Mini bananas on the windowsill. Indoor growing in a pot (tub)

Banana houseplant? You will be surprised, but even this tropical green giant can easily become an inhabitant of an apartment!

To begin with, it is worth dispelling the main misconception about this culture. Many people think that a banana is tall palm, but it's just grassy perennial belonging to the Banana family (lat. Musaceae). Its fruits are a berry, not a fruit, as many believe. So that the real trunk of the plant is underground, it also serves as a rhizome, and the aerial part - leaves that fit tightly to each other. The Banana genus includes about 60 species that are completely different from each other, preferring a tropical and subtropical climate. They are common in Asia, Australia, Africa, these places have the best climate for them.

cultivation

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

Two ways to reproduce

First you need to find out how this exotic plant reproduces best. A banana can be grown at home in two ways: the first is quite laborious - growing from seeds. However, it should immediately be noted 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 from a site that specializes in exotic flowers. A sprout grown from seed is more likely to be a wild crop, but don't get discouraged! An uncultivated subspecies is much stronger and more viable than plants bred specifically for rooms. 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 shell of the seed, which should be slightly damaged before planting. It is enough just to scratch or cut the skin of a banana seed, thus we will facilitate the task of the future sprout and speed up the germination process by several days.

Capacity and soil

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

Disembarkation order

The seed needs only to be pressed with a finger, but not sprinkled on top of the earth. cover the pots cling film and place it in a bright place out of direct sunlight. Moisten the soil as it dries out. Separately, pay attention to high-quality drainage in pots to avoid stagnant water and seed death. 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 do not want to wait until shoots appear and the sprout begins to develop, then the second way for you to grow is to buy young plant, which was bred specifically for the home by means of a 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, these bananas reproduce vegetatively and will be able to reward your work with real homemade bananas.

Care

Pot

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

Humidity

Daily moistening of the leaves, spraying or rubbing is also required. Dry air adversely affects the foliage. During the period of active growth and development, you can feed with 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 fairly high temperatures are the key to success! In the wild, bananas prefer scorching sunlight, for this reason a south window sill is a good fit 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

The world has a huge number 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 Kyiv 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 the rest of the species. It has oval elegant dark green leaves with slight pigmentation.
• Kyiv dwarf (lat. Musasuperdwarfcavendish) or indoor fruit-bearing dwarf banana. Vdwarf grows up to 2 meters in height. At good care from one plant you can get about two hundred of your own mini-fruits. A flower pot is best placed near an east or south window; northern rooms are not suitable for fruiting. The temperature regime is not lower than + 16 degrees. The flowering of the banana lasts throughout the year, after the flowers appear small fruits collected in clusters.

Aesthetic side

decorative banana tree cannot leave indifferent any picky grower! It should be noted that these plants are quite tenacious and hardy, and besides, a real find for the interior, because they allow you to boast exotic berries hosting guests!

Growing problems

What diseases are characteristic of an indoor banana tree? How to help an exotic plant? Let's look at the most common difficulties that anyone can face:

• Growth retardation, reduction, wilting of foliage may be due to a lack of nutrients. To begin with, you can carry out a series of planned top dressing, and you can transplant it into a larger pot.
• Drying of foliage, wilting of young shoots, twisting and yellowing of the tips are all 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 with a lack of consecration. It is recommended to use artificial lamps in winter period.
• Soft drooping leaves signal us that the room temperature is too low. That is why, in winter, a room banana is more vulnerable. The plant should not be near “cold” windows and in drafts.
• Dark pigmentation between the veins on older leaves is common and is nothing to worry about.
• In the spring, the plant did not come out of the dormant period and did not go into active growth? Then you need to carry out planned feeding.
• The stem darkened at the base and became soft. This is the most unfavorable 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 health benefits! ethnoscience states that banana is one of the most acceptable foods for gallstone disease. Bananas are useful for liver diseases and gastrointestinal diseases. The pulp of this berry is saturated with fiber and dietary fiber, which has a beneficial effect on the digestion process, as well as potassium salts, which contribute to the removal of fluid from the body and good heart function. Scientists have proven that people who consume a banana every day are more optimistic and focused.

