As the bud unfolds, it reveals double rows of tiny flowers. Each stem grows 9 to 12 hands, which means that a single banana plant can produce up to bananas. About 14 days after the stem has emerged, the weight of the growing bananas causes the stem to hang upside down. At this stage, many farmers cover the fruit with a bag to help protect it from insects and sun damage.
Farmers also support the plant by tying it to neighboring plants with twine. This helps prevent the plant from toppling over from the weight of the bananas. About 12 weeks after bagging, the green-colored fruit is ready to harvest. In order to harvest the bananas, one worker cuts the stem from the plant while another stands underneath to catch the falling stem on his shoulder. After one growth cycle, the banana plant will be cut down and a new plant will grow from the root clump rhizome left behind.
At the processing plant, workers remove bananas from their stems by hand and break them into smaller clusters. The workers must be very careful to cut neatly and accurately in order to prevent breaking the skin, which can cause rotting. The workers submerge the bananas in large tanks of cold water.
The cool water lowers the temperature of the bananas and washes off sap and latex from the cut stems. If you were curious about how long it takes a banana tree to grow, you could expect to see a mature plant after 10 to 15 months. If a banana plant has optimal growing conditions, 12 hours of sunlight, plenty of water, and space to grow, most varieties of banana trees mature reasonably quickly. The variety of banana you grow, whether it is an ornamental or fruit-bearing type, and if it is grown indoors or outdoors, may impact the growth period.
A banana tree that is well cared for, adequately fertilized, and is in a hot and humid environment will quickly mature, bear flowers, and may develop fruit. Banana trees must be protected from strong winds, frigid temperatures, disease, and should be grown in well-draining soil that is rich, fertilized, and has enough room for healthy root systems to establish themselves. Read on to learn some more fine points about the life cycle of the majestic and magical banana plant.
The tropical banana tree is a popular source of nutrition for both humans and animals and is best grown in zones 9 and The banana tree is not a tree at all but is, in fact, a clumping, perennial herbaceous plant.
There are around 70 different varieties of the banana plant, or the Musa genus , which is a native of Southeastern Asia. There are many wonderful ornamental and fruit-bearing banana plants that gardeners can grow indoors and outdoors. Depending on the variety of banana plants selected will influence how long it takes to reach maturity.
On average, most banana trees need a minimum of 10 to 15 months to reach maturity, but some plants may need 3 to 4 years before they begin to develop fruit.
Banana trees require constant warmth, humidity, frequent watering, nutrient-rich, well-draining soil, and plenty of sunshine. A mother banana plant may reach maturity, produce fruit, and then perish after as little as 13 months. However, any pups that spring up can transform into viable pseudostems or stalks which may produce flowers and fruit. Check out different varieties of the banana plant before you commit to growing this tropical beauty, as the time it takes for each type to mature and bear fruit may vary.
Once a pseudostem of a banana plant has produced a clump of flowers that later become the banana fruit, it will die. Despite being frequently referred to as "banana trees," banana plants are herbaceous perennials, the largest grasses in the world.
With the U. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones ranging from 5 through 11, according to Missouri Botanical Garden , gardeners in temperate zones may enjoy the tropical look of the banana plant in their own yard.
Banana plants may begin as seeds or from plantlets taken from around the mother plant. The banana plant grows and develops during the vegetative development stage, developing a pseudostem of concentrically growing leaves as the plant grows to its adult height. The flowering stage begins when the flowering stem or shoot apex begins growing through the pseudostem. After the shoot apex stem matures and blooms with female and male flowers, the fruiting stage occurs as the bunches of bananas develop.
At the end of the fruiting stage, the pseudostem and shoot apex die or are cut off, leaving the new plantlets room to grow and develop.
Bananas may be divided into edible and ornamental types, or they can be divided into hardy and tropical types depending on the gardener's plan. These subdivisions really come down to growing conditions, however, since the edible bananas usually require tropical conditions to develop fruit, while the ornamental bananas, grown for their tropical appearance, including those that will grow but not fruit in colder areas. In general, banana plants thrive where the average temperature is about 80 degrees Fahrenheit, and annual rainfall averages between 78 inches and 98 inches.
Outside of a specialty greenhouse, these conditions may be difficult for many home gardeners to replicate. Edible banana plants include sweet or dessert varieties and cooking bananas, according to Harvest to Table.
Perhaps the most familiar edible banana in the U. A dwarf variety of Musa acuminata, the 'Dwarf Cavendish' also called ladyfinger banana and Chinese banana , only grows 4 feet to 6 feet tall and can be grown as an ornamental or for fruit under the right conditions.
Ornamental banana plants include both tropical and edible if conditions allow and hardy species.
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