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 a flower shop or ordered on 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 root system and tender 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 is 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 active growth and development can be fed 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. 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, wilting of foliage may be associated with a deficiency 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 V winter period.
- 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 to fertilize or feed houseplants banana? 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.
Eco-friendly home: There are specially bred dwarf banana varieties designed for growing at home, less demanding on conditions and resistant to disease, for example Kiev dwarf, Super dwarf
Banana is a tropical plant, which means it prefers a correspondingly humid and warm climate. At home, it is quite possible to recreate the microclimate suitable for a banana plant. Remember, banana - herbaceous plant and therefore more demanding to care for.
There are actually two ways to grow indoor banana. You can plant a banana at home as a seed, or you can purchase a ready-grown specimen. You need to keep in mind that these will be different plants.
By purchasing banana seeds, you will be planting a wild, uncultivated subspecies that is stronger and more viable, but such bananas have inedible fruits filled with seeds. IN garden stores They often sell selected varieties of bananas that reproduce vegetatively and after flowering can delight you with real homemade edible bananas.
There are specially bred dwarf variety a banana , intended for growing at home, less demanding on conditions and resistant to disease, for example Kiev dwarf, Super dwarf. These varieties reach a small height of up to 1.5 and are quite suitable for growing in apartment conditions.
Growing banana from seeds.
Having purchased the seeds of a banana plant and carefully examined it, you will notice that it has a fairly strong shell that needs scarification. First you need to slightly damage the durable shell using, for example, a nail file or a needle. There is no need to pierce the seed; a few scratches will be enough so that the future sprout can break the shell.
To plant the seeds, choose small pots, about 10 cm in diameter for each banana seed, or you can use long flower boxes for several seeds, keeping a distance of about 15 cm between them. A mixture is suitable for germination substrate river sand and peat 4:1, no need to use any fertilizing, make good drainage. Distribute the seeds on the surface of the moistened substrate and press them down a lot, without pouring them on top, leaving access for light.
Cover the pots with seeds with film and place them in a bright place, but out of direct contact. sun rays. Every few days, ventilate the pots, and if they dry out, spray the substrate with a spray bottle. Do not allow the soil to become waterlogged or rot. When mold appears, the affected area of the substrate must be removed and the entire surface treated with a solution of potassium permanganate.
When growing a banana at home from a seed, you will have to wait quite a long time for the emergence of seedlings, 2-3 months. However, after the sprouts appear, rapid growth of the plant will begin; after about a week, the young bananas must be transplanted into the ground.
If you set out to grow your own edible bananas or simply want to avoid possible failures when planting seeds, it is possible to purchase an already grown banana of indoor fruit subspecies. Subject to certain conditions cultivation and with proper care, it is possible to achieve flowering and fruiting of bananas in an ordinary apartment.
Growing conditions and care for bananas indoors.
After purchasing a banana tree, keep it alone at home for several days, in the place where it will grow in the future. Then the purchased plant needs to be replanted. In a 5-7 liter pot, make drainage using expanded clay, cover the expanded clay with a small layer of sand. Suitable for banana soil simple earth from deciduous forest, with the addition of humus 1:10, or you can buy a flower mixture at a garden store.
Banana requires frequent spraying of leaves with water and abundant watering. At the same time, the soil should not be allowed to rot; then, make sure that water comes out freely through drainage holes. To improve growth, especially during the flowering period, bananas can be fed with organic fertilizers about once a week. The suitable temperature for a banana is 25-30 degrees C. Good lighting without direct sunlight is necessary. In summer, bananas can be placed on the balcony in a bright but shaded place. Like any house plant, banana does not tolerate drafts.
IN comfortable conditions and with careful care, the banana grows very quickly. When 15-18 leaves are formed at home, a banana plant usually begins to bloom and bear fruit.
Banana is a plant that requires warm and humid climate conditions, but it can be grown at home. Keep in mind that bananas are demanding to care for, which means you will have to learn all the intricacies of caring for them. Find out, how to grow bananas at home and add a touch of tropical exoticism to your own summer cottage.
Ways to grow bananas at home
Advanced gardeners know how to grow bananas from seeds, as well as from purchased bananas. Before planting a plant, decide for what purpose. If you sow the seeds of a banana tree, an uncultivated plant will grow, so its fruits cannot be eaten.