In horticulture

Banana fruits can also be used as a fertilizer for indoor and garden plants. Everything is clear with the garden ones, I threw the skins into the 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 peel can be used as a dry top dressing for house flowers. To do this, the skin is dried, then ground or ground into powder. The resulting mass can be mixed with the ground or sprinkled directly under the root of the flowers.

The fact that bananas grow on a palm tree and you can only watch their growth in natural environment habitat, is an opinion as common as it is erroneous. Firstly, the banana is a herbaceous crop, and secondly, it can be successfully cultivated at home.

Depending on which banana is planned to be grown, the method of its reproduction is chosen. A fruiting crop can be grown from a cutting or root shoot of a cultivated varietal banana bred by artificial crossing. From the seeds you can get a wild subspecies of the crop with absolutely inedible fruits. filled with big amount seeds, while inside the fruits of a cultivated banana they are absent. However, a seed-grown banana has more vitality and disease resistance than its counterpart, and thanks to large glossy leaves and delicate fragrant flowers great for growing as an ornamental houseplant.

A homemade banana looks extremely exotic, and it is also very unpretentious in care, however, for its comfortable well-being, well-created conditions of detention, as close as possible to natural ones, will be needed.

Seed preparation

Planting material for growing indoor bananas can be purchased at flower shops or specialized botanical nurseries. Before sowing, the seeds must be subjected to scarification - gently rub each seed sandpaper, a small file or a nail file in order to break the dense seed coat and speed up the germination process.

The specifics of sowing and conditions for keeping seedlings

• IN landing capacity a drainage layer 2–3 cm thick is laid.
• The pot is filled with prepared soil mixture.
• Immediately before sowing, the soil must be moderately moistened.
• Banana seeds should be spread over the surface of the soil and lightly pressed in without sprinkling.
• To create a greenhouse climate, the container with crops must be covered with polyethylene or glass and placed in a very warm place. Optimum temperature for germination - from +28° C to 32° C.

Once every 2-3 days, the crops are opened for ventilation, while removing drops of condensate from glass or film. When drying, the soil should be moistened with a spray bottle. If mold develops, it must be removed with a small earthen clod, and the entire surface should be poured with a weak solution of potassium permanganate.

Banana seeds germinate for a very long time: the first shoots appear only after 2-3 months from the moment of sowing, however, the seedlings grow very intensively, and their further well-being depends on how well they are cared for.

In order for young bananas to develop correctly and fully, you should turn Special attention on factors such as:

• Watering- You need to water the banana regularly and abundantly, avoiding the accumulation of excess moisture in the lower layers of the soil, which can cause the thick, fleshy banana roots to rot. Before watering, it is recommended to check the degree of dryness of the soil - the procedure is shown if the thickness of the dried layer is not less than 1–3 cm. cold wintering watering is reduced to 1-2 times a week. If the banana endures winter in a warm room, watering continues as before.
• spraying- since large banana leaves, outwardly resembling a fan, evaporate a large number of moisture, its reserve should be replenished with regular water procedures. In this case, it is necessary to moisten not only the leaf plates, but also the air around the entire plant.
• Lighting- one of the most important indicators for such a typical inhabitant of the tropics as a banana. In the summer, the plant is recommended to be placed in the garden or on the balcony, defining a place lit by the sun for it. In this case, the foliage of young bananas should first be accustomed to sunlight. To do this, the plant is covered with a light transparent material (tulle, gauze), which is periodically removed for several minutes, gradually increasing the time. In winter, additional lighting will help provide a banana with a long daylight hours.
• Temperature regime- the optimal thermometer readings for this crop are from + 20 ° C to + 30 ° C. Without harm to health, a banana tolerates a temperature drop to + 12–17 ° C, but at the same time stops growing. At 0 ° C, the aerial part of the plant dies, however, with timely pruning and transfer to heat, the banana remains viable.
• Location- first of all, a banana should not be placed near heating appliances, since even if the irrigation regime is observed, it will be impossible to achieve the desired level of humidity in this case. However, in favorable conditions banana is a great neighbor for other plants. In an atmosphere of humidity and freshness around a tropical pet, other crops endure the autumn-winter period more easily.
• top dressing– it is recommended to fertilize banana in early spring before the start of the growing season and throughout summer period, maintaining an interval between top dressings of 2-3 weeks. To feed the culture, complex mineral fertilizers and an infusion of rotted organic matter. In this case, use fresh organic fertilizers undesirable: this can lead to a toxic burn of the root system.
• Transfer- there is no need to adhere to any special schedule for transplanting a banana, it is carried out as the plant grows, choosing a larger pot each time. The signal for transplanting is to stop the growth of the leaf mass due to too tight a pot. As with many indoor crops, for a banana best time transplants - early spring or late autumn, but due to rapid development, sometimes it requires 3-4 transplants per year. It is recommended to carry out the procedure by the transshipment method, without disturbing the earthen coma.

