Banana: how to grow in the middle zone.

There is an opinion that it is almost impossible to grow a tropical or subtropical plant at home. For example, banana is a plant from the tropics, a lover of humid and warm climates. How will he feel in indoor culture? And is it possible to grow a banana from a seed, and even eat homemade exotic fruits?

Features of the plant

Many people are accustomed to thinking of a banana as a palm tree and are extremely surprised that it is a large herbaceous plant. It is demanding to care for (you need to create conditions for it close to the tropics), but it is quite amenable to home cultivation. Moreover, you can also get fruits.

The perennial representative of the Banana family literally does not have a trunk. What we consider the trunk of a “tree” is the closely spaced bases of elongated leaves (pseudostem). The rhizome (rhizome), hidden underground, is the true stem. Unusual plant, in which everything is not like other cultures, but “upside down.”

It belongs to monocarpic crops: after fruiting is completed, the above-ground part of the plant dies off. The rhizome gives rise to a new plant, forming shoots. A banana quickly grows its ground part: a leaf grows in a week. In indoor culture it begins to bloom in the third year. A flower forms at the top of the leaf. Moreover, a banana can bloom throughout the entire growth period, gradually forming a cluster of fruits that ripen unevenly.

Although banana is a herbaceous plant, in the wild it reaches high altitude(9-12m). Low-growing (dwarf) varieties have been created specifically for cultivation at home.

Reproduction methods:

seeds;
basal shoots;
dividing the rhizome.

Important! The bananas we eat are seedless. These are the fruits of the Cavendish varieties, which can only be propagated vegetatively. Those that can be grown from seeds are almost inedible: inside the banana there is an abundance of seeds and little pulp. They are grown for their decorative value.

IN indoors banana can be propagated in two ways:

Plant with seeds. This will be a wild subspecies, strong and viable, but its fruits are inedible, because there is little pulp in them.
Buy a sprouted plant. This is, as a rule, a varietal crop obtained vegetatively, capable of “bearing” tasty, edible fruits.

This is interesting!

In some tropical countries, banana accounts for the lion's share of exports. In terms of sales to other countries, this crop ranks 4th in the world, behind rice, wheat and corn. About 40 species are included in this genus.

Species grown indoors

Species are conventionally divided into two groups:

Decorative, growing at home is intended to diversify the interior, for landscaping the apartment. Their fruits are also a kind of decoration, but they are inedible. These include bananas: velvety, lavender, bright red, Chinese dwarf. All of them reach about one and a half meters in height.
Fruit species are decorative, and they ripen fruits with good taste. These are pointed banana, dwarf Cavendish, super-dwarf Cavendish, Kiev dwarf, Kiev super-dwarf. Their height varies from one to two meters.

This is interesting!

A Ukrainian breeder who was breeding this crop at home claims that the yield of the above species is 150 fruits from one “grass tree.”

The seeds of this crop take a long time to germinate, like most seeds of tropical plants. Therefore, you can buy an already germinated plant. If all care requirements are met, it will bloom and bear fruit in indoor cultivation. After purchasing, do not forget to replant the banana in soil suitable for it, making drainage and creating the necessary conditions for growth.

Tropical plant from seeds: difficult or simple?

Seeds can be purchased at the store. As a rule, a package contains 3-4 seeds. According to customer reviews, they sprout, but not as quickly as we would like.

How to properly plant at home? Let's look at it step by step.

The seed has a dense shell, so it will be difficult for it to hatch. To do this, there is a technique called scarification: the durable shell needs to be filed down, but without piercing or damaging the contents. The main thing is to allow the sprout to come out into the light.
You can plant the seeds in separate containers, or in a planting box at a distance of 15 cm between future seedlings.
A separate technique is to germinate seeds in advance in a damp coconut substrate mixed with perlite. The substrate is poured into a plastic bag, mixed with seeds. They tie it and pierce several holes in it. Place in a warm place, and after 2 weeks the hatched seeds are planted in pre-prepared pots.
Potting substrate for banana seeds is river sand and peat (4:1). No feeding is needed, but drainage is required for further cultivation. You can prepare another one soil mixture- This is forest turf with rotted leaves and needles. They are an excellent disinfectant. The mixture will have the following composition: forest turf, wood ash, sand and peat in equal proportions.
Seeds planted at home in the spring-summer period germinate after 3-5 weeks, and autumn-winter planting will increase the duration of seedling emergence to 3-5 months.
The seeds need to be distributed over the surface and lightly pressed into the soil, without covering them with soil, so that light falls on the seed. To preserve heat and moisture, place the container in a warm place and cover it with glass or film.
The film is periodically opened so that the air does not stagnate. If the substrate dries out, then spraying with a spray bottle is necessary.

Advice!

There is no need to place the seedlings in direct sunlight. If mold appears on the surface due to insufficient ventilation, then this area must be removed, treated with potassium permanganate and aeration monitored.

8. Growing a tropical plant and seed involves a long wait for germination. It may take 2-3 months for green shoots to appear. Then their rapid growth begins, and after a week young bananas can be planted in their “permanent place of residence.”

