If i get a container bannana tree from the nursery can i maintain it in Mississippi?

[titohunter]

I was told they only grow in tropical places like Jamaica would they die in Mississippi in a container or what?

 

[Chuck]

I was told they only grow in tropical places like Jamaica would they die in Mississippi in a container or what?

There are all kinds of banana trees, some fruiting and others ornamental. I presume you want one that will bear fruit. Here in Texas you can sometimes have fruit. It depends on whether it froze last year or not The varieties here take about 18 months to mature enough to bear fruit, if they don't freeze. Growing a large banana tree in a container, even a big container will be iffy at best. Some people wrap newspapers around the trunk when it is going to freeze and have limited success in keeping the tree from freezing. If a banana tree freezes that doesn't necessarily mean it is dead. It usually just turns to mush and comes back from the roots and the 18 month process starts all over again

 

[firelily99]

It may be warm enough but other variable come into play when growing a banana tree. I suspect that if the grew well in Mississippi then they would already be growing outdoors as a cash crop in your state.

 

[evelynmcgregor]

Here in North Alabama, banana trees will usually come back after winter. They usually freeze to the ground, although I have seen some planted on a protected south side of the house that do not freeze down and will eventually produce fruit, although it usually does not have time to ripen before winter returns. They can get fairly large here, sometimes taller than the roof of a one story house.

 

[Kansas Terri]

For all things bananas... http://www.bananas.org/

I had a hardy banana for a few years just for the looks: it died back to the ground every year but it came back the next year. I had a lot of fun with it, before the power company ran over it with their trucks. THAT it did not survive! that is the penalty for planting something in the right of way of the power company. I cannot complain as I knew the risks, but I did enjoy it for a few years!

Some of those folks in borderline areas rig the banana up with Christmas lights to provide the plant with a little extra heat to help it winter over. Alas my area is not borderline, no matter what I do the top will die. I tried bringing one in one summer but we did not have enough light..

I am considering buying another one this fall for a house plant, and I would move it outside in the spring if it survives. A new small plant could be set in the windowsill and get a bit more light than the big boys would.

 

[sthrngypsy]

Depends on what part of Mississippi. I have seen fruiting bananas all over New Orleans. In Mobile I have seen them fruit occasionally, generally when given protection over winter and the stars fall into alignment. Michigan Bulb Company and probably other sources sell banana trees especially for container growing.

 

[Kansas Terri]

The banana tree I ordered arrived on Thursday afternoon! I got it from a gent who is a member of www.bananas.org, and he was generous enough to only charge me for postage!

He told me that it would be better if I kept it in the warm house with a grow light this winter, as it is still small and tender. Still, it is larger than the banana plants you buy in the store. I got a Mekong Giant, which might or might not survive outside even if I protect it with a lot of leaves. This is a relatively new variety of banana, so folks do not know what the cold limit is, yet.

At the moment it has been potted up and it is sitting in the shade on my back deck, to allow it to recover from being split off of the parent plant and then being boxed up and mailed.

I think I will also buy a musa basjoo, which is a banana that is hardy enough to do well in Kansas, as long as it is protected by covering it with a heap of leaves in the winter.

 

[Whitewolf2578]

I have always wanted to grow a Banana tree, but here in California I don't think the air is humid enough for them. I do know they grow like weeds in Jamaica though. I have heard people can grow them anywhere if it is a controlled environment like a green house. I am not even sure how you get seeds from a Banana.

 

[Kansas Terri]

Bananas are fun! I grew up in San Jose and the people across the street had some: every year they would die down to the ground and then sprout new in the spring. They never did fruit, though, because dying down to the ground every year prevented the top from getting old enough to produce any fruit.

There are hardier varieties out, now. I have no idea if they would fruit in California, though.

All banana trees send out shoots from the base of the plant. People then can cut the shoot off and sell it or give it away and it makes a new banana tree. The hardiest is a variety called Basjoo, and while it will freeze down to the soil, every year it sends up a new shoot or two so the banana tree re-appears every year. I used to have one, and it is pretty cool to grow a banana in Kansas! Every year our temperatures go below -1 Fahrenheit so bananas are an ornamental for us, not a food producer.

Some varieties of bananas have seeds in the fruit and some do not. The edible varieties sold in the grocery stores are seedless, needless to say! If the seeds an be grown but they will need careful attention to temperature to do so: I have not yet had any success with seeds. If you would like to grow a banana I would suggest you buy a plant instead of seeds: it is easier!

Banana trees have easy to buy on line and they are not expensive at all: if you would like to try one why don't you order one and see if it does well for you? My old Basjoo used to do just fine when the air was dry, as long as I remembered to water it. Kansas gets more rain than California does, but even so I had to water it once a week if it did not rain.

This year I got a Mekong Giant banana plant: shipping was about $8 and the plant was about 3 feet high. It had just been split off of the parent plant the week before and it seems to be doing well on my back deck. I intend to winter it inside and then plant it where my old Basjoo was; my Basjoo had a power company truck parked on top of it and so it died. I cannot really complain: they needed to replace the old poles and they had paid us for the change in the right of way. It is a bit risky to plant another banana there, but if it lives I would hope to be able to divide the young shoots around the base and plant them in other places around the yard. Mekong Giant is a new variety and so nobody knows how hardy it is, yet, though some people perhaps 200 miles south of me were able to grow it in their back yard.

 

[thomas pendrake]

I have seen banana plants thrive in Knoxville, they should survive in Mississippi. There is a difference between being able to grow a plant and being able to make a commercial crop out of it. Protect the plant in winter, enjoy it.

 

[Corzhens]

You are right, @titohunter, banana is grown in tropical country and they rarely fruit in very cold places. But there is a cool place here, Baguio City, where the temperature dips to 4 deg C sometimes and the warmest is 25 deg C. It is not considered tropical anymore but they have bananas there.

 

[Pat]

It would be nice to have a banana tree to provide fruit but it sounds like it is not hot enough in your area to provide the fruit, the tree will grow back but no fruit. If you do decide to try it in a container and take the plant in over the winter please let us know how it worked out.

 

[Corzhens]

May I present our banana plant that is imported from Thailand. It is the breed that can have more than 10 clusters with each cluster having more than 20 bananas. It is prolific and easy to plant, quick to bear fruit in less than a year after planting. Our first harvest yielded about 150 bananas and now we are putting planting materials in plastic pots.

This planting material will be given to my aunt.