Choosing a Banana Variety for Home Cultivation

Since in nature a banana is a plant with a rather impressive size (the height of some specimens exceeds 10–12 m), for decorative home growing it is recommended to choose seeds of breeding dwarf varieties. To date, there are several dozen varieties of ornamental banana, the maximum height of which rarely exceeds 1.5 m. All artificially bred varieties are well adapted to home conditions and resistant to diseases. In addition, indoor bananas look extremely impressive due to the unusual color of leaves and flowers. Such a pet will worthy decoration interior, turning an ordinary room into a tropical paradise.

The dwarf banana is a plant that is quite large sized bush, with wide wavy leaves. Due to the fact that the leaves, closely intertwined, form a dense, short stem, the dwarf banana is often associated with a palm tree. But the similarity is only in appearance, dwarf banana is a herbaceous plant.

Under favorable conditions, it can grow up to 1.5-3 m in height. The fruits of some types of dwarf bananas are edible, bright yellow with a pulp that is sweeter than that of "traditional" fruits. standard size.

Kinds

Several types of ornamental dwarf bananas suitable for growing in room conditions :

Home Care

How to grow a dwarf banana at home? Let's look at the main points.

Features of care after purchase

After acquiring one or another variety of dwarf banana, it is necessary give him some time to adjust to change conditions. There is no need to immediately transplant and fertilize the plant, as well as provide abundant watering.

It is better to leave a dwarf banana in the pot in which it was purchased for about 1.5-2 weeks in a warm, dry room, protecting it from bright and direct sunlight.

Lighting

Due to the fact that the dwarf banana is not a small plant, and its most undersized species grow at least 50 cm in height and width, it is necessary to provide it with enough space to grow. Lighting should be sufficient, especially if a variety with wide and large leaves was chosen.

With a lack of lighting, the plant will wither, so, in addition to natural light, it is better to install several specially designed artificial light lamps.

Temperature

IN winter time year, the temperature of the room in which the plant will be kept should not fall below 20-22 ° C. In principle, a dwarf banana can withstand a temperature of 15-16 ° C, but it is better not to subject it to such stress.

At low temperatures the growth of leaves and the formation of inflorescences slow down. In summer same, a banana needs a higher temperature regime, about 26-30°C.

Air humidity

In the native habitat of the dwarf banana humidity is high enough. In artificial conditions, for the most favorable existence, the humidity of the air should be at least 60%.

Bloom

Most often, plants begin to bear fruit at 3-5 years of age. In most varieties the flowers stay pretty long time : 2 to 8 months.

BUT after flowering the plant begins to bear fruit. If the plant, for some reason, does not bloom, then, most likely, you should change the conditions of detention or change the fertilizer.

Fertilizers (top dressing)

Feeding should be regular, but not very frequent. Usually use foliar and root dressing.

Leaf is applied to the leaves, with it you must be very careful so that the plant does not get burned. Root top dressing is the most effective, but it should not be abused.

Some growers add a weak fertilizer concentrate to the irrigation, thinking that this will improve the growth and condition of the plant. However, in reality, the plant receives an excess of complementary foods, which can lead to its death.