You don’t have to buy seeds in the store, but get them yourself from the appropriate varieties at home. If the ripe fruit is covered with brown spots, then the seeds are ripe. Mash the pulp and remove them by hand. Rinse well. Soak in water for 2-3 days room temperature, we change the water periodically. Then we wipe the seeds and lightly scrape them. The seeds must be brown shades. After this, we plant according to the usual pattern.

Advice!

If a tropical crop has grown to the ceiling, then you can trim the top. This will not prevent it from blooming and bearing fruit. But it's better to use dwarf varieties, which are specially created for growing at home. They also produce crops, tolerate cold, and are resistant to diseases.

A wide variety of tropical plants are grown at home, and banana is no exception. You need to plant it according to all the rules and carefully care for it. And then sit down in a chair under a “palm tree” and feel like you’re on vacation in an exotic country.

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Who among us has not heard about this wonderful fruit, which has delicate pulp and delicious taste? How interesting it is to grow such a plant in your room and enjoy the green exotic! But few people know how many varieties of banana there are in nature and how humanity still uses this green inhabitant of warm countries.

Banana (Musa) is a member of the genus of herbaceous perennials belonging to the Banana family (Musaceae). Most varieties of this fruit, beloved by mankind, can be found in Southeast Asia and the Malay Archipelago; it also grows in the northeastern regions of the Australian continent and in some Japanese islands. In general, wherever the tropical and subtropical climate completely dominates. That is, this representative of the flora loves to settle on lands with environmental conditions with high humidity and hot temperatures. The genus includes up to 70 varieties of such plants. For industrial purposes, musa is grown in Pakistan and Bhutan, China and Sri Lanka, the Maldives and Bangladesh; bananas have not been ignored in Nepal, Thailand and Brazil. In Russia, you can see this plant only in Sochi, but because of the cold winters, the fruits do not ripen there.

Naturally, in the places where this crop grows naturally, it is one of the most common food plants, as well as an important item for export. And in some countries, this product is one of the main types of food; if we take as an example, in Ecuador the annual consumption of bananas reaches 73.8 kg per capita. And if we consider this figure for Russia, it is only 7.29 kg. Every year, up to 120 million tons of these fruits are collected worldwide. Banana is second only to rice, wheat and corn in popularity and cultivation.

If you start to figure out where the plant got its name, then this story is confusing and long, since there is no exact information about it. But we are talking about the name “Musa”. They say that this was the name of the court physician who served at the court of Octavian Augustus - Antonio Muse. And it happened in last decades before our era and in the first years of this era. There is also information that the name comes from the Arabic word “mus”, which translates as an edible fruit formed on the plant. But the familiar “banana” to us comes from a free translation of the expression “banana”, which is spelled this way in many dictionaries of European languages. They say that this name for these fruits was brought by the Spanish and Portuguese sailors at the end of the 16th and beginning of the 17th centuries, who drew it from the conversations of local tribes settled in West Africa.

So, banana is a plant with a herbaceous growth form. After bamboo, banana comes in second place as the world's tallest herbaceous representative. In its outline it is very similar to a palm tree, since it seems that the plant has a similar trunk. But that's not true. This is a formation that appeared due to the wide sheaths of the petioles of large leaf plates, tightly attached to each other. These vaginas are wrapped so tightly around each other that they form such a semblance of a trunk. This false trunk can reach a height of 6–12 meters and measure 30 cm in diameter at its base. And the stem of the musa is powerful and short in size, thick and practically does not rise above the ground surface.

The roots are also striking in their appearance. They are numerous and fibrous, with their interweaving they form a root system that can go 1.5 meters deep into the soil in search of life-giving moisture. To the sides, the root shoots spread up to 5 meters.

The leaves, which are collected in a rosette at the top of the false trunk, are large in size and reach a length of 2–3 meters and a width of up to a meter. They have elliptical and oblong shapes, are juicy and very varied in color. The color of the leaf blade depends very much on the type of banana: it can be light and dark green tones, as well as spotted with dark burgundy markings, two-color (with reverse side crimson in color, and from the top - juicy green). A longitudinal central vein is clearly visible on the surface, from which multiple lateral veins extend perpendicularly. As the leaf matures and ages, it falls to the ground, and the “young growth” develops inside the false trunk. The speed at which leaves are renewed in favorable conditions very high and lasts for a week.

After the plant grows for 8–10 months, the flowering period begins. The peduncle breaks through the entire trunk, outward, coming from the underground tuber. Already at the top an inflorescence is formed complex shape, resembling a large kidney with a purple or green color. At the base, flowers are formed, arranged in tiers. At the very top, female buds bloom, from which fruits appear, below are bisexual flowers, and at the very bottom are male flowers of the smallest size. Each flower has 3 tube petals with 3 sepals. Their color is white, the leaves covering them are purple on the outside, and dark red on the inside. The inflorescences grow upright or bend towards the ground. Pollination occurs at night bats, and in the daytime - by birds and mammals. As the fruits develop, they will become hand-like, with more fingers.

The banana fruit is a berry. Its appearance is very different depending on the variety: it can be elongated, cylindrical and triangular. The length varies from 3 to 40 cm. The color of the skin also varies greatly: green, yellowish, red and with a silvery tint. As the fruit ripens, its flesh softens and juiciness appears. Each inflorescence can produce up to 300 fruits, which will weigh a total of 70 kg. The pulp also differs in color: whitish, creamy, yellow or orange. Seeds are found only in wild varieties. Once fruiting is complete, the false stem dies off completely, giving way to a new one.

