In the phrase home banana there is something fabulous.
But if you seriously believe that this exotic fruit plant is impossible to grow at home or at home, then there is great news for you: as much as possible!
Moreover, it is very easy to do.
Of course up to 9 metersas in the native nature of Southeast Asia, the home banana does not grow. But two or three meters in height, this perennial herb can well reach.
How to grow at home?
Features care after purchase
After acquiring a germinated houseplant, it is kept at rest a few days at the very place where the banana is to grow. Then the plant follows transplant in a suitable size pot.
IMPORTANT! When buying a plant, find out if the variety you choose brings edible fruits. Unfortunately, not all home and garden bananas can be eaten.
Pruning
Home and Garden Banana does not need in pruning. It is cut only in the case of rejuvenation of the plant or to cut off the damaged ground part.
Bloom
Well developed banana, released before 18 large sheetsblooms. Sockets appear in which red-violet flower buds bloom. They last from 3 months to 1 year, with time beginning to slope to the ground.
How does a banana bloom? Photo:
Lighting
A tropical plant needs good diffused lighting - then it will develop and bear fruit safely. Therefore, home banana is better to place on the south, eastern or southeast window sill. Or next to the appropriate windows, if the plant has already reached a large size.
If this is not possible, the only available option is north window, it is necessary to resort to additional lighting.
However, even a light-loving plant like a banana needs protect from direct sunlight so that they do not burn its leaves.
Therefore, home and garden (as well as a balcony) banana need to bring on from the direct rays of the sun using gauze.
Temperature
Room heat-loving southerner grows poorly if the temperature becomes below 16 degrees.
Therefore, in the summer it is necessary to surround it with heat. at 24-26 degrees. And it is also important to protect the banana from drafts.
Air humidity
Another factor necessary for successful cultivation is high humidity. In summer, a room banana needs to be sprayed at least once a day.
It will also be relevant to place near it a container with moist expanded clay. In winter, the issue of humidity becomes less important: spraying can be done only once every 7 days.
Watering
Banana is required much water, but the main rule of watering remains the same: moisture should not stagnate in the soil. Therefore, it is necessary to water the plant when the 2-centimeter upper soil layer dries out (this is easily checked by touch).
Winter requires even more rare watering. Tap water for irrigation is fine, but it should be kept for at least 24 hours and should be close to room temperature (or even a little more than a couple of degrees).
IMPORTANT! For a better supply of water and air to the roots, the ground should be periodically gently loosened. In the case of a room representative for this purpose, you can use a wand with a blunt end.
The soil
Banana prefers neutral or slightly acidic earth. For the home copy it is prepared from the following components:
- 1 bucket of lime, walnut or acacia soil;
- 0.5 liters of ash;
- 1 liter of humus;
- 2 liters of coarse sand.
The resulting mixture must be shed with boiling water to get rid of possible pests.
Concerning garden banana, then, in the case of unsuitable soil on the plot, add a couple of buckets of rotted manure, a handful of complex fertilizer and half a bucket of sand to the landing pit.
Fertilizers
Banana boasts good growth and a corresponding good appetite. He needs additional feeding once a week in the summer and once a month in the winter.
How to feed him at home? For this purpose, alternate:
- Humus (only cow): 200 g of manure diluted with 1 liter of boiling water and leave for a day.
- Ash: 1 tablespoon, diluted with 1 liter of water.
- Sideral fertilizers: 1 tablespoon of chopped herbs pour 1 liter of boiling water and leave for 24 hours.
IMPORTANT! Chemical fertilizers banana is contraindicated - they can damage its root system.
Fertilizers for bananas are applied immediately after watering.
Plant growth
Banana grows extremely fast. Every two weeks the plant releases a new leaf. In less than a year, it can overcome height two meters (if it is provided by this look and variety). Therefore, in the early stages of plant care, more frequent transplant.
Winter care
Before the onset of a cold snap, it is necessary to warm the banana for the winter: you should sprinkle the roots of the garden banana dry sawdust, and cover the ground part with a cardboard box, wrap it with a film on the outside and secure the cover properly so that not blown away.