There are two ways to grow a dwarf banana: using seeds or shoots from an adult plant.

from seed growing a banana is not easy, this method requires considerable experience. Before planting in a pot, the seeds are soaked in warm water(possible with the addition of potassium permanganate) for a day, while slightly breaking their upper shell.

After soaking, they are sown on moistened soil, identical in composition to that for an adult plant, covered with polyethylene and left in a warm, humid room until the first shoots appear, then the shoots are planted in separate pots.

For sprouting young shoots are suitable, with at least four leaves and strong roots. They are carefully removed from mother plant, and planted in a prepared pot. Caring for young plants is the same as for an adult plant.

Landing

If the goal is to grow a dwarf banana at home, then it is best to purchase a young plant for this. It should be planted in the ground from under deciduous trees, with the addition of humus and river sand.

pot bottom lined with pebbles or expanded clay. At first, a young plant will have to be transplanted quite often, and watering should be carried out as the soil dries.

It should not be planted in a very large pot, with a margin for future growth, since the presence of a large amount of moist soil can cause the root system to rot.

Transfer

The plant should be transplanted as its roots grow. Usually, a dwarf banana is transplanted 2 times a year. Transplantation is carried out only when the roots have completely occupied the entire lower part of the pot or box.

Diseases and pests

At home, the dwarf banana is practically not attacked by pests. However, some diseases may well hit him.

Most often this happens due to improper care of the plant. The most common signs that the plant needs treatment:

• drying of the leaves and their loss of gloss (insufficient air humidity);
• yellowness on the foliage (insufficient watering);
• root rot (overwatering).

With drafts and dry air the plant may be attacked by aphids or spider mites.

Growing a dwarf banana the process is pretty fun..

In addition to the "revitalization" of the interior bright colors during the flowering period, plant can deliver not only aesthetic pleasure, but also pamper us with their useful and tasty fruits.

Many people dream of growing a banana at home. The idea seems rather unusual, since this tropical plant mainly grows and bears fruit in hot climates and high humidity air. But if desired, nothing is impossible, especially since the adaptation of this culture to various climatic conditions has been going on for thousands of years.

growing environment

Even though the banana large plant(some specimens grow over 10 m in tropical climates), it is not a tree. And although he has a very characteristic crown, he does not apply to palm trees. All types of bananas, and there are more than 70 of them, are herbaceous plants. What is called a trunk is actually tightly woven leaf petioles. A real stem, short and thick, almost all located in the ground. On it are formed side shoots, which develop alternately, replacing each other. Leaf plates, which form a rosette at the top of the false trunk in an amount of 6 to 20 pieces, differ in size and color in different species. But they are always large (from 0.7 m to 2.5 m) and elongated oval. root system in vivo very powerful for a herbaceous plant. It can reach a depth of up to 1.5 meters, and lateral processes extend up to 5 m. In size, this grass is second only to bamboo, which also belongs to herbaceous plants.

The development of a green shoot in a tropical climate lasts about 10 months. Then comes the flowering period. A powerful peduncle appears from the center of the false trunk, at the end of which a complex inflorescence is formed. At first, the inflorescence is covered with a common shell and is shaped like a huge purple or green pistachio. Then the shell opens and a multi-tiered inflorescence appears. At the base of the inflorescence are female flowers that have only a pistil. In the middle part of the inflorescence are bisexual flowers with both stamens and pistils. They are smaller than women's.

At the end of the inflorescence are small male flowers. All flowers are tubular, consist of 3 petals, 3 sepals. Flowering of wild bananas begins at night. At this time of day they are pollinated the bats. During the day, flowering bananas attract insects and birds, which also pollinate them.

Fruits develop only from female flowers, as the rest are sterile. Bananas are multi-seeded berries covered with a dense shell. Fruits of different species and varieties are very different in size, color and shape. The length of a banana can vary from 5 to 35 cm. The shape can be cylindrical or trihedral. Most varieties and species have fruits different shades yellow color, but there are also green (when ripe), reddish and whitish bananas. Up to 300 fruits can ripen from 1 inflorescence, but usually there are no more than 50 of them. After the fruits ripen, the ground part of the plant dies off, and a new shoot appears from the stem.

