4 Tips To Grow The Most BEAUTIFUL Banana Plants EVER Down To ZONE 5!

what's going on gardeners it is saturday august  20th and i'm not in some tropical destination   i'm coming from you right from my backyard  just outside of wilmington north carolina   and on today's video i'm going to show you four  tips to grow the most beautiful banana plants   you have ever seen if you're new to the channel  please consider subscribing and hitting the bell   to receive new video notifications and check out  our amazon storefront and spreadshop in the video   description for a list of the gardening products  i use and awesome custom designed apparel and   other gear your support is greatly appreciated  it's a common misconception that you need to   live in a tropical climate in order to grow banana  plants here in zone 8a i have successfully grown   bananas in ground and fruited them and harvested  the fruits three years in a row using basic cold   protection techniques and i'll make sure to  link to those videos above so you can see   exactly how i protect them and how i've been  successful in zone 8a growing bananas for food   now that being said you still do need mild  winters in order to successfully fruit them   if you're growing them in ground however you do  not need mild winters if you want to grow them as   ornamentals in fact you can grow the variety musa  basjoo all the way down to zone 5a it will survive   down to 20 degrees fahrenheit below zero so they  will grow in very cold climates they will simply   die to the ground and then they will come back  up once the frost and freezes stop in the spring   and they will grow to be up to 15 feet tall  in one single season so if you'd love to grow   beautiful tropical looking bananas in very cold  climates make sure you pay attention to these four   tips another thing to keep in mind is that all the  varieties of bananas that i'm growing in my yard   are dwarf varieties yes this variety of banana  right here is a dwarf variety it is called dwarf   orinoco full sized bananas can grow to be 10  to 15 feet tall even in climates where they die   back all the way to the ground and come back  to the summer if you grow full-sized bananas   in tropical climates that never see frost or  freeze full-size bananas can grow to be 20 feet   tall or larger so make sure you take these sizes  into account when you are selecting varieties   i select all dwarf varieties on purpose  because they're easier for me to protect   during the winter time and the first and most  important tip to growing the most beautiful   banana plants you have ever seen is to feed the  bananas themselves as often as possible now what   do i mean by that often called banana trees the  banana tree is not a tree at all it is actually   a corm which is an underground storage tuber  and from those corms grow herbaceous pseudostems   so every one of these individual stalks they are  actually an herbaceous pseudostem and they grow   up from the corn until they flower and fruit and  then once they fruit with a big bunch of bananas   they then die back and of course if you live in a  climate like i do that sees frost and freeze every   year and that frost and freeze kills them down to  the ground you will then wind up with all of these   additional pseudo stems that are basically  died back and you'll have to chop them down   so regardless if each pseudostem is killed because  of natural die back or due to frost and freeze   it is very important that you cut down those  pseudostems and you chop them up into pieces and   you chop up the stems and the leaves and you drop  them all underneath the plants everything that   you see for the most part here they're actually  chopped up pseudostems and leaves around my banana   because these bananas are excruciatingly heavy  feeders they're one of the heaviest feeders   in all of nature because as i said they can grow  from total die back to 15 feet tall in a single   season so each of these pseudostems are loaded  up with nutrients now i've showed you how to do   this before what you basically want to do is you  want to cut down each individual pseudo stem and   then chop the pseudostems up into logs that are  somewhere between one or two feet long then you   want to split them in half and the reason why you  want to split them in half is they will decompose   much more quickly and easily when you cut them in  half if you just break them up into cylindrical   logs they will take forever to break down that's  not what you want you want them to break down   rapidly so always make sure that you save the  pseudo stems whether they're killed by frost and   freeze or whether it's natural die back from the  fruiting cycle always make sure that you chop and   drop the remnants of the pseudostems around all of  your plants this is the greatest thing you can do   to feed your banana plants and it's the number one  thing you can do to keep them healthy and growing   great the second tip i'm going to give you to grow  the most beautiful banana plants you've ever seen   is to constantly maintain a thick layer of compost  and mulch around the base of your banana plants   at all times now i know i just told you that it's  very important that you chop and drop the leaves   and the stems of the banana plants when they die  back for whatever reason but that probably is not   enough organic matter in order to maintain them  for them to truly thrive now remember bananas are   naturally understory plants that grow mostly along  creek beds and stream beds in the rain forest or   the jungle so they are constantly being inundated  with falling and dropping organic matter just   think of what a a living constantly growing  jungle or rain forest floor looks like it's   full of organic matter so in addition to  everything that i have chopped and dropped   from the banana itself along the bottom i  also have this very thick layer of straw   and under that this very thick layer of compost as  well this whole this whole raised press board that   i have right here it's about four inches deep it  is nothing but compost and mulch so i have easily   four inches of compost and mulch around this  banana plant itself plus several inches of organic   matter chopped and dropped from the banana itself  you want to do your best to simulate that rain   forest floor that jungle floor so the more organic  matter you can lay around the base of your bananas   the better they're going to grow and you want to  maintain it at all times and for those of you in   very cold climates that want to grow super cold  hearty varieties of bananas as ornamentals those   compost and mulch layers are just as important  for you because that is what actually insulates   the corm and protects it against cold damage so  the thicker you can mulch them during the winter   months the better chance that your quorum will  survive the cold weather the third tip to grow   the most beautiful banana plants you have ever  seen is to pee on them yes you heard me correctly   the best thing that you can feed a banana plant  is itself but the second best thing that you can   feed a banana plant is human urine that is because  they are absolutely voracious feeders constantly   searching for nitrogen and human urine is a rich  source of nitrogen your banana plants love it when   you pee on them now i'm a realist and i understand  that peeing on your banana plants is not in the   cards for everyone maybe your banana plants  are out in your front yard or they're not in   a protected private location or maybe you're just  not a guy and if that's the case and you can't pee   on them then you can try using blood meal blood  meal is an excellent organic source of nitrogen   it's fantastic for banana plants and i have this  blood meal product linked in my amazon storefront   in the video description under the fertilizer  section so you'll be able to get yourself   some blood meal if urine is not in the cards  however if you are a guy or you know a guy or   live with a guy and you have access to human  urine and you are in a protected location like a   backyard with a perimeter fence pee on your banana  trees they will absolutely love you for it and it   will help send them into overdrive just trust me  on this one and the fourth tip to grow the most   beautiful banana plants you have ever grown is to  heavily feed them with synthesized potash crystals   bananas go crazy for refined potash they make them  grow into hyperdrive they accelerate the fruiting   cycle for whatever reason they are pot ash nuts  and my favorite product to use is actually this   muriate of potash product right here it has an  npk of zero zero sixty so it is extremely strong   and i have it linked down below in my amazon  storefront in the video description under soluble   fertilizers this is my secret weapon for growing  bananas and getting them to fruit in zone 8a   now if you live in a tropical climate or you live  in a climate that very rarely sees frost or freeze   and your bananas do not die back in the winter  you do not need to use this product you also   don't necessarily need to use this product if  you're just growing them as ornamentals because   they will grow pretty well on their own although  they will grow a lot more rapidly if you give them   this product and you feed them even if you're  growing ornamentals the reason why i have to   use this product in zone 8a is because most of my  bananas about 90 of them even when protecting them   will die back during the winter so in order to  flower and fruit the banana i need to push these   bananas as hard as possible and i need to use  these synthesized soluble fertilizers in order   to do that and this zero zero sixty will greatly  accelerate the growth rate of your bananas and   dramatically enhance the chances of them flowering  and fruiting for you in marginal climates like my   zone 8 climate or if you live in zone 9 and you  struggle getting them to fruit in your growing   season so that's why i have to use this product  if i want to successfully fruit these bananas   if i