One of my banana trees have bloomed and has fruit

I put photos on my web site here http://www.bonniesplants.com/_Banana/banana.htm

So far it has 4 hands and it seems to have stopped. The main flower is HUGE. I am not sure what it is called but more of the little flowers form but then they drop off. My question is why do they not form bananas? How do I encourage it to form more hands?

Also does can any one tell what kind of banana it is? I have about 10 varieties but the names wore off the tags?

Another question. Note there are big spaces between each actual banana. Is that where there were flowers that fell off?

One last question the banana tree summers out of the greenhouse. It is about 6' too tall now to go back into the greenhouse. Actually we planned to pitch the plant in the fall because we knew it would not fit back in there. But then it decided to bloom

We are about 4 weeks from frost so what do I do with the plant and the bananas now?

I am sorry for all the questions but I sure would like some help

Bonnie

Bonnie,, a lot of questions, but basically your plant only produces one bunch and dies...pup or daughters are future generation plants; the reason for the small bunch with limited hands is the plant was weakened by either cold stress, or not enough fertilizer/hydration; its difficult to determine what type,,because of its imature stage...but most likely its cavendish...good luck

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Been there - done that! You can take the plant in the greenhouse on an angle so the top is slightly lower than the roof. It's not going to grow any more now, other than growing the bananas, but will stay warm enough for them to mature.

Good luck.

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Happy Gardening

Tony O.

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Been there - done that! You can take the plant in the greenhouse on an angle so the top is slightly lower than the roof. It's not going to grow any more now, other than growing the bananas, but will stay warm enough for them to mature.

Good luck.

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Happy Gardening

Tony O.

WE HAVE THE SAME TYPE OF BANANA TREES, THIS YEAR WE HAVE THREE TREES ABOUT 16' THAT HAVE BANANA'S.
DO YOU CUT THE BANANA'S WHILE THEY ARE GREEN? OR DO THEY TURN YELLOW ON THE TREE?
IF I UNDERSTOOD ONE COMMENT, THE TREES WILL DIE THAT HAVE BANANA'S /BUT PRODUCE PUPS, IS THIS TRUE?
DOES ANYONE KNOW WHAT TYPE OF BANANA TREE'S THESE ARE?
MY EMAIL ADDRESS IS NANCYJHOLMES@AOL.COM.

if there are any pups now and they have their own leaves, then you can excise them and pot them (until you can determine what you are going to do with them); the mother is at least 2 months from those bananas being ready to harvest, :green and plumped" , if you allow them to ripen on the plant they won't be as sweet as being cut off green and ripened in a darker, cooler area. The mother is cut down after you harvest, for she will dies anyway. and its not a tree but rather a herbaceous perennial; its in the herb family.

i saw the pictures of the banana plant you had, it is a week plant, it needs fertilizers, but now it is too late, i think it is williams or grandnain variety, but these varieties when treated well, and given fertilizers about 2 kg per season per plant, they will produce a bunch of 40 kg in weight, and up to 13 clusters or hands per bunch.

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bob

as for the fuit it will not mature, it will not become green mature, the fruits will not swell, because the winter season will starts soon, and in your case the leaves will tear, and die before the fruit become mature. in banana, green mature is different from ripen, because the fruits will not ripen in uniform way except if we add ethylene or calcium carbide to a barrol, and put the banana stem in it, and cover the barrol with a peice of cloth, to make sure that the ethylene will not escape. in this way, the banana will ripen in a uniform way.

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bob

if you are located in an area where the winter is going to terminate your plant, then all bets are indeed off; however if it gets to winter over without freeze damage it will continue to plump out in spring and you should cut the bunch off and hang it in a cool area...you "do not" need to put it in a barrell?? with ethylene gas....just hang it and in about 2 weeks it will ripen.....

To ripen banana faster, seal it in a brown paper bag (or any sealed container, like a barrel) with an apple or tomato overnight. Why tomato or apple? Because these fruits produced have high rates ethylene production. This allows the natural gasses (ethylene) in the fruit to speed up the ripening. If you hang the bunch for 2 weeks you will not get uniform ripening, like having one yellow finger on the hand, with the others are still green.

There are 3 ways to ripen bananas (on a commercial way) using acetylene, calcium carbide, or the new method using the ethylene generator. The banana should will stay in the ripening rooms for about 3 to 4 days, with a temperature ranging between 17 to 19 degrees Celsius, and at a relative humidity = 90 RH.

About Ethylene: (C 2 H 4) colorless gas and plant growth regulator regulating fruit ripening. It is a hormone that accelerates the ripening and aging process.

I will try to send you picture showing how to ripen bananas on a commercial way and in ripening rooms.

Thank you.

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bob

I prefer them to ripen individually, that enables you to enjoy them longer because of their short shelf life; therefore I hang them inverted in a cool dark area at around 65 faranheit and they do just fine..

yes, you can do this, but commercialy the only way to ripen bananas, is by using the ethylene gas.

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bob

You're right! Ethylene gas is a kind of gas needed for easy ripening. Thus, banana fruits release that gas. You could place a single hand of a banana fruit in a paper bag of plastic. Ethylene gas will be trapped inside the bag, therefore, speeding up the ripening stage.

Thanks

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Plant a Banana in Soil;
And Before you know, it will start to grow...

yes that is post harvest,
i have a pictures of ripening rooms, and ethylene generators, but i do not know how to post them.

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bob