At wild plants the fruits contain a large number of seeds, which also vary in shape and size. Banana seeds are very hard and dense, their number in 1 fruit can reach 200 pcs. Those fruits that are sold in stores and on the market are obtained from an artificially bred variety called "Paradise Banana". Varieties of bananas that do not have seeds are suitable for propagation only by vegetative means.

How to grow a banana at home?

Banana is a very demanding crop to care for. Being tropical plant, it needs high temperature, bright lighting and high humidity. In the absence of these conditions, the plant will grow poorly, will not bloom and bear fruit, may dry out and die.

Growing a banana in a pot

Growing a banana at home is even for experienced flower growers troublesome business. It reproduces by seeds and vegetatively. It is very difficult to grow a full-fledged plant from seeds at home, and it is not very easy to find them. But you can try. An important feature: bananas propagating in this way with inedible fruits.

In pots, you can grow both ornamental and fruit varieties. Decorative varieties are more unpretentious, compact in size and attractive leaf colors. These varieties also bear fruit, but they are not suitable for food. As home plant they grow a bright red banana (its height does not even reach 1 m), lavender and velvety, which can grow up to 1.5 m.

fruit varieties look less attractive, but it is quite possible to get edible fruits from them small size. In room conditions, the Kyiv dwarf (1.5 m tall) and superdwarf (up to 1 m) are grown. In greenhouse conditions or a high-ceilinged room, varieties such as Velvet pointed and Cavendish dwarf can be grown. These plants grow up to 2.5 m.

When growing bananas from seeds, the plants are more viable, as their adaptation begins from the moment the seeds germinate. How to plant a banana? Since the peel of the seeds is very dense, for faster spitting of the sprouts, it is polished with a nail file or sandpaper. Through an artificially thinned shell, moisture will quickly reach the seed embryo, and it will move to growth. Polished seeds are soaked for a day in warm (35 ° C) water. During the day, the water is changed every 6 hours, maintaining the required temperature. After the appearance of sprouts, the seeds are placed on a sandy-peat substrate, consisting of 1 part of sand and 4 parts of peat, slightly deepened into it. Containers with planted seeds are covered with a transparent film and glass, and placed in a warm, bright place.

Germination of seeds is long and takes 2-3 months. During this time, it is necessary to carefully monitor the soil moisture and spray it from time to time with a spray bottle. Crops need to be aired daily. The room temperature should be around 30°C during the day and at least 25°C at night. The emerging shoots grow very quickly, so several transplants will be needed in the first year. This is usually done as soon as the roots of the plant become visible from the drainage holes.

Vegetative propagation method

It is much easier and faster for these plants to propagate by cuttings. This method is started at the moment when the fruiting is completed, and the aerial part of the plant has died, and the new one has not yet grown. To do this, the underground stem is dug out of the ground and the part with the bud that has begun to grow is carefully separated. This part of the stem is planted in a separate prepared pot. As you grow, the capacity of the pot during transplantation is increased. Should not be planted small plant immediately into a large pot. The root system of a young plant is not able to absorb a large amount of moisture, which will lead to acidification of the soil and rotting of the roots. As a result, the plant may die.

When transplanting, the young plant is removed from the pot along with a clod of earth. This will prevent damage to the fragile root system. A more voluminous pot is selected, the diameter of which is 2-3 cm larger than the previous one. A drainage layer consisting of expanded clay or small pebbles must be laid at the bottom of the pot, then a layer of sand, and only after that a layer of fresh soil. The basis of the soil for growing a banana should be leafy soil, to which humus is added, wood ash and coarse sand. adult dwarf plant for fruiting it needs a 50-liter container, a 35-liter pot is enough for a super-dwarf banana. Despite the dwarfism, it is far from small plant and needs a spacious flowerpot. Under suitable conditions for 3 years of life, completely edible fruits can be obtained from a plant.

In flower shops or greenhouses, you can buy a plant ready for growing. You should not buy a large banana, because after greenhouse conditions it will be difficult for him to adapt to the climate of the apartment. It is better to take a young, recently germinated plant.