just let them do their own thing i more than  likely will not be able to get fruit off of them   this product makes fruiting in shorter season  climates possible now i will show you how to use   it the soluble fertilizer mix that i'm going to  use to feed my bananas that works very well is i'm   going to use this jax 20 20 20 soluble fertilizer  product that i have linked in my amazon storefront   on under soluble fertilizers i'm going to mix that  at a rate of one tablespoon per gallon into a five   gallon paint bucket now this five gallon paint  bucket will be filled to about four and a half   gallons because i can't fill it totally up to the  top and i'm going to use one of these one and a   half tablespoon miracle grow scoopers in order  to measure everything out so i'm going to mix   one tablespoon per gallon which will be three of  these or four and a half tablespoons into four and   a half gallons of water and then i'm going to use  this zero zero sixty potash product so i'm going   to take about one level scoop of this which is  one and a half tablespoons and i'm going to drop   this in to the bucket and that is going to greatly  supercharge the potash content of this mix then   i'm going to turn my rain barrel on and i'm going  to stir everything together and i want to apply   this about once every four to six weeks as soon as  the frosts and freezes stop and i want to push my   bananas hard at that four to six week schedule  then each of these individual bananas will get   half of this bucket so that equates to about two  and a quarter gallons per individual banana plant and as i said we're simply going to repeat  that fertilizing process every four to six   weeks or so now if you'd like to know which  varieties of bananas that i'm growing that have   been the most successful for me in my shorter  season zone 8a climate the one that has been   successful for me every single year for three  years in a row has been dwarf orinoco which i   have growing in the rear of my property and in my  front yard my front yard dwarf orinoco plant has   fruited for me three years in a row as i said then  the other ones i'm growing are dwarf brazilian   which is all the way on the edge here vente cohol  and both of these two right here are dwarf namwa   none of these have fruited for me yet however  they are all younger plants the vente cohol is   supposed to be the shortest cycle known banana so  if you need somewhere to start i suggest you look   at dwarf orinoco first with venti cohol a short  a quick second and then the other two are good   ones that you can look into if you want to have  the best chance of growing bananas for fruit in   shorter season climates and that right there is  how you can grow the most beautiful banana plants   you have ever seen so for those of you that are  growing bananas currently in warmer climates and   you're looking to up your game and grow even more  beautiful plants consider employing these tips   and for those of you in colder climates that  didn't know that you could grow bananas as   ornamentals and you're now interested in  growing them check out the varieties musa basjoo   and mekong giant they are both very cold hardy  and can grow to be 12 to 15 feet or larger in a   single season from total die back so everybody  thank you so much for watching today's video   if you found it helpful please make sure to  hit that like button subscribe to the channel   and ring that notification bell so you're  notified when we release more videos like these   if you're curious about any of the products  that i used in this video or that i use for   real in my garden in general they are all  linked down in the amazon storefront link in   the video description so check out my amazon  storefront for what i use in real life while   you're there check out my spreadsheet link for  custom merch if you want to support the channel   thank you all so much for watching and i hope  to see all of you again on the next video   hey dale what are you looking at you want you want  a beer over there you don't look like an ipa guy   you look more like a wheat  beer kind of guy hey dale you want to go for a walk oh that's what he wants  come on let's go for a walk let's go for a walk   come on buds let's go get your stuff we're gonna  go for a walk oh we're gonna have ourselves   one happy dale that's one happy excited deal  that is one long wagon tale and a happy dale

Channel: The Millennial Gardener

Views: 297,545

Keywords: how to grow bananas, growing banana plants, growing banana trees, grow bananas, banana plants, banana trees, banana tips, banana growing, fertilize banana plants, banana, bananas, cold hardy bananas, garden, gardening, fruit tree, fruit trees, gardening tips, garden tips, vegetable garden, organic gardening, gardening tips and tricks, gardening hacks, garden hacks, food forest, edible landscaping, grow, growing, organic, how to, diy, millennial gardener, the millennial gardener

Id: jHN2AXiBQDE

Length: 14min 27sec (867 seconds)

Published: Mon Aug 22 2022