How to grow a banana tree at home from a purchased banana. Grow a banana from seed at home

We are talking about the same banana, the fruits of which both children and adults love to eat. It turns out that it can be grown at home. At the same time, he will delight his owners not only with the taste of fruits, but also with their appearance.

Banana (Musa) is a very tall (up to 10 m) powerful perennial plant of the same family. Despite its impressive size, a banana is classified as an herb, and their fruits are nothing more than a berry.

Bananas grow in the tropics and subtropics. His homeland is southeast Asia and Hindustan. The taste of the fruits of this plant was liked by travelers and sailors, who contributed to its spread.

The underground part of the banana is represented by a powerful, spherical rhizome with well-branched adventitious roots and a central growth point. Escape shortened, underground. What we are used to seeing above the ground is not a shoot, it is a leaf.

The leaves are long-petiolate, wrapping each other's bases. They form like a trunk. Leaf blades have impressive dimensions: 2, sometimes even 3 m in length and up to half a meter in width. Ellipsoid, juicy, green, sometimes with burgundy or dark green spots. After fruiting, the leaves of the plant gradually die off, they are replaced by new ones.

Flower: The banana will bloom for the first time in about a year. By this time, it develops from 15 to 18 leaves. The flower stalk emerges from the flower bud and does a great job of "breaking" through the base of the leaves, growing through a long vaginal tube and stretching almost to the height of the leaves. There it “ends” with a huge, up to one and a half meters, inflorescence, consisting of a large number small single flowers, painted in pale yellow and greenish tones. Among them there are both bisexual and heterosexual flowers. Banana blossom is a magnificent sight, lasting two or even three months.

The fruits are tied after pollination of the largest, female, flowers and are located in their place, forming a kind of brush called buncha. The ripened single fruit has an elongated bean shape and reaches a length of 3 to 40 cm.

Location and lighting

Banana loves bright rooms, is not afraid of the direct rays of the sun, and also needs a long daylight. In winter, he needs lighting.

Temperature

Banana is a thermophilic plant. The optimal temperature for the full development of a banana is considered to be in the range of 24-30 degrees. It is important that the temperature does not fall below 16 degrees.

Air humidity

Banana does not tolerate dry air, reacting to it with a loss of luster and drying of the leaves. For additional moisture, the plant is sprayed daily, and the banana pot is placed in a tray filled with wet expanded clay. It is important that the bottom of the pot does not touch the water. For the purpose of moisturizing and hygiene, the leaves of the plant are wiped with a damp soft cloth or a warm shower is given to the flower.

Watering

A banana needs not only moist air, but also abundant watering, this is especially true in spring and summer. In autumn, watering is reduced, by winter it is completely reduced to a minimum. For irrigation, only settled water at room temperature or slightly higher is suitable.

The soil

The optimal composition of the soil for growing bananas: a mixture of soddy, humus, leafy soil and sand in a ratio of 2:2:2:1.

Top dressings and fertilizers

Like most plants, bananas are fed using liquid mineral fertilizers designed for indoor plants. Top dressing is carried out twice a month, starting in April and ending at the end of September.

Transfer

Banana is fast growing, so it needs to be repotted periodically. Doing so better in spring, picking up a more capacious pot. A layer of drainage must be poured at the bottom of the container.

When transplanting a banana, it is always buried deeper than the previous time. This is done in order to stimulate the emergence of new roots.

Bananas are usually propagated by offspring, division of rhizomes, and some species by seeds.

Propagation using seeds is quite laborious. A hard shell resembling a nut shell is a serious and sometimes insurmountable obstacle for a tender sprout. Therefore, 2-3 days before sowing, the seeds are placed in warm water, and then they are scarified (sawed). Sowing is carried out in a moist substrate, composed of equal amounts of leafy soil, peat, sand and charcoal. The depth of planting seeds should be equal to their size.

Greenhouse conditions are created for seedlings by covering the container with glass or a transparent film and placing it in a warm place with a temperature of 24-26 degrees. Crops are aired and sprayed daily. Seedlings will have to wait at least a month, sometimes even two. Picking is carried out after the seedlings get stronger and give 2-3 leaves. Young plants are fast growing.

Vegetative reproduction is carried out by root offspring. It is very convenient to propagate a banana in this way during transplantation, separating layering from an adult plant, making a cut to the rhizome. The cut points are sprinkled with charcoal. The root sucker is placed in a separate container filled with a mixture of equal amounts leaf, peat soil and sand.

Diseases and pests

Over-watering can lead to root rot and leaf spot. At home, banana damage is possible spider mite, thrips, scale insects, mealybugs.

They are more modest compared to wild plants, sizes, beautiful flowers and leaves for which they are grown.

banana velvet- rises above the ground by one and a half meters and has spectacular bright flowers yellow color with scarlet wrappers or bracts. The bracts gradually bend outwards, curling up into a tube. This species has velvety fruits, to which it owes its name.

banana lavender prized for its beautiful, lavender, pink or orange flowers.