Conditions for successful banana cultivation

For homemade bananas, you need to choose the brightest place in the room. This plant can only feel normal in bright light. In the autumn-winter period, the banana will in any case need additional lighting. But the burning summer sun can harm tender young leaves, so during this period the plant should be slightly darkened.

The optimal temperature at which bananas grow as quickly as possible is 30-35ºС. In winter, this plant can withstand 16ºС, but its growth will completely stop.

Despite the fact that bananas are very moisture-loving, they tolerate light drying of the soil much more easily than waterlogging. Therefore, you should be careful with watering. Bananas need to be watered abundantly, but not very often. The criterion is the drying of the top layer of soil by 2 cm. Only warm (about 30 ° C) settled water can be used for irrigation. In the warm season, this plant should be sprayed as often as possible. It is even better to put the pot on a grid, under which there is a container of water, or place a humidifier next to the flowerpot.

Obtaining fruits from dessert varieties is very problematic without the use of dressings. This culture takes well organic fertilizers in the form of manure infusions or fish broth. You can also use ready-made fertilizers for fruit trees or biohumus. It is recommended to water bananas with infusions of ordinary weeds. You can also add crushed pulp and banana peel to the soil. In the warm season, the plant is fed once a week, and in winter - once a month. Growing a banana at home, and even trying its fruits, is not an easy task, but quite real and interesting.

There are many plants in which at first glance you can accurately identify a guest from the hot tropics. One such plant is definitely the banana.

Many of us have seen bananas that grow in open field: someone - on TV, and someone - in the southern resorts. It's perennial herbaceous plant, which is sometimes called banana, which is incorrect. Banana has nothing to do with the palm family, but forms its own family - Banana.

Representatives of the family can grow up to 12 meters and have a stem (or rather, a pseudo-stem) with a diameter of tens of centimeters. The real banana stalk is hidden underground, it is a kind of rhizome, or rhizome.

Dwarf varieties of bananas

It's hard enough to imagine big plant and houses. However, among the representatives of the family, there are also dwarf varieties of bananas. They grow no higher than 1.5 meters and are quite suitable for home use.

Some dwarf varieties - Musa velutina(Banana velvet),  Musa violacea(banana purple), Musa coccinea(Banana bright red) Musa ornata(Banana lavender) and others - can only perform. Even if they bloom, they will produce inedible fruits that contain more seeds than pulp. But there are varieties such as Musa Cavendish Dwarf(up to 2.4 m high) and Musa Super Cavendish Dwarf(up to 1.3 m tall), which produce edible, tasty fruits. One of the distinguishing features of fruit bananas are large maroon spots appearing on the leaves of young plants.

In 2000, I was lucky in one of the flower shops in Moscow to purchase Musa Super Cavendish Dwarf. For the first time, it bloomed in my apartment for the 7th year, a dozen first-class flowers ripened on it. palatability fruits. But his basal offspring (or baby) has already bloomed for 5 years.

There is information in the literature that it is possible to achieve flowering of a banana in two-, three years old. But this is more likely to apply to plants contained in winter gardens and greenhouses. In apartment conditions, it is difficult to achieve flowering from a banana of this age.

planting material

Decorative dwarf bananas: Musa velutina(banana velvet), Musa violacea(banana purple), Musa coccinea(bright red banana) Musa ornata(banana lavender) are propagated by seeds that are sold in flower shops, including Russian and foreign online stores. True, according to reviews of exotic lovers, seed germination is not very high, but luck is becoming more common. with fruit dwarf varieties bananas such as Musa Cavendish Dwarf And Musa Super Cavendish Dwarf, things are more complicated. They reproduce by root offspring. Therefore, such bananas can only be purchased from amateurs. exotic plants at flower forums or in specialized flower shops. Musa Cavendish Dwarf sold in some flower shops under the name Kyiv dwarf. Sometimes you can find Dutch bananas in stores called Tropicana. I think it's some kind of Musa Cavendish Dwarf.