Creating conditions for growing bananas

Lighting. Musa loves bright light, and it is better to place the pot near a window or on a windowsill. It is worth choosing a south, south-west or south-east orientation, well, as a last resort, windows facing east or west. On a north window, growth will be slow, and you won’t get fruit if there is no backlighting. With the arrival of constant warmth, you can take the plant outside Fresh air, but from direct rays of the sun you will need to shade it with gauze or place a pot of banana in the openwork shade of trees.
Content temperature. It is best to maintain heat levels within 25–30 degrees. If they drop to 15, then growth will stop, which is unacceptable for normal maintenance. When the plant is in spring-summer period“lives” in the air, then with the arrival of cold nights you will need to bring it into the house.
Watering. Banana is a real “water bread”, so it will need to be moistened regularly and generously, but rarely. This is explained by the fact that the leaf surface is large and more moisture evaporates from it. When 1–2 cm of soil on top of the soil dries out, soil moisture will be required. The water is taken at a temperature of 25–30 degrees and must be soft. Watering is carried out until liquid flows from the drainage holes. If in the autumn-winter period the banana is kept at 18 degrees, then the moisture content is reduced so that the root system does not rot.
Air humidity. For a plant, humidity is very important factor, its indicators must be at least 70%. In summer, the leaf crown is sprayed daily, and in winter only once a week. The sheets often need to be wiped clean from dust. You can place air humidifiers nearby or place the pot in a deep container, at the bottom of which water is poured and a drainage layer is poured. But the main thing is that the bottom of the pot does not touch the liquid. The flowerpot is placed on an inverted saucer or large stones. Air should pass to the roots as freely as moisture; for this, it is necessary to loosen them every 2–3 days. upper layer soil in a pot to a depth of no more than 1 cm.
Banana transplant. Replanting is carried out as the root system develops the soil. For planting, you need to take a substrate under trees such as linden, birch, acacia or hazel. Do not pick near poplar, chestnut or oak. A layer only 5–10 cm deep is dug. It is better to transplant by handling the banana without destroying it earthen coma. During this procedure, the bush will need to be deepened more and more than the previous time, so the pot is selected deeper. 0.5 kg of wood ash, 2 kg of sand and 1 kg of humus substrate or vermicompost are added to a bucket of this soil. It is necessary to mix and pour boiling water or ignite for disinfection purposes. A drainage layer is placed in the pot (depending on the volume), it can be 3–10 cm. Then a 1 cm layer of moistened sand is poured and only then the substrate.

In order for fruits to appear, the following feeding will be required:

vermicompost or humus, but do not use chicken or pork;
infusion of any green herb (lupine, quinoa or weed);
fish soup (fish waste is boiled in water).

Apply fertilizer to moist soil so as not to burn the roots. From the spring-summer period they fertilize once every 7 days, and with the arrival of autumn only once a month.

Musa is propagated both vegetatively and by sowing seeds. Same variety grown different methods, may differ in their characteristics.

At seed method the plant will be more viable, but the fruits are unsuitable for food. The seeds are first germinated. The surface of the seed is treated sandpaper or a nail file (scarified). There is no need to pierce the seed. Then you will need to soak in boiled water for several days until the sprouts appear. The water is changed every 6 hours.

The diameter of the container for germination is no more than 10 cm. A 2 cm layer of expanded clay and a sand-peat substrate (1:4), 4 cm in height, are placed there. The seeds are slightly pressed into the ground and are not covered with earth. The pot is covered with a piece of glass or polyethylene. The place for germination should be light and warm, but direct rays are not required. The germination temperature is maintained at 27–30 degrees (at night at least 25–27). Daily ventilation of the crops will be required, and also, if the soil is dry, then moisturizing from a spray bottle. Some moisten the soil through “bottom” watering. If mold is found, it is removed and the substrate is watered with a weak solution of potassium permanganate.

Shoots will appear in 2-3 months, and banana growth will become more active. After 10 days, it will be necessary to transplant into a larger container and as it grows, this operation is repeated.

By propagating by cuttings you can get a plant with edible fruits more quickly. As soon as fruiting ends and the false stem dies, new buds from the underground stem will begin to appear in its place. One of them will become the “mother” of the new trunk. During this period, you will need to remove the rhizome from the pot and very carefully separate the part with the awakened bud from it. This division must be planted in a prepared container and, as it grows, change the pot to a larger one. Flower growers claim that by the time the fruit appears, the volume of the pot will be 50 ml.

Difficulties in cultivating Musa

If there is no backlight and the light level is low, then the banana will go into a forced period of rest.

With frequent watering, rotting of the root system can occur, which is expressed in the fact that the edges of the leaves become brown and they dry out, and growth will stop, even if the heat levels are high and there is sufficient light. In this case, you need to immediately transplant the banana into new soil, but before that, wash the roots in water. All rotten shoots are cut off sharp knife and powdered with crushed charcoal or ashes for disinfection.

