Growing Musa Bananarama in South London?

Hey Everyone,

I went down to my local garden centre and saw a banana plant and got excited. Yes I had this Idea That I could grow a mini banana plant on my patio. So This is my misson even though many say it cant be done in the UK.
I purchased a musa bananarama which i belive is a Dwarf Cavendish Banana.

It is currently growing well due to the hot weather at the moment, however if i was to use my homemade green house, and add a tropical heater will that help grow my banana tree and peppers?? Is heat better than adding light to help it grow?

thanks
xxx

 

I suspect it's Musa basjoo which will grow in the UK and makes a handsome foliage plant but is unlikely to produce fruit. However, the fruits are inedible so no bananas I'm afraid!:hehe:

Chris

 

I thought bananarama was a pop group from the 80s:lollol:

Not heard of this one, but if it is Dwarf Cavendish it will be very dificult to get it through the winter both heat and light wise.
It needs a fair amount of space as well and probably a nightime minimum of around 55F to 60F, (13C to 16C) and rising during the day.

If however its Basjoo as Chris suggests you can plant it in the garden and maybe just give it a bit of frost protection its first winter.

 

I just bought a 18 inches high Dwarf Cavendish a couple of days ago at Focus. It was a pure impulse buy - but at £2.69 I couldn't resist it. The leaves have beautiful colouring.

I had a little Google, and was not surprised to see what Pete has said above - not easy to overwinter. But for that sum, who cares - I will give it a try. And if it dies, I will add its name to my extensive 'in memorium' board. If nothing else, you learn by getting stuck in.

So, good on you, give it a go - Sunset.

 

Thats cheap Peter.
A real bargin:thumb:

 

Thanks guys, my plant is small I was planning on bringing it inside my house during the winter.

Has any on managed to grow a banana plant and produce bananas??

I will keep you all posted on my progress!

xxx

 

Sunset - what I am gathering from this thread and a bit of Googling is that there are many different types of Banana. But you can divide them into edible and inedible.

Like me it sounds as though you have a Dwarf Cavendish, which is the main type of edible banana. I gather that's the type of banana that you will find sold in supermarket. However this appears to be difficult to overwinter.

Most gardeners will have other types of banana plants that are much easier to overwinter. These too are capable of producing bananas - but will be inedible. I suspect that when you see newspaper articles of people growing bananas in this country - it will be these inedible types.

 

Dwarf Cavendish, as I understand it, produces bananas without pollination in the same way that edible varieties grown abroad do.
Therefore the fruits are seedless.

The hardier types which originate from cooler areas need to be pollinated to actually produce bananas.
These ones would contain a large amount of large black seed in the fruit.
Not sure how much edible flesh there would be.
You would also need two of the same species flowering at the same time.

Its said that as basjoo plants in this country are all more or less clones of the same plant, its unlikely that it would get pollinated.

 

Again interesting Pete :thmb:. You have prompted me to have another Google. There is quite a good article here http://www.rarexoticseeds.com/musa-...-cavendish-banana-seeds.html?___store=english

It confirms that the fruits are seedless - then it offers seeds for sale.

But it does look like a good foliage plant - needing lots of water and feed. The article even suggests that it could take a tiny bit of frost - but it is referring to wild Dwarf Cavendish. But another article says it needs a minimum of 18C at night over winter - thats my garage out then. :D

 

I have a musa basjoo, and it came from a good friend of mine, in New Jersey, and he insists that i can grow them here, in Canada:thumb:....although i will obviously have to bring it in for the winter.:gnthb:

Good luck with it, and keep us posted.