How to Grow Banana Plants Indoors and Outdoor - Part 2

IV/ Planting Your Banana Plant

1. Purchase a corm or banana tree online or at the store.

The corm is the base of the banana tree and contains the tree’s roots. If you don’t want to plant the corm and wait for the tree to grow, you can buy a young banana tree or a banana tree sucker. This will bypass having to grow new suckers from the corm, and may make it easier to plant your tree.

You may also be able to buy young banana trees or banana corms at a local nursery.

2. Rinse the banana corm thoroughly with lukewarm water.

It’s important that you rinse the banana corm before planting it to remove any pests that might be on it. Rinsing the corm will also help remove any bacterial or fungal growth.

3. Dig a small hole for the banana corm.

Fill your pot with the soil that you purchased from the gardening store. Use a spade to dig a small hole in the center of your pot about three inches (7.62 cm) deep. You may have to dig a deeper hole to accommodate the size of your corm. Make sure to leave enough space around the corm so that you can plant it deep into your pot. To test this, place your corm in the hole and make sure that the top 20% of the corm sticks out of the hole. This portion of your tree should remain exposed until new leaves start sprouting. Once the corm is planted, fill in the gaps on the side with soil.

4. Bury the banana corm into the soil and cover the roots.

Take your corm and place it in the hole that you just dug, roots side down. When planting your corm, make sure that it’s 3 inches (7.5 cm) from the sides of your pot all around it so that the roots have room to grow. The top 20% of your corm should be exposed until the banana tree starts to grow leaves.

When shoots or suckers start to grow from your corm, you can cover the rest of the corm with compost.

5. Water your tree.

Water your plant thoroughly with a hose when you first plant it, saturating all of the soil surrounding the corm. Bring your tree outside and allow the water to drain through the drainage holes. After this initial watering, you can use a watering can to keep the soil moist, but not overly wet. Do not put your pot on a saucer because the pool of water can lead to bacteria and rot.

V/ Caring for Your Banana Plants

1. Fretilize

Fertilize your tree once a month. Fertilize young plant when it establishes well with magnesium, potassium, and nitrogen-rich to help it grow faster. Combine a soluble fertilizer with water or sprinkle the top of the soil with a granular fertilizer. Regularly fertilizing the plant will provide the roots with the proper nutrients and minerals and will promote your tree’s growth.

During the spring and summer, you can fertilize your plant once a week. If you can’t find a soluble fertilizer that is made specifically for tropical plants, consider getting a balanced 20-20-20 fertilizer.

2. Watering

Banana loves moisture. Water it regularly and deeply but care not to overwater. In summer, water it every day. It may need water even two times a day in hot weather or when it is root bound. Soil for growing banana plants should be kept uniformly moist. Reduce watering in winter.

3. Sun

Make sure that your tree gets bright, indirect sunlight. Banana trees thrive in indirect sunlight and prefer shaded areas. If you live in a seasonal climate, you can put your banana tree outside during the summer months when it’s warm. Make sure to position the tree next to surrounding foliage that can block out the direct rays of the sun. Rotate the container regularly to make sure that all sides of the plant are receiving sunlight. If your tree is indoors, put it next to a large window so that it can get adequate sunlight.

VI/ Overwintering Banana Tree

Banana plants stop growing when the temperature drops below 50 ° Fahrenheit. Before the onset of winter, do heavy mulching and prune the leaves. Put it in a warm, bright room till the spring.

Bring your tree inside when the temperature drops below 57 °F (14 °C). Cold and heavy winds aren’t healthy for your banana plant and can disrupt the growth of fruit. If you know that your yard will have cold winds, consider bringing your banana plant inside, or insulating it with rows of trees. If the seasons are changing, it’s best that you bring your tree inside before it starts to get cold out. Your banana trees will start dying at 50°F (10°C).

VII/ Pests and Diseases

Bananas are quite resistant to diseases, still when you see the leaves turning brown and drying at the edges it means you’re overwatering and if the leaves turn yellow, banana plant is having a lack of nutrients.

Some pests that might attack banana plant are banana aphids, banana weevil, and coconut scale. These pests can easily be repelled using organic pesticides.