the banana flower, you can use a sharp knife to cut of the flowering stem. It is very important to cut the stem below the spot where not more hands are forming. The banana hands need to stay on the banana tree for at least 4-6 more weeks.   

Banana tree care tip # 5
To get a large number of bananas, you must carry out proper banana tree care year round, not only when bananas are forming. Frequent watering, fertilization and other forms of good banana tree care can increase the number of bananas from 20-25 to nearly 100. The size of the bananas is determined chiefly by the banana plant variety and is not as dependent on your banana plant care.

Banana tree care tip # 6
Try to notice the exact week when your bananas stop growing bigger. When they have stopped growing, it will take from four to six weeks until its time for the banana stalk to be cut of from the banana tree. Try to make the cut as close to the main banana stalk as possible, or cut right through the top of the banana plant. Now it is time to find a shady place where you can hang the whole stalk and wait for the bananas to ripen. It will often take several weeks for this to happen.

Banana tree care tip # 7
The next important step in proper banana tree care is to cut of the pseudostem that gave you the stalk of bananas. Each pseudostem will only produce bananas once before it dies, so there is really no use in leaving it around to rotten. Use a large knife or similar to cut of the stem. If you want to reuse the nutrients, you can place the parts in the soil around the other pseudostems.