I remember the first time I bought a banana tree. I don’t even know what kind of banana it was, but I bought 4 to line the outside of my pool enclosure. It was super tropical looking and I knew I would eat the bananas. In fact my whole family likes bananas so check check check, we are doing this!

Little did I know, the following 2 years we were at that house, no bananas would grow. We didn’t know why, and just assumed the bananas took longer to grow (that was wrong).

The next house we were renting for 2 years had a banana tree already when we moved in (how cool!!) AND it had a bushel of bananas already on it. Definite upgrade. We were feeling good until a hurricane came, and knocked the whole banana tree over along with the bushel of very undeveloped bananas.

For the next 1.5 years that we were at that house, we didn’t get any new bananas growing. We knew when we found our forever home, we would finally grow bananas so we kept high hopes!

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Third Times A Charm

In 2019 we found our forever home, and immediately planted up some Dwarf Musa Cavendish bananas that I bought.

There were 4 stalks bunched together. So we knew, our chances of bananas were quadrupled. Ehh once again not the case. For the next couple of years our group of banana trees grew strong but we didn’t have any fruit.

About a year ago, during one of our plant sales we met fantastic man, Bob, that shared many tips from his own banana growing experience. He gave us the secret disclosed below on how to take care of your trees and ensure that you get fruit in most cases within the first year. Challenge accepted! We planted several new trees – Dwarf Musa Cavendish and Dwarf Musa Green bananas and followed Bobs steps. Sure enough that next year we had 3 bushels of bananas growing!! Awesome!! Unfortunately, we lost all of them in the big “frost” of 2021. This was due to our lack of knowledge in covering them properly.

Waiting to Harvest

In 2022 we started over again. Our bananas that lost their battle in the frost had developed babies to carry on the next generation. We cared for them with the same secret (I promise it’s described below) and ended up with 5 bushels of bananas growing!! As much as we have been determined to see this batch through, Mother Nature is really testing us.

We endured not only 2 hurricanes but 2 different periods of freezing temps. During the hurricanes we ended up losing 2 of our 5 bushels, the wind was just too much and even when we propped up the trees, the winds pushed it right over.

We fared well during the freezes by covering the bananas with sheets and pillowcases. The key during cold temps is to keep the root ball/stalk covered and warm. This keeps your tree alive. Expect for all of your leaves to die, but that is ok – they will regrow no problem. The stalk is your priority.

We currently monitor 3 bushels of bananas still growing. When we finally are able to harvest them, i’ll post an update! Can’t wait!!

The Banana Secret

Here is the simple 2 step secret that we will be forever grateful to Bob for:

#1. Create a 1 foot layer of compost at the base of your banana tree. This helps hold in the moisture needed for your banana to thrive. We used 1 foot layer of straw with some compost on top of which allowed for natural compost of the straw.

#2. Fertilize often. Bob suggested monthly; however we did every 6 months because we were using a 3-6 month fertilizer.

Other helpful tips:

  • As your banana tree gets tall and heavy, be prepared to support it. If it falls over- you lose all of that work. We have used engineer stakes and ratchet straps to help hold our bananas up when needed.
  • If you MUST cut off your dead banana leaves, throw them at the base of your tree for natural fertilizer.
  • In a freeze, protect the stalk and bushel of bananas, not the leaves.
  • The more water they get, the better.

Can’t wait to provide you an update on how our last 3 bushels are doing! Wishing you the best luck, if you have any additional tips- please comment below so we can all share and grow all of the bananas :).