Bananas are in season in supermarkets all year round. If you want to harvest the tropical fruits in your own garden, you have to create the perfect conditions for healthy growth. The plants are extremely demanding in terms of care and only very rarely flower.
Banana plants rarely bear fruit in Germany
Season in your own garden
Banana trees are suitable for cultivation in tubs under Central European conditions. In mild conditions, bananas also grow outdoors, where they are allowed to stand in the ground all year round. The focus of care with this form of cultivation is nevertheless on protection from the cold. The banana varieties have different preferences for location.
indoor plants
Fruit-bearing cultivated forms need a lot of warmth and feel comfortable in a temperate conservatory. Musa x paradisiaca is the most famous cultivar that produces fruit. Since their growth size is not suitable for the space available in conservatories, you should switch to dwarf breeds. 'Dwarf Cavendish' and 'Sumatra' are varieties of the dwarf banana plant Musa acuminata. Their berries are suitable as dessert or plantains.
outdoor perennials
In principle, more robust banana varieties can grow in the garden all year round, or spend the frosty season in the cold house. The Japanese fiber banana Musa basjoo thrives outdoors with winter protection. However, the short vegetation period in Central Europe does not allow the perennial to form flowers and infructescence. It takes on the function of decoration, because with its huge leaves it creates a tropical atmosphere.
promote fruit ripening
In order for a banana plant to bear fruit, the conditions must be right. The tropical plants like a sunny, warm and sheltered spot in the garden where they can develop freely. Make sure there is enough space on the sides so that the sheets are not damaged when passing by. The plant pot should not be too small either. A volume of 50 liters is ideal. The plants like a permeable and loam-free soil, in which no waterlogging occurs and which ensures nutrient-rich properties.
The ideal substrate mixture:
- 70 percent fine compost
- Coconut fibers with a share of 20 percent
- ten percent quartz sand
care properly
Banana plants love moist conditions and require regular watering. In dry and hot summer months you have to water the plant every day. The tropical plants prefer high humidity, which is around 70 percent. You should fertilize the banana once a week. During the growth phase from May to August, the perennials need a lot of nitrogen because they are heavy consumers. Once flower buds appear between the leaves, apply a potassium-heavy fertilizer.
When do bananas bloom?
The right care and site conditions are a prerequisite for flower development. It takes a lot of patience for a banana plant to flower for the first time. This usually happens after the skin plant has developed several offshoots at the base of the stem. In this way, the plant ensures its survival, because the main shoot dies after fruiting.