The advantage of such a banana is that the tree will be stronger and resistant to various diseases. Another option is to buy a ready-made banana seedling in a pot. Today, breeders have developed different subspecies of bananas, which, after flowering, will delight you and your children with edible fruits.
Are you planning grow bananas in an apartment? Then give your preference dwarf varieties, for example, Super or Kiev dwarf. These bananas are short - up to 1.6 meters, so they are suitable for growing indoors.
How to grow your own banana from seeds
Unlike others, banana seeds have a thick skin, so they need to be cleaned. To do this you need to take a needle or piece sandpaper and damage the seed coat. A few scratches will be enough for the seed to germinate and for the first sprout to emerge.
Select a suitable pot and prepare a mixture of peat and river sand. It is important to have good drainage, so fertilizing is not necessary. Press the seed well into the prepared soil, but do not fill it on top, leave access to light. When growing a banana from seeds, the pot will need to be covered with film to increase germination. Don’t forget to ventilate the sprout after 3-4 days by lifting the film. When the soil dries out, it should be moistened with a spray bottle. Make sure that mold does not appear. If a fungus has nevertheless developed on the surface of the earth due to moisture, pour a solution of potassium permanganate over the banana.
If you want to grow not a decorative, but an edible banana with your own hands, then it is better to immediately buy an already grown bush. It can be grown both indoors and outdoors.
Caring for a banana tree at home
Regardless of whether you bought a plant or grew it yourself from a seed, it is important to properly care for it in the future. Remember that a banana needs good drainage, which can be done using expanded clay. If the plant is initially in a small pot, it is better to immediately transplant it into a 5-7 liter container.
Bananas love moisture, so you need to not only water them, but also regularly spray the leaves. When the tree blooms, it can be fed with organic matter. To prevent the tree from withering and dying, it is important to maintain temperature regime 25-30 degrees. IN optimal conditions The banana grows quickly and after 10-15 leaves appear, it blooms.
A banana tree can grow in the countryside, however, not every variety is suitable for growing in open ground. The rhizomes of some types of bananas are quite strong and easily tolerate minus temperature. Just before frost, the plant is completely cut off, leaving about 10 cm of the stem, and then covered with sawdust. In this case, your banana will survive the winter season well, and in the summer it will again produce lush foliage.
How to Grow Bananas at home now you know, all you have to do is find convenient way, pick up suitable look plants and try. Expand yours at the dacha by decorating them with new ones tropical plants. The banana tree will be a real highlight summer cottage or window sill.
An indoor banana is a natural vacuum cleaner; it pulls out all harmful substances and dust from the air. With good care, dwarf banana bears fruit in 2-3 years. The flower is large and long, somewhat similar to an elephant's trunk. It can bear several dozen fruits that ripen in up to 9 months.
The plant will feel best on the south window. An adult banana, of course, will no longer fit on the windowsill. Important! Indoor banana does not have a powerful root system. Don't plant it in huge tubs. The maximum pot volume is 20 liters. The dwarf banana is a very light and heat-loving plant; it constantly reaches towards the sun and leans towards the window.
You need to rotate the pot periodically, especially in the cold season, when daylight hours are short. Therefore, the tub should be on wheels or on mobile platform to make it easier to turn mature plant. And you will have to turn the indoor banana 3-4 times during the winter.
Varieties of indoor banana
- Technical varieties, from which ropes are made.
- Feed– the fruits are large and long.
- Edible– a fruit measuring 10-12 cm with a pineapple flavor.
By the way, our stores sell mainly fodder varieties, while edible varieties are passed off as an elite variety, the so-called baby banana. And it costs many times more. For growing in an apartment or winter garden only suitable dwarf edible banana varieties:
- Kyiv dwarf
- Super dwarf.
Dwarf bananas are preferable because the maximum height of an adult plant is only 1.5 m, and the length of the leaves is about a meter. IN flower shops It is not uncommon to find Dutch plants of an unknown variety. Most often these are technical varieties that will not bear fruit. Inedible bananas also grow from seeds. Therefore, purchase indoor banana seedlings only from garden centers or greenhouses that specialize in dwarf edible varieties. 
Banana planting
Suitable soil mixture for flowering plants or soil from deciduous forest mixed with humus and sand in a ratio of 3:1:1. You still need to add ash. Before planting indoor bananas, the soil is disinfected with boiling water. With each transplant, the root collar of the plant is deepened by 3-4 cm. Therefore, the container for dwarf banana choose deep.
