Some general questions about care and variety.

15 years ago

Hello

My name is Evaldas and I'm from Lithuania. A few days ago I purchased my first potted banana plant and I love it:

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It says on the label "Musa Tropicana". I wasn't able to find much information about it, but then I found that "Musa Tropicana" is called "Musa Super Dwarf Cavendish". But I wasn't able to find much information on this variety either.Although it did say that it may produce edible bananas in about 3 years indoors. However, blooms and fruit is not my main objective :). So is it "Musa Super Dwarf Cavendish"? Where can I read more information about it?

What is this variety's Latin name? Musa acuminata?

I live in a pretty cold climate (the only frost risk free months June, July and August), therefore I'm only going to be able to keep it outside since May or June to August, and only during the days, during the night and the morning - an east facing window (so that it gets all the morning sun before I get up and take it outside). So it's gonna have to travel in and out everyday. I think it's going to enjoy our long summer days, right know we get about 17 hours of daylight. Although we don't have a very sunny climate.

Some questions:

1) Does this plant like full sun?

2) Can I remove the dead layers of former leaves from the stem?

3) This variety seems to be putting out a lot of pups. Some questions about them:

3.1 Do they drain energy from the mother plant?

3.2 Is it better to leave them or to remove them if I want a single big, robust, healthy plant?

3.3 How can one be removed from the mother plant with roots in order to plant it separately, but without digging out the whole mother plant out of its pot? Where to cut?

3.4 They have to have about 4 leaves before planted separately, right?

4) I'm fertilizing with a 6+4+6 + trace elements liquid fertilizer, about 250 ppm of nitrogen solution, half a gallon of the solution for a one gallon pot. Is this OK?

5) Right now it is in a one gallon pot, I'm going to repot it into a 3 gallon pot, how long 3 gallons will be enough for this plant? A year?

6) Overwintering:

6.1 Can it be overwintered with little light (like north facing window) with much less water and a temperature of about 10*C (with some fluctuations...)?

Thank you!

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Comments (8)

Bamatufa
15 years ago
General questions? You mean very detailed questions. :-) . I am wondering if you have been sold a Musa Basjoo. Sounds like Musa Tropicana is a made up name for marketing purposes.Never heard of it. Maybe some of the banana experts on here will have a good answer.However, welcome to the banana forum on Gardenweb!
lac1361
15 years ago
I've never heard of Musa Tropicana; I've heard of Canna Tropicana. It is quite possible that someone just getting into tropical plants would not be able to ascertain whether or not they bought a banana or a canna. Super Dwarf Cavendish will be all green with faint red wine colored splotches on the upper side of the leaves. It is a very short, compact and stout plant. It is notoriously difficult to bloom in a container because it is prone to choking; that is a condition where the flower bud, as it is traveling through the pseudostem gets caught as it is ready to emerge. That pseudostem will eventually die, only to be replaced by its pups.

If you could post a picture, I might could help you identify your plant.

Steve
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evaldas
Original Author
15 years ago
I'm sure "Musa tropicana" is just a commercialized named :)
But doesn't chocking only happen when you cut the leaves at the pseudostem off?
Here, the pictures ;)
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Can you view the pictures?
cheson74
15 years ago
It's definitely a Cavendish. Those wide leaves are unmistakable.

You can find a ton of information about any type of banana at this site: www.bananas.org

Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.bananas.org/
evaldas
Original Author
15 years ago
Ok, thanks :). Though, it is SUPER dwarf cavendish, right?

Can somebody help me with my initial questions :)?
lac1361
15 years ago
Answers to questions:

1. Yes, but don't put in full sun immediately. The plant needs some time to get used to full sun.
2. Yes
3.1, 3.2, 3.3 I keep about 2 pups plus the mother plant. The mother plant will grow faster with fewer pups.
3.4 If the plant is small enough in the pot, I would up pot it and find where the pups are attached to the mother and cut closest to the mother corm making sure you get enough roots for the pup to survive.
4. Fertilizer seems ok but I grow my bananas in the ground and feed them any kind of fertilizer I have hanging around.
5.3 gallon pot should last a year.
6.Can't help with the overwintering question as I don't have to grow my bananas in a pot. I do know you should reduce watering and eliminate fertilizer during the winter.

Steve
evaldas
Original Author
15 years ago
Hello,
I have some more questions:
The new leaf, that the banana grew has some brown spots. Is it usual for this variety, because the previous leaves have NO spots.
How big should the pups be when separating if the motherplant right now is a bit more than 2 feet tall? I heard that they have to have grown at least 4 leaves...?
Is it normal for the leaves to wilt, along the biggest vein, downwards in full sun? Sign of underwatering?
JenPeteFL
15 years ago
Sveikinimai Evaldas! Please let us know if you have success. We do mission work in Latvia and if you can successfully grow a banana plant in Lithuania, then maybe my friends can in Latvia also.