Banana bright red does not exceed a meter in height, and has a bright flower with a scarlet wrapper, effectively shaded by green foliage.

Banana - care and cultivation errors (video)

Perhaps someone will think that it is not an easy task to grow a banana at home. Someone will say that it is generally unrealistic. However, practice shows that growing a banana in an apartment is very realistic, as well as getting sweet fruits from it.

This possibility depends on the variety you choose to grow. But first things first.

First, it is worth saying that a banana is not a palm tree, as many people think. It is a perennial herbaceous plant (giant grass) from the banana family (Musaceae).

What many people think of as a stem or trunk is the densely packed bases of the leaves (pseudo-stem). And the real stem is hidden underground - this is a kind of rhizome of a spherical shape (rhizome).

The inflorescence emerges from the middle of the pseudostem, which is monocarpic, i.e. after the end of fruiting, it dies off. The rhizome itself lives up to 40 years and continuously produces basal shoots that replace each other after fruiting.

Propagated by seeds, basal shoots and division of the rhizome. By the way, those bananas that we all buy in the markets do not have seeds. These are the fruits of varieties from the Cavendish group - they are sterile and reproduce only vegetatively.

And bananas, propagated by seeds, have not entirely edible fruits. That is, there are a lot of seeds inside and an insignificant mass of pulp, which, moreover, does not shine with taste. Such varieties are more bred for their decorative effect.

We all know that bananas are very tall plants. Under natural conditions, they can reach 9-12 m. But there are also undersized (dwarf forms) that can be grown at home, like houseplants.

What species are suitable for growing at home

All types can be conditionally divided into 2 categories.

"Decorative", grown for landscaping and interior decoration. The fruits of most of them are inedible:

• Velvety banana (Musa velutina) - 1.3-1.5 m, in photo 1;
• Banana lavender (Musa ornata Roxb.) - 1.5 m;
• Banana bright red (Musa coccinea Andrews) - 1 m;
• Banana Chinese dwarf (Musella lasiocarpa) - 1.5 m.

"Fruit", which are grown for the sake of fruits with high palatability:

• Banana pointed (Musa acuminata) - 2 m;
• Banana Cavendish dwarf (Musa Dwarf Cavendish) - 1.8-2.4 m;
• Banana Cavendish super dwarf (Musa super Dwarf Cavendish) - 1-1.3 m;
• Kiev dwarf - 1.5-1.7 m;
• Kiev superdwarf - 1 m, photo 3.

The last 2 varieties were bred in 1998 by the Ukrainian breeder A.V. Patiy. He claims that even in room conditions at good care these varieties can produce up to 150 fruits that taste no different from store-bought ones.

And now about how to grow a banana at home

Substrate and transplant

The best soil in its composition is under the following deciduous trees: linden, birch, hazel, acacia and others, except for poplar, chestnut and oak. You need to dig upper layer soil 5-10 cm.

The presence of a drainage layer is very important - depending on the size of the pot, it can be from 3 to 10 cm. A layer of wet sand must be placed on top of the drainage, and then the soil itself.

Still to be taken into account small feature- it is undesirable to put the pot directly on the pallet. First, put 4 flat stones or a grate in the pan, and place the pot on them. Thus, to drainage holes, and, accordingly, air will flow to the roots.

Air is as important to roots as water. Therefore, air access must also be provided from above - for this, 2-3 days after watering, loosen the top layer of soil 1 cm.

With each transshipment, the plant must be buried deeper into the soil than the previous time. Therefore, the pots should be chosen deep.

Watering and humidity

Banana "drinks" a lot of water, because. its leaves are large and evaporate a significant amount of moisture. It should be watered rarely, but plentifully. Watering is required only when the top 1-2 cm of the soil is completely dry (if you squeeze the earth with your fingers, it crumbles).

Watered always warm water(25-30°), abundantly - so that water seeps through the drainage holes.

If in winter time the room temperature will be about 18 °, then it is necessary to water even less often than usual to avoid rotting of the roots.

It is also necessary to ensure high humidity, preferably up to 70%. In summer, spray every day, in winter - at least 1 time per week. Leaves often wipe from dust.

Temperature

The optimum temperature is +25-30 °C. At +15 °C growth stops. And for the development and ripening of fruits, such a decrease in temperature is unacceptable.

If in summer the plant is in the garden or on the balcony, then with the onset of cold nights it should be brought into the house.

Lighting

Lighting is required bright, it is desirable to keep closer to the window. The southern, eastern and southeastern windows are best suited, in extreme cases, the western ones. On the north side, it will be impossible to achieve good growth and fruiting without the use of lighting.

If in the summer the banana will be on fresh air, then it must be shaded with gauze (tulle) from direct sunlight, or set the pot in the shade of trees.

The fact that bananas grow on a palm tree and can only be observed in their natural 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 a large number of seeds, while inside the fruits of a cultivated banana they are absent. However, a banana grown from seeds has more life force and disease resistance than its counterpart, and thanks to its large glossy leaves and delicate fragrant flowers, it is excellent 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

• A drainage layer 2-3 cm thick is laid in the landing tank.
• 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. The optimum temperature for germination is 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, special attention should be paid to 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 indicated if the thickness of the dried layer is not less than 1-3 cm. During 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 amount of moisture, its supply should be replenished regularly 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 summer time 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 period Additional lighting will help to 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, under favorable conditions, a 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 the 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 should be used. In this case, it is undesirable to use fresh organic fertilizers: 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 become a worthy decoration of the interior, turning an ordinary room into a tropical paradise.

A room banana is a natural vacuum cleaner, it draws everything out of the air. harmful substances and dust. With good care dwarf banana bears fruit for 2-3 years. The flower is large and long, somewhat similar to an elephant's trunk. Several dozen fruits can be tied on it, which ripen 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! A room banana does not have a powerful root system. Do not plant it in huge tubs. The maximum volume of the pot is 20 liters. The dwarf banana is a very light and heat-loving plant, it constantly reaches for the sun and leans towards the window.

Periodically, you need to turn the pot, especially in the cold season, when daylight hours are short. Therefore, the tub must be on wheels or on moving platform to make it easier to twist an adult plant. And you will have to turn a room banana 3-4 times during the winter.

Indoor banana varieties

• Technical grades 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 ones are given out as an elite variety, the so-called baby banana. And it costs many times more. For indoor growing or winter garden fit only dwarf edible varieties of bananas:

• Kiev dwarf
• Super dwarf.

Dwarf bananas are preferred 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, you can often find Dutch plants of an unknown variety. Most often these are technical varieties that will not bear fruit. The seeds also grow inedible bananas.. Therefore, purchase indoor banana seedlings only from garden centers or greenhouses that specialize in dwarf edible varieties.

Planting a banana

Suitable soil for flowering plants or deciduous forest soil mixed with humus and sand in a ratio of 3:1:1. You still need to add ash. Before planting a room banana, the soil is disinfected with boiling water. With each transplant, the root neck of the plant is deepened by 3-4 cm. Therefore, choose a deep container for a dwarf banana.

Every 3 months, a room banana is transplanted into a pot with a volume of one liter more. There must be a layer of large drainage at the bottom.

Important: you can transplant sproutsonly in summerat least in September. If you do this in the cold season, the indoor banana will get sick and will not take root. Mandatory spraying of leaves in summer daily, and in winter 2 times a week.

The main rule of watering

The dwarf banana is quite unpretentious and can withstand a whole month without watering. But this does not mean that it does not need to be looked after at all. Watered banana in the apartment plenty of warm water so that the entire soil is saturated with moisture.

Important: a banana is better not to water at all than to water 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 organic in any form: humus, biohumus, humisol, etc. Responds well to iron chelate. In summer, a banana in the apartment is fed every week, and in winter you can feed it twice a month. Very dwarf banana loves spraying.

Pests and diseases

Pests almost never affect dwarf bananas. If all the other plants on the windowsill are massively ill, for prevention, you can treat the indoor banana with a pest repellent for indoor flowers.

• The lower leaves of an indoor banana gradually turn yellow and dry out. It's not a disease, but natural process. They just need to be carefully trimmed.
• Sometimes on the edges of the leaves of a dwarf banana appear brown spots. The reason may be the decay of the root system or a lack of nutrients. In the first case, you need to reduce the frequency of watering. In the second - to 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.

reproduction

It breeds easily offspring. Three years before the onset of flowering, a dozen, or even two, grow. When the children grow up to 20 cm in height, they can be carefully separated with a knife from the mother plant and put in water with a root growth stimulator, such as Kornevin, for a couple of hours. Mix soil for the shoot with humus or biohumus in a ratio of 1:1.

How to make it bloom

• Banana flowering in the apartment is facilitated by feeding with potassium and phosphorus, compliance with all agricultural practices.
• We do not recommend separating the baby if she is alone. This significantly delays flowering, sometimes for a year or two.
• To save the view next to an adult plant, a young banana should grow, which will replace the "parent", because after fruiting ground part banana completely dies off.

The "young generation" of the dwarf banana will grow to a meter in six months and the cycle will repeat again.

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 indoors:

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 lighting, 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 flowers stay for quite a 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, the conditions of detention should be changed or the fertilizer should be changed.

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 seeds 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 the 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, transplant young plant will have to be done 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 "revitalizing" the interior with bright colors during the flowering period, this plant can deliver not only aesthetic pleasure, but also pamper us with their useful and tasty fruits.