Also, growth may stop or slow down if the pot is very small and cramped. You will need to carefully remove the musa from the container and if the roots have mastered the entire earthen substrate, then replanting is necessary. The same symptoms indicate low heat levels in the summer months (they should be at least 16, but optimally 24–30 degrees). Lack of light also affects the plant.

Banana pulp helps relieve symptoms of inflammatory processes that occur in the oral cavity, and is also recommended for intestinal or stomach ulcers. However, there is also a mild laxative effect. Thanks to the mass useful substances Eating banana promotes brain function and prevents high blood pressure. Tincture of musa flowers will help with diabetes and bronchitis, but compresses from the skins can quickly heal burn wounds or get rid of abscesses on the skin.

Skins cut into pieces can be buried in the soil of flowerpots, and this will serve good fertilizer for flowers. Even very tired plants become covered with leaves and flowers from such drugs.

The fruits are not only edible, but also their leaves are also used as a black dye; they are used to make fabrics and especially strong ropes and ropes for maritime affairs. The fruit can be used to make seat cushions and rafts, as well as plates for serving dishes in India and Sri Lanka.

Bananas were first mentioned in the Indian writing source Rig Veda, dating back to the 17th and 11th centuries BC. Also in ancient chronicles, clothing of the royal family was mentioned, made from fiber from banana leaves in the 14th century BC.

Also, the calorie content of potatoes is 1.5 times lower than that of bananas, but dried bananas are higher in calories than fresh ones (almost 5 times).

Types of banana

There are decorative and dessert bananas. Since there are many of them, we will list only a few in each category.

Decorative:

Acuminate banana (Musa acuminate) has beautiful foliage with dimensions up to a meter in length and a large central vein. The plate separates over time, resembling a bird's wing. The color is dark emerald, but there are varieties with a reddish tone. The height of the plant in greenhouses reaches 3.5 m, and in rooms it is no more than 2. Homeland - Australia and India, as well as China and Southeast Asia.
Blue Burmese banana (Musa itirans). The height ranges from 2.5 to 4 meters. The trunk has a violet-green color with the presence of a silver coating. The color of the leaves is bright green, their length is 0.7 meters. The skin of the fruit is also purple or blue. Native habitat - Vietnam, Laos and Thailand, can be found in China and India. There they feed the elephants.

Dessert:

Banana of paradise (Musa paradisiaca) it grows in height up to 7–9 m. The length of thick and fleshy leaves reaches 2 meters. The color is green with brown spots. The fruit measures 20 cm with a diameter of up to 4–5 cm; up to 300 of them can grow on one plant. There are practically no seeds in the pulp.
Banana lady finger (Musa Lady Finger). The false trunk is thin and reaches a height of 7–7.5 m. The fruits are small, growing to a length of 12 cm. The color of the skin is bright yellow, with thin red-brown streaks. There are up to 20 fruits in one bunch. Widely distributed in Australia and Latin America.

How to grow a banana at home, learn from this video:

Banana home plant? You will be surprised, but even this tropical green giant can easily become an apartment dweller!

First, it’s worth dispelling the main misconception about this culture. Many people think that a banana is a tall palm tree, but it is just a herbaceous plant. perennial, belonging to the Banana family (lat. Musaceae). Its fruit is a berry, and not a fruit, as many believe. So that the real trunk of the plant is located underground, at the same time serving as a rhizome, and aboveground part– leaves tightly adjacent to each other. The Banana genus numbers about 60, not at all similar friends on other species preferring tropical and subtropical climates. They are common in Asia, Australia, Africa, and these places have the best climate for them.

Growing

Now let's talk about how you can grow bananas at home. At home, it is quite possible to recreate a microclimate suitable for a tropical fruit.
Like any grass, it is quite demanding to care for, but your efforts will pay off in amazing ways. original look exotic greenery that will please everyone!

Two methods of reproduction

First you need to find out how this exotic plant propagates best. You can grow a banana at home in two ways: the first is quite labor-intensive - growing from seeds. However, it’s worth noting right away that the fruits of such a plant will be inedible and filled with seeds.

Seeds

Planting material can be purchased at flower shop or order from a website that specializes in exotic flowers. A sprout grown from seed will most likely be a wild crop, but don't be discouraged! The uncultivated subspecies is much stronger and more viable than plants bred specifically for indoor use. You have purchased banana seeds and are ready to start planting them, but before that, carefully consider planting material. Pay attention to the strong skin or even the seed shell, which should be slightly damaged before planting. It is enough to just scratch or cut the skin of a banana seed, thereby making it easier for the future sprout and speeding up the germination process by several days.

Container and soil

For each seed, select a small pot 10 - 12 cm in diameter. Soil for indoor plants is suitable as a substrate. general purpose or prepared soil from peat and sand in a ratio of 4:1.

Disembarkation procedure

The seed should only be pressed with your finger, but not sprinkled with soil on top. Cover the pots with cling film and place in a bright place out of direct sunlight. As the soil dries, moisten it. Pay special attention to high-quality drainage in pots to avoid stagnation of water and death of seeds. Seeds at home do not germinate quickly; from planting to the appearance of the first shoots it will take from 2 to 3 months.

Buying a plant in a store

If you don’t want to wait until the shoots appear and the sprout begins to develop, then the second growing method for you is to buy young plant, which was bred specifically for the home through long selection. It is worth noting that such a seedling will be more capricious than its wild counterpart, but do not despair, a little effort and everything will work out! In addition, such bananas reproduce vegetatively and will be able to reward your efforts with real homemade bananas.

Care

Pot

For your future banana, choose a spacious container. You need to make good holes in it, fill the expanded clay with a layer of 1.5 - 2 cm, add 1.5 - 2 cm of sand, and fill with earth. The cuttings are carefully transplanted: it is important not to damage the root system and delicate foliage. If the growing conditions are favorable for your plant, it will develop quite quickly. Then you may need more than one transplant per year. Good drainage most important. Stagnation of water is detrimental to the plant, which can cause the roots to rot.

Humidity

Daily moistening of the leaves, spraying or wiping is also required. Dry air negatively affects foliage. During the period of active growth and development, you can feed organic fertilizers, in the same proportions as for other plants.

Temperature

The optimal temperature for active growth can be considered from +23 to +28 degrees, in winter from +17 to +20 degrees. Humidity and quite heat- recipe for success! IN wildlife bananas prefer scorching sun rays, for this reason the windowsill of a south-facing window is well suited for them. You need to choose a place with sufficient lighting. Lack of light adversely affects growth and development. Now we know how simple and easy it is to care for this exotic “palm tree” at home.

Varieties

There is a huge amount in the world different varieties and types of bananas that differ in color and size. Here are just a few of them:

Selectively bred dwarf bananas of the Cavendish variety, such as Tropicana and Kiev dwarf, are most suitable for growing at home.

Banana Tropicana (lat. MusaTropicana). One of the most famous representatives in indoor floriculture and landscape gardening. At home, caring for him is the same as for other representatives of the species. It has oval, elegant dark green leaves with slight pigmentation.
Kiev dwarf (lat. Musasuperdwarfcavendish) or indoor fruiting dwarf banana. The dwarf grows up to 2 meters in height. At good care from one plant you can get about two hundred of your own mini-fruits. It is best to place a flower pot near an eastern or southern window; northern rooms are not suitable for fruiting. Temperature not lower than + 16 degrees. The banana blooms throughout the year; after the flowers, small fruits appear in clusters.

Aesthetic side

Decorative banana tree cannot leave any fastidious gardener indifferent! It should be noted that these plants are quite tenacious and hardy, and also a real find for the interior, because they allow you to show off exotic berries, receiving guests!

Growing problems

What diseases are typical for indoor banana trees? How to help an exotic plant? Let's look at the most common difficulties that anyone may encounter:

Slowing growth, reduction, and wilting of foliage may be due to a lack of nutrients. To begin with, you can carry out a series of planned fertilizing, and you can transplant it into a larger pot.
Drying of foliage, wilting of young shoots, curling and yellowing of tips - all this is associated with dry air. It is necessary to spray the crown more often and increase the overall humidity in the room.
Pale and small foliage appears due to a lack of consecration. Recommended to use artificial lamps in winter.
Soft drooping leaves signal to us that the room temperature is too low. That is why indoor bananas are more vulnerable in winter. The plant should not be located near “cold” windows or in drafts.
Dark pigmentation between veins on older leaves common occurrence and don't worry.
In the spring, the plant did not come out of the dormant period and did not begin to actively grow? Then you need to carry out scheduled feeding.
The stem darkened at the base and became soft. This is the worst sign of all! The base of the stem rots from an excess of soil moisture; if watering is not reduced and urgent measures are not taken, the plant may soon die.

Practical use

In medicine

This fruit has many useful properties! ethnoscience says that banana is one of the most acceptable foods for gallstone disease. Bananas are good for liver diseases and gastrointestinal diseases. The pulp of this berry is rich in fiber and dietary fiber, which has a beneficial effect on the digestion process, as well as potassium salts, which promote the removal of fluid from the body and good heart function. Scientists have proven that people who eat a banana daily are more optimistic and focused.

In gardening

Banana fruits can also be used as fertilizer for indoor and garden plants. Everything is clear with gardeners, I threw the skins into a compost pit and fertilized the beds the next year, but how do you fertilize or feed indoor plants with bananas? Its peel contains a lot of potassium, which is so necessary for the growth and development of plants.
Banana peels can be used as dry food for home flowers. To do this, the skin is dried, then ground or ground into powder. The resulting mass can be mixed with soil or sprinkled directly under the roots of flowers.

For people who love home plants and flowers, it is often desirable to have an exotic look on the windowsill at home. How to grow a banana at home is a question that may arise among lovers of this delicious fruit. Surprisingly, you can grow a banana at home; this requires knowledge and a little diligence in caring for the plant.

Description of banana for home cultivation

Banana is a herbaceous plant capable of perennial growth, not a palm tree (a common misconception). Mass cultivation (on an industrial scale) is concentrated in Asia, Africa and Australia.

An ordinary plant is not suitable for growing at home. For this purpose, breeders developed indoor or dwarf bananas. You can grow a banana tree at home; it will, of course, be much smaller in size compared to what grows in a normal environment. If an ordinary “palm tree” has a height of up to 13 meters, then a home one will grow to a maximum of two meters.