Every 3 months, an indoor banana is transplanted into a pot with a volume of one liter larger. There must be a layer of coarse drainage at the bottom.
Important: you can replant sproutsonly in summer, in extreme cases - in September. If you do this in the cold season, the indoor banana will get sick and will not take root. It is necessary to spray the leaves daily in the summer, and 2 times a week in the winter.
The main rule of watering
The dwarf banana is completely unpretentious and can withstand whole month without watering. But this does not mean that you don’t need to look after it at all. Watering a banana in the apartment abundantly warm water so that the entire soil is saturated with moisture.
Important: It’s better not to water a banana at all than to water it a little. Avoid the other extreme - too frequent watering.The roots of the dwarf banana do not like stagnant water.
What to feed
This exotic plant loves organics in any form: humus, vermicompost, humisol, etc. Reacts well to iron chelate. In the summer, the banana in the apartment is fed every week, and in the winter you can feed it twice a month. The dwarf banana is very loves spraying.
Pests and diseases
Pests almost never attack dwarf bananas. If all the other plants on the windowsill are getting sick en masse, for prevention you can treat the indoor banana with a pest repellent for indoor flowers.
- The lower leaves of indoor banana gradually turn yellow and dry out. This is not a disease, but a natural process. They just need to be trimmed carefully.
- Sometimes on the edges of the leaves of a dwarf banana appear brown spots . The reason may be rotting of the root system or a lack of nutrients. In the first case, you need to reduce the frequency of watering. In the second - feed the plant.
On wide spreading dust settles on the leaves of a dwarf banana, so it is useful to wipe the leaves with a damp cloth once a month and sometimes spray them.
Reproduction
It reproduces easily children-children. Three years before flowering, a dozen or even two of them grow. When the children grow to 20 cm in height, they can be carefully separated from the mother plant with a knife and placed in water with a root growth stimulator, such as Kornevin, for a couple of hours. Mix the soil for the shoot with humus or vermicompost in a 1:1 ratio.
How to make it bloom
- Banana flowering in an apartment is facilitated by fertilizing with potassium and phosphorus, and by observing all agrotechnical practices.
- We do not recommend separating the baby if she is alone.. This significantly delays flowering, sometimes by a year or two.
- To save the view A young banana should grow next to the adult plant, which will replace the “parent”, because after fruiting the above-ground part of the banana completely dies off.
The “young generation” of the dwarf banana will grow up to a meter tall in six months and the cycle will repeat again.
Which looks like a tree, which is where it gets its name. A lot of people grow it on suburban areas However, you can please yourself with it by sheltering it at home. Let's figure out how to plant this plant and how to care for a banana in the conditions.
Biological features
Trimming
To prevent the plant from growing excessively, its top is shaped into the required shape. But pawpaw is needed only for the decorative formation of the trunk, and also for sanitary purposes. The flowers and fruits of this plant are formed on last year's shoots, so every year it is necessary to prune adult plants. This is done most often before the start of the growth period before sap flow - in early spring.
Do I need special care in winter?
heat-loving but frost-resistant plant. Withstands temperatures down to -30°C. In winter, he definitely needs it. In winter, during the dormant period, he needs the plant much less often. Water for irrigation in winter should be room temperature. Due to heating in winter, the air in apartments often becomes very dry, so you can periodically spray the plants. In winter, it is reduced to a minimum or not carried out at all.
Transfer rules
Due to the fragile measles system, you need to be very careful when transplanting pawpaws. If such a need arises, you need to do this by transferring it into larger containers. The transplantation process is carried out only in the spring. During this period, the banana tree is in a period of active growth and the plant will grow stronger much faster after transplantation.
Flowering and fruiting
The plant will begin to bloom no earlier than 2-3 years of life, and bear fruit no earlier than 5-6 years of life. This usually occurs in April and lasts up to 3 weeks. The fruits of the banana tree will be ready to eat at the end of summer.
Important! The soil in which pawpaw grows should not be allowed to dry out completely during the winter. This can lead to the death of the plant.
Pawpaw cannot self-pollinate, insects and hummingbirds help her with this in nature. If there is a strong desire to get fruits, the owner of the plant can try artificial pollination, but the likelihood of getting fruits still remains small. Artificial pollination is carried out when the color of the pollen turns brownish and the pollen itself becomes loose. The tips of the pistils should be sticky at this point and have a glossy green color. You can get fruits at home if you try to create the most Better conditions and carry out pollination correctly.