Grow Your Own : Bananas

Sweet, edible bananas can be grown even in northern climates.

Most banana trees are far too large to allow toting in and out of the house when cold weather arrives. There are three types of dwarf desert banana trees that are perfect for seasonal locations. All of these dwarf bananas average about 7-feet in height by 5-feet wide at maturity. Bananas being natural lovers of consistent moisture and good drainage means they are excellent candidates for hydroponic growing.

Different types of bananas have different flavors.

• The Dwarf Red Banana bears dark burgundy skinned fruits that have a hint of peach to their sweet tasting flesh.
• The Dwarf Orinoco is a sweet delicious desert banana of banana tasty goodness.
• The heaviest fruiting is the Dwarf Cavendish Banana that can bear up to 90 exquisitely sweet bananas per flower stem. These will all be medium sized fruits that require about 75-80 days from candle to harvest.

You might want to experiment with all three types to select your favorite fruit flavor.

Bananas are heavy feeders that do best in a pH range between 6.0 and 6.5.

Lower pH levels will make them take up too much potassium and be deficient in nitrogen and magnesium. You can’t force bananas to flower by adjusting the EC or pH of the nutrient solution. They blossom when they reach the required state of maturity and are in the proper temperature and lighting levels. They will require an increase in potassium and calcium in the nutrient solution during the fruiting stage.

Your bananas will be most productive while the root temperature is at 70°F.

Air temperatures for the shortest crop development time are 75-90°. To enjoy them on the patio in summer, you will want to move your banana tree indoors once temperatures drop to 50° degrees for best leaf quality. Place them in front of a sunny window for winter and provide them with additional grow lights to keep them happy. The Dwarf Cavendish actually prefers lower light levels than most other bananas and does best in about 30% shade. Summer temperatures outdoors of over 90° will not damage leaves when the roots are sufficiently moist.

To grow banana trees hydroponically you will need a large drip growing container.

As these are dwarf trees a 20-gallon size container will be adequate. There is a prefabricated system called the MegaFarm made by General Hydroponics. This features a pot in pot setup with the growing container nesting inside the reservoir. Something as tall as a tree needs a good, stable growing medium around its roots to keep it from tipping and root disturbance. The best medium would be clay pebbles with a little perlite mixed in to add a more solid base.

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