The main thing that the roots did not freeze: everything else concerning the above-ground part of the plant is fixable and recoverable.
If the winter is warm, it can continue its growth - in this case, the young tender shoots should also be sheltered from the cold weather.
Homemade banana in winter does not need in no special conditions. The only difference from summer care is significantly reduced watering. Protect the plant from cold.
Transfer
For low copies home banana (from 10 to 20 cm) suitable pot with a capacity of 1 or 2 liters, respectively. Large plants with a height of 60-70 cm are planted in a container with a volume of 10-15 liters.
These recommendations are better. do not neglectbecause too big a pot for a small plant is an excess of excess soil and water stagnating in them, which will lead to souring the earth and, as a result, to rotting roots.
At the bottom of any pot is laid out a 7-centimeter drainage layer made of expanded clay or fragments of red brick, which should be covered with sand. Put the pot on standso that through drainage holes to the root system arrive more air.
IMPORTANT! Banana is transferred to a new container without destroying the former soil room. Put on a couple of centimeters deeper than in the old pot.
If optimal conditions are created for a banana, it will grow very quickly, and it will have to be replanted every year. As a rule, transplantation is carried out in the spring, if there are no urgent reasons to do it earlier.
Planting and growing from seed
At home, only a wild-looking banana with inedible fruits is subject to germination from seeds. It is a little similar to the usual for us fruit and generously filled with seeds, of which grow a houseplant, which carries only a decorative function.
Seeds - photo:
For better germination, a hard seed coat can be slightly to harm using nail files. Banana seeds are kept in warm water for a couple of days to germinate, and only after that they are sown in the soil. Its composition may include 4 pieces of river sandmixed with 1 part peat. Good also needed drainage layer.
Seeds are sown on the surface of the earth, slightly pressing them, but not sprinkling on top. Then the container must be covered with glass or transparent film. Keep the container with the seeds should be in a well-lit place, but from the direct sun they should be protected.
Periodically "greenhouse" should be aired, as the soil dries out - to moisten the soil from the sprayer. Do not overdo it: moisture should not stagnate. If signs of decay appear, the damaged area of soil is removed, and the surface of the remaining is treated with manganese solution. Shoots should be expected after 3 or 4 months.
If you are interested in where the banana seeds, then take a look at the following photo:
How to grow a banana from seed room, you can find out by watching an interesting video:
Maturation
Banana bunch begins to ripen from above. Do not be surprised that the taste of your bananas will be different from the store ones: your fruits ripen on the plant, and for the stores bananas are broken even immature and they “reach” after transportation in the gas chambers.
At home also possible peculiar "gassing" bananas, which for some reason did not have time to ripen on the garden or houseplant. These bananas are placed in a plastic bag together. with ripe apples. It is these fruits that will start the ripening process. The success of this procedure not guaranteedbut completely is real.
Diseases
Bananas rarely get sick and are attacked by insects.
Due to the dryness of the air, a spider mite may appear on the leaves, for the same reason the leaf plates may dry out at the edges. But all this is easily fixable.
Dry areas are carefully cut off, the yellowing sheet is cut off completely.
Breeding
They reproduce with basal offspring (they are also called "children"). They are separated in the spring when they grow up to 10-15 centimeters in height, and they have sufficiently strong roots.
Cut off offspring with a piece of rhizome, the slice is covered with ash, and "baby" immediately put in the ground. Its composition is the same as for adult plants. Pot with young plant put in a bright and warm place and take care of him, as an adult instance.
Benefit
The fruits are rich:
- potassium;
- fiber;
- serotonin and tryptophan;
- vitamins and other beneficial substances.
Bananas are also useful because they provide the body with a charge of energy, promote effective mental and physical work. Especially they are relevant in diabetes, atherosclerosis, kidney disease, liver, hypertension.
Conclusion
Create a corner of tropical exotic in your home or garden not difficult: enough to buy a banana plant. The cultivated look also will delight you not only with an impressive appearance, but also with edible and tasty fruits.
Watch the video of how bananas are grown in the greenhouse:
