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Go bananas! The key to an a-peel-ing garden, and it’s no split decision BY WENDE GEHRT
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ANANAS WILL GROW VERY well in Maricopa but require four “lotsas”: lotsa water, lotsa light, lotsa warmth and lotsa fertilizer.
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Bananas are actually herbs, not trees, meaning the stalk is not an individual plant but a stem of a larger organism. Bananas need plenty of water to produce fruit and substantial evaporation from their big leaves. Basin or flood irrigation is recommended because it helps keep the salt in our rock-hard water from accumulating around the roots. Deep watering will encourage the plant to develop deeper roots, making the plant tougher when the weather gets hot and dry. Bananas aren’t water-conserving plants and won’t do well on just the irrigation system for desert-adapted plants most of us have in our yards. It’s likely the edges of the leaves will scorch sometime during the peak of summer no matter how much water the plant gets. A banana will probably tolerate being planted on any side of the house but will be happiest on the east side, where it will get plenty of light in the morning but have refuge from
should be fertilized every month or two using a high-nitrogen fertilizer. When a flower blooms, get the rest of your sundae toppings ready because bananas should appear within a few weeks. Picking the green bananas and allowing them to ripen indoors is recommended because outdoor ripening will attract pests. Once a stalk has produced fruit, it dies and should be cut off. New “pups” should appear at the base of the old stalk to produce the next crop. Bananas in Arizona have no significant pest problems. You can expect the bananas grown in your yard to be far tastier than those purchased at a supermarket — and they’re just fun to grow.
the afternoon sun. Bananas need a lot of sun to store energy for fruit production, so keeping the plant in full shade is not recommended. Wind will shred the banana leaves, and in the case of tall bananas it can blow them over, so planting next to walls and houses is beneficial. You may want to provide a large support stake to protect the plant from breakage. Bananas tolerate heat well but can be nipped by frost in the winter. If it freezes every year, you won’t harvest any smoothie ingredients because it takes about 18 months for them to flower. If freezing temperatures are in the forecast, cover the plant with frost cloth or lightweight fabric and uncover when temperatures are above freezing. Bananas grow rapidly and require heavy feedings. During the growing season, a banana
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44765 W. Hathaway Ave., Maricopa, AZ 85138 We deliver at Banner Casa Grande & Banner Ocotillo Chandler
Wende Gehrt is a Pinal County Master Gardener.
InMaricopa.com | September 2024
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