A homemade banana will be comparable to a street banana; the foliage of the plant will reach a maximum of one and a half meters in length and 35-40 cm in width. The banana “palm” does not have a trunk on the surface that resembles a trunk, just the bases of the leaves tightly pressed against each other, the stem itself is round in shape, hidden in the soil.

Flowers bloom in the very center, and bananas also appear there. After the berries complete ripening, the pseudostem dies and dries out. But the plant does not stop growing; new leaves replace the old ones, lengthening the not real trunk, and continuing the life of the homemade banana. The average lifespan of a plant is 35-40 years.

Two varieties are suitable for growing at home: ornamental and fruit. The main difference is the presence of edible bananas. U ornamental plants, various beautiful flowers. The flowering period itself also differs, but the fruits are small and are not eaten. Fruit plants at home they will produce a harvest. The bananas are edible and tasty.

Reproduction methods

There are not many ways to propagate indoor bananas. One of the methods is more labor-intensive. This is propagation by growing from seeds. The procedure is long, not simple, and does not always give the expected result. The main thing is that such a homemade “flower” will not produce edible fruits. When propagated by germination, seeds grow only decorative varieties.

The second method is simpler and does not require anything other than money. This is buying a ready-made seedling in a store. It is possible to choose both decorative and fruit-bearing species of dwarf banana plants. When purchasing, you can immediately see what an adult homemade banana tree will look like. Let's look at the first method in more detail.

Seeds

If you decide to grow a banana at home by sprouting a seed, there are two ways. The first is to buy seeds in a store or order them online. The good thing about decorative varieties grown in this way is that they are more resistant to diseases and are not as fastidious as fruit-bearing ones. When planting a banana from purchased seeds, you should pay attention to the outer layer of the seed, it is hard, the main thing here is to allow the sprout to emerge. To do this, you need to damage the surface of the seed, scratch it with a fingernail or make a neat cut with a knife. This procedure will help the sprout to germinate and speed up the growth process by several days.

It is possible to get the seeds from a store-bought banana, but it is not easy. Ordinary fruits are not suitable, we need wild ones, and finding them is difficult in our country, but possible. This is due to the fact that bananas are picked before they ripen and by this time the seeds are just beginning to form. Wild bananas are smaller than normal bananas. They have dark, almost black, seeds distributed throughout the pulp.

When the desired fruit is found, it is placed in a bag and placed in a warm place without direct contact sun rays. It is necessary to wait until the skin dries and acquires its characteristic black color. Next, you need to carefully remove the pulp from the peel, and use a sharp knife to cut the banana lengthwise, remove all the seeds, placing them on a paper towel or napkin. tropical plant It will only come from rounded seeds; flattened seeds are not suitable and can be discarded immediately. The next step is to thoroughly rinse under running water. Afterwards, banana seeds need to be placed in a plate or saucer and poured warm water and do nothing with them for 2-3 days. It is better to place the container on the windowsill so that the sun hits it.

After all these steps, the seed is ready for planting. Suitable here special composition– inert substrate (sold in flower shops). Sphagnum moss or coconut are suitable for homemade banana. Or prepare the composition yourself; for this you need to carefully mix sand (preferably coarse) and peat in proportions of 3:1.

For germinating seeds, a container with sides of 10 cm or more is suitable. As a rule, drainage is lined on the bottom when planting; in extreme cases, ordinary small stones will do. Next comes a layer of substrate, 4-6 cm thick. The seeds are placed on top, pressing firmly into the soil. Do not forget about the thick crust of the seed, which must be damaged, using, for example, an ordinary nail file, making a cut for the future sprout. You need to work carefully, without damaging the core. Don't forget to water the plant. The germination process is not fast; sprouts will appear in two or three months.

Buying a plant in a store

This method is much easier than germinating grain, and has both advantages and disadvantages. When buying a homemade “flower” in a specialized store, you can choose the variety, type and size. There is no need to perform any additional actions, except perhaps replant dwarf banana V new pot, then wait until the plant sprouts and matures. And the biggest plus is the opportunity to purchase a fruit-bearing “tree”, providing yourself with a small harvest of small but edible bananas. There is only one drawback, but a significant one. Store-bought homemade banana is capricious and demanding to care for.

Caring for homemade banana

Growing bananas is not easy, but it is enjoyable. Care will depend on what kind of plant: is it a banana from seeds, or purchased tree. A “palm tree” purchased in a store is not planted in a new pot right away. exotic plant They keep them at home for several days, observing for diseases or pests. If this is an indoor banana grown from a seed, you can transplant a sprouted sprout (how to germinate is written above) when its height is at least 10 cm.

Soil and fertilizer

It doesn’t matter what kind of homemade banana, bought in a store or sprouted yourself, in any case it is replanted. First, let's decide on the size, whether it will be a small pot (if it is a dwarf banana) or a large pot. For small specimens, the calculation is as follows: 10 cm of plant per 1 liter of pot, that is, if a plant is 20 cm high, the ideal pot is 2 liters in volume. For homemade bananas with a height of more than 50 cm, the calculation is 20 cm per 1 liter (for 60 cm, a 12 liter pot is suitable).

We buy ready-made soil or prepare it ourselves. The process is labor-intensive, but the quality is 100% guaranteed. The basis will be soil, which is best collected under a linden, walnut or birch tree. You will need the top layer of soil, up to 6 cm. You need ten parts of it, then add two parts of any sand, one part of ash and 0.5 humus. Everything is thoroughly mixed and calcined; a regular oven will do.

We fill the bottom of the selected pot with drainage, then there is a layer of wet sand (up to 1 cm) and on top of everything warm ground. If a germinated seed is replanted, it should be deepened into the soil, carefully, without damaging the growth by two centimeters. Monitor the growth of the root system, and when it begins to occupy the entire pot, the homemade banana needs to be replanted. Banana care involves using fertilizer throughout the plant's growth. Humus, wood ash and herbal infusion are better suited. For good growth Nitrogen must be present in the fertilizer.

Temperature and lighting

The temperature regime for growing bananas at home is very important. The thermometer should not show a temperature below +20⁰С, since at +15⁰С growth practically stops. The maximum temperature is +30⁰С. Considering the natural growth of the banana palm tree, the more sun the better. Choose the brightest window sill. In summer, move the pot to the balcony, but only if the nights are also warm. If the apartment is dark and there is little natural light, you should think about growing another home flower or make special lighting that will be needed in winter.

Watering and air humidity

Growing banana requires special attention to watering and humidity. High level moisture is useful not only for bananas, but also for humans. The ideal figure would be 50-60%; to maintain this figure, it is good to have a humidifier in the house. But if there is no humidifier, then there is another way out. Daily spraying is an alternative procedure necessary both in summer and winter. In winter, the air is dry due to heating in apartments and houses. But since in the cold months the air temperature in the room is lower, you can spray once every 4-5 days.

Watering the soil needs to be regular and plentiful, but the water should not stagnate, otherwise the roots will rot. To determine when watering is required, you should focus on the soil. When the top layer 1.5-2 cm deep becomes dry, you can safely water it. It is better to use only running water that has been standing for at least a day. If it is possible to collect rainwater, watering will only be of better quality.

Reproduction

Low-growing banana plants reproduce vegetatively. With proper care, “babies” grow around a homemade banana. Such a sprout can be transplanted into a separate pot when its height is more than 10 cm. When replanting, you should leave a little of the “parent” root system near the sprout, and be sure to treat the cut area wood ash. Immediately after detachment, the “baby” is planted in a pot. A window sill on the south side is suitable for a small plant. The soil, fertilizer, watering and growing method are the same as for any other homemade banana.

Fruiting homemade banana

Growing a banana requires you to follow all care recommendations, otherwise the plant simply will not grow. And fruiting is an even more difficult stage to achieve. If it is not decorative, but fruit variety It is definitely possible to achieve a harvest. The most popular homemade banana capable of bearing fruit is the dwarf cavendish. It will be important to comply temperature regime and illumination. The air temperature should not be lower than + 25⁰С, and the place where the banana will grow should be light and warm. The more light and heat, the faster the “palm tree” will begin to bear fruit, an approximate period of one to three years.

Winter care

In winter there is very little sunlight, especially if it is not the south of the country. When growing bananas at home in winter, take care of additional lighting. On the market today huge selection special lighting lamps. Better for decorative growing, within an apartment or house, suitable Fluorescent Lamp with a glow temperature from 6400K to 6500K, while the color rendering index marked on the lamp itself is 765 (ideally 865). Don't forget about humidifying the area or misting and proper watering.

Diseases

Homemade banana, especially one sprouted from a seed, does not get sick often. The most common disease is spider mites. Usually appears when the plant dries out, both the root part and the leaves. This threatens further drying and yellowing of the foliage. Treatment requires removing all dried out and diseased parts of the plant, adjusting watering and spraying. The root system may rot, and this will most likely not be due to frequent watering, but to the fact that the drainage layer was not made.

Any green and living plant at home it’s wonderful, but if it’s also exotic, with delicious fruits it’s almost a miracle. Growing a homemade banana from a seed is not easy, but buying and enjoying an amazing “palm tree” every day is easy. It’s really nice to have home-grown, fragrant and sweet little bananas on the windowsill at home.

Many lovers of exotic plants are interested in how to grow a banana at home. Indoor plant which can bring delicious fruits, and not only purify the air, will become a home decoration. Learn about the peculiarities of growing and possible difficulties preferably before purchasing a plant.

Banana is a herbaceous plant, so its aerial parts develop intensively. It blooms, bears fruit, produces many shoots, and dies approximately 5 years after planting. The fruiting plant is cut off, and shoots continue to grow from the root. The root system of an indoor banana remains viable for 40 years.

Only in the 3rd or 4th year of cultivation do fruits appear. If the plant is about 70 cm high, it can begin to bear fruit in the year of purchase.

Obtaining and germinating seeds from a purchased banana

It is difficult to grow bananas at home from store-bought fruits. The fruits are picked while still green to be transported to the place of sale, so the seeds in the pulp are underdeveloped.

It is better to buy banana seeds in online stores or from lovers of indoor exotic plants. For home grown Dwarf varieties that do not exceed two meters in height are suitable.

There are dwarf ornamental and fruit bananas. Decorative varieties include lavender, velvety and bright red varieties. Fruit varieties at home can produce edible, delicious bananas, most of them are hybrids and reproduce only vegetatively, by shoots.

Popular varieties:

Cavendish dwarf;
Kyiv dwarf;
Kyiv superdwarf.

To germinate dwarf banana from seeds, you will need soil, a flower pot and drainage. Instead of landing capacity, you can use disposable glasses, the bottom of which is pierced drainage holes. The seeds of the decorative banana are covered with a strong shell; before planting, you need to scratch it a little with sandpaper or a file without damaging the kernels.

Boarding order:

Expanded clay or ordinary pebbles are poured onto the bottom of the planting container;
then a mixture of sand and peat in a ratio of 4 to 1 (use fertile soil It is not recommended for germination; this can lead to mold or mildew);
Before planting, water the soil with a solution of potassium permanganate;
the seeds are dipped in a solution of potassium permanganate for half an hour, then planted in the ground, lightly pressing into the surface, without falling asleep on top;
Cover the container with film and place it in a warm, bright place where there is no direct sunlight.

Seeds take a long time to germinate, about 3 months. The film is removed daily, ventilating the greenhouse, and the substrate is moistened by immersion in warm water tinted with potassium permanganate.

When shoots appear, the film is removed. Grown bananas are transplanted into separate containers with nutritious soil from a mixture of turf, leaf soil, peat and sand. Be sure to mulch the soil on top with vermicompost (2 cm). In a large pot with a capacity of 50 liters, you can plant 3 bananas at once, and they will bear fruit one after another.

Planting a plant in a permanent place

Transshipment of young bananas is done 2 times a year, increasing the volume of the pot slightly, small plant You can’t immediately plant it in a large pot.

Basic requirements for transplantation:

The pot must have a drainage layer and a hole to drain excess water.
Bananas need neutral or slightly acidic soil. You can prepare it yourself by mixing 50% humus and 50% forest soil.
It is advisable that the banana tree flower pot was surrounded by a mulch layer. Thanks to it, the soil will be loose and structured.

After transplantation, the plant is watered with a solution of potassium permanganate, which disinfects the soil and is a growth stimulator. Potassium permanganate is used only at night or when there is no direct sunlight.

Water thoroughly so that water passes through the drainage holes. Then leave the banana untouched for 1 or 2 weeks, loosen the soil so that the roots can breathe, then the plant will take root better.

Caring for indoor banana

Bananas need good lighting for normal development. On southern windows at noon it needs to be shaded to avoid burns. Large leaves evaporate moisture intensively, it is advisable to maintain it indoors high humidity air or carry out frequent spraying.

Basic care requirements:

Do not overwater the plant; the soil should dry out between waterings.
Water temperature 25–30 °C for watering and spraying; cold temperatures can cause roots to rot.
in winter minimum temperature air +15 °C; in summer, banana feels comfortable even at +40 °C.
Regular feeding is needed.

Bananas do not need formative pruning. It dies from time to time lower leaves. Old, dried leaf blades cannot be removed at the very root; this exposes the trunk and deprives it of natural protection. Cut off the dried leaf at the top.

Flowering and fruiting of banana tree

Interestingly, when a banana begins to bear fruit, it throws out a heart-shaped leaf, and then a peduncle, on which small bananas are then tied.

In order for the plant to bloom and bear fruit, it needs regular feeding. Fertilize bananas a month after planting. Then regular feeding with wood ash, humus or mullein is necessary. Water the banana with fish broth once a month, this promotes flowering (boil 200 or 300 g of fish, fish waste in 3 liters of water, do not add salt).

It is best to add a small amount of fertilizer with each watering in spring, summer and early fall. In winter, the amount of fertilizer is reduced.

Disease and pest control

Sometimes young leaves on a plant turn an unnatural light green or yellow. This disease is called chlorosis. It is caused by a lack of iron in plant cells. To combat chlorosis, the plant is transplanted into fresh, fertile soil with a slightly acidic reaction. Water with neutral or slightly acidified water (add a few drops per 1 liter lemon juice). To treat chlorosis, complex fertilizers are used that include the microelement iron.

When overwatered, the banana root often rots; it is difficult to save it even after replanting, so it is better not to overdo it with watering.

Having noticed indoor pests - scale insects - on green banana leaves, spider mite or aphids, spray the plant on the leaves with Fitoverm. After 7 days, the treatment is repeated to destroy the insects that have just hatched.

Possible difficulties during cultivation

Inexperienced amateur home exotic may face difficulties in growing banana.

Maintenance errors are easy to correct if you know what causes them:

For normal growth, a banana needs a well-lit place; in the shade, the plant stretches out, its leaves become yellow.
If the light is too bright, the leaves can dry out and get sunburned.
Banana tolerates drying out the earthen clod well, and does not respond well to waterlogging. In constantly wet soil, the root begins to rot, and this leads to its death.
The lower leaves quickly turn yellow when improper pruning, they should not be removed when they begin to dry out. The plant needs moisture and nutrients, which are contained in these leaves. Only when they are completely dry can they be cut.