Some exotic lovers bring banana sprouts from tropical countries, such as Thailand, Vietnam, etc. When buying, be sure to specify that you need a dwarf banana. You can ask to form a phyto-certificate. If they give you a phyto-certificate, fine. If not, no big deal. I brought plants from Thailand several times without such certificates. The Thais do not pay attention to this, and in order to cross our border, it must be remembered that only the transportation of soil is prohibited. Therefore, just before flying home, you need to shake off the roots of the plant from the ground (you can do it without much fanaticism, because no one will make claims for a small amount), wrap the roots in a damp cloth (or toilet paper) and put in plastic bag or cut in half plastic bottle. Immediately upon arrival home, land in the ground.

Banana cultivation: care rules

Banana - unpretentious plant so it's not that hard to take care of it. For growing bananas, you can use any purchased, without special preferences. Although experts often recommend well-drained nutrient mixtures made up of leafy soil, but and sand (2:2:1). Expanded clay or charcoal is poured at the bottom of the pot with a layer 2-3 cm thick. When planting, you can deepen the plant a little. It won't hurt the banana.

It is preferable to keep the banana in the brightest possible place: . In dimly lit places, the banana will develop worse and flowering may not occur.

Try to feed every 10-14 days. Preferably . However, the banana is responsive to any top dressing.

The plant loves abundant watering, because. its leaves are large and evaporate a significant amount of moisture. Watering time can be determined as follows: the top layer of soil should dry to a depth of 2 cm. Watered until water appears in the pan, from which water does not need to be drained. However, pouring and drying a banana is quite difficult. Therefore, you don’t have to worry if, in your absence, or watered too actively.

Periodically, it is necessary to loosen the surface layer of the soil (to a depth of 2 cm), this will ensure air access to the roots. I usually do this once a month.

If white roots appear from the drainage holes, the plant needs to be transplanted (or rather transshipped) into another pot, about 5 cm in diameter larger than the previous one. Sometimes young white roots appear on the surface. In this case, it is also necessary to pour a little soil on top.

It is believed that in order to bear fruit, a banana must master a pot of 30-50 liters and have a large leaf mass. My bananas bloomed and fruited in 35 liter pots. After flowering and fruiting, the pseudostem from which the peduncle grew dies. And a new offspring (baby) actively begins to grow from the rhizome, which in a few years should produce the same peduncle. Usually rhizomes live for about 40 years and constantly produce basal offspring, which replace each other after fruiting.

banana propagation

Bananas are propagated by the branch of offspring, because. There are no seeds in the fruits of these bananas.

I usually separate the offspring when they reach a height of 10-15 cm. I do this as follows:

1. With a sharp knife I cut off a piece of the rhizome, together with the offspring, 5-8 cm wide. Usually, there are already several roots in this part of the rhizome, and the offspring endures the separation from the mother plant less painfully.
2. I sprinkle the places of the cut on the rhizome with ash.
3. After that, the offspring with part of the rhizome is planted in a new pot, which is 2-4 cm wider than the cut rhizome.
4. I put the pot with the offspring in the light, warm place(temperature +20...30°C), shading from direct sunlight.

For a short time (within a few days), a banana can withstand temperatures as low as 0°C. I have carried out such experiments. But it is preferable for him to have a warm wintering with temperatures not lower than + 10 ... 15 ° С, the most favorable temperature all year round is + 20 ... + 30 ° С.

What problems might arise?

Of the pests at home, only bananas usually live on spider mite. But he's not the biggest problem.

Much more banana in the apartment suffers from dry air. Because of this, the edges of the leaves begin to dry out prematurely, for this reason the plant looks untidy. Drying edges can be safely trimmed without touching living tissue. And when the leaf starts to turn yellow, cut it off completely. An actively growing banana usually kicks out on a leaf in 1-2 weeks, they form a pseudostem. The dying off of the leaves also happens quite quickly - you don’t need to be afraid of this, just remove dried and yellowing leaves as needed.

It is quite obvious that it is impossible to provide humidity in the apartment, which is maintained in greenhouses (above 70-80%) and is most suitable for people from the humid jungle. To increase the likelihood of flowering, you can use a humidifier or spray regularly. Under such conditions, the banana will look more attractive, delight you for more than one year with its exotic appearance and delicious fruits.