Banana plants

[dru2]

A couple of questions for gardeners, if I may, and if they will kindly bear with my ignorance.

I have a newly built house on one side of which is a long, narrow strip of soil between the outer perimeter wall - about 6ft high - and the concrete path by the side of the house. The soil is about 2.5ft wide - say 75-80 cms. I need to plant tall, narrow shade trees or plants that will grow fast and thickly to a height of 8 or 9ft - say 2.5-3 metres. Some I would like to be banana plants. Can I buy "saplings" (I know they are more like giant leeks than trees) at Kamthieng or somewhere? Or do I have to start from small shoots? And what are the best kind - for attractiveness more than eating. I like the sound of the rain slapping on the banana leaves. And are they self-perpetuating, putting out new shoots?

While I am at it, I rather like the long, pendulous red-and yellow blooms of the heliconia wagneria, but I have seen taller related specimens growing in other gardens. Can any kind person supply the name of this "giant" variety in English, Latin or Thai?

Any other suggestions for fast-growing, lushly foliated plants of this kind?

With much appreciation in advance.

[zeichen]

nam wah variety the short fat ones grow easier than others. They don't usually get to 9 feet though. You can easily buy one small plant 30 baht each. They will grow and other shoots will emerge in a few months. They grow in clusters so you would need more space than just 2 feet.

there are some trees that are perfect for that space and used for shade. I don't recall their name but something like india. They are quite common and you can see them around most houses used for borders, shade and instead of walls.

Those plants look like what is called bird of paradise. Common at most markets. The "sexy pink" is beautiful but is fragile. The hearty reds are easy to grow and usually cost around 150-250 for a bundle which can be broken up and spread out.

Galangal or Kah is a nice plant for that space also and edible.

[xen]

If you buy the "shoots" they will get to 2 metres within a few months depending on other environmental factors like soil, shade etc. There life cycle is about 18 months but other "shoots" will emerge in the meantime. Also be-aware that you may have a pest problem if you do not maintain the bananas . Rats love bananas and being next to your house you should not give them food and lodging . They also look much better if the banana are maintained .

Another plant you may consider is strelitzia nicolai or bird of paradise , similar in appearance to a banana . This is the taller on to the more common Strelitzia reginea. They tend to clump and will need a good clean out every few years.

The tree Zeichen mentioned may be Pride of India or Lagestroma indica . Beautiful trunks and bark on them plus women love the flowers . The older varieties do have problems with powdery mildew and so require air movement around them as a good preventative measure so next to the house may not be so good. .You will be familiar with them as they are everywhere in SE Asia .

Another suggestion would be bamboo but do your research on suitable types .

Best of luck .

[kaptainrob]

In such a confined space I'd select strelitzia, as mentioned, flowering ginger varieties, and best of all ... cigar palms, Mixing all these in together will create a fabulous green corridor with height to 2 or 3m yet easily manageable. 2 vendors in centre of Kamthieng Market stock most of the above along with heliconia varities. Cigar palms are inexpensive @ ~ 100 Bt ea for 90cm specimens.

Banana's, we have ~ 15 of them, require a lot of maintenance and become an ant, bird and squirrel magnet when fruit appears.

Cuban cigar palm >

[dru2]

In such a confined space I'd select strelitzia, as mentioned, flowering ginger varieties, and best of all ... cigar palms, Mixing all these in together will create a fabulous green corridor with height to 2 or 3m yet easily manageable. 2 vendors in centre of Kamthieng Market stock most of the above along with heliconia varities. Cigar palms are inexpensive @ ~ 100 Bt ea for 90cm specimens.

Banana's, we have ~ 15 of them, require a lot of maintenance and become an ant, bird and squirrel magnet when fruit appears.

Cuban cigar palm >

That's beautiful, thank you Rob. It shall be so!

[dru2]

In such a confined space I'd select strelitzia, as mentioned, flowering ginger varieties, and best of all ... cigar palms, Mixing all these in together will create a fabulous green corridor with height to 2 or 3m yet easily manageable. 2 vendors in centre of Kamthieng Market stock most of the above along with heliconia varities. Cigar palms are inexpensive @ ~ 100 Bt ea for 90cm specimens.

Banana's, we have ~ 15 of them, require a lot of maintenance and become an ant, bird and squirrel magnet when fruit appears.

Cuban cigar palm >

Rob - I can't find "Cuban cigar palm" in Wikipedia or in Google Image Search. Lots of cigar boxes in the latter! Any idea of the Latin name or Thai name? Thanks!

[jingjoke]

^ Hi, simply klik on Rob's photo and the latin name is revealed at the bottom: Calathea Lutea

[tango]

Excellent Rob; just what's needed for our home. Great Photo! U Da Man!

BTW, What's the name of the small tree to the left with the shiny leaves; had one at a place we'd rented, it grew fast and full. Always wanted a few. Cheers

[kaptainrob]

Excellent Rob; just what's needed for our home. Great Photo! U Da Man!

BTW, What's the name of the small tree to the left with the shiny leaves; had one at a place we'd rented, it grew fast and full. Always wanted a few. Cheers

Sorry, can't help with name of the small tree.

BTW, Kamthieng market vendors recognise "cigar palm" spoken in English or Thai as "don cigga".

[naboo]

We have banana trees in our garden. Best avoided, difficult to get rid of and as said above, attract ants, birds, squirrels etc. Rob's solution looks excellent.

[kaptainrob]

Excellent Rob; just what's needed for our home. Great Photo! U Da Man!

BTW, What's the name of the small tree to the left with the shiny leaves; had one at a place we'd rented, it grew fast and full. Always wanted a few. Cheers

Sorry, can't help with name of the small tree.

BTW, Kamthieng market vendors recognise "cigar palm" spoken in English or Thai as "don cigga".

On closer inspection, the tree looks a bit like a magnolia variety.... of which there's 100's. The leaf colour sheen and shape compares with shrubs in our garden and symmetry of the branches look like the grandiflora [large tree] variety.

[Andyfarquar]

I also like Bananas, they are versatile and have many benefits if you know how to keep them. Banana leaves impart no flavours or aromas when used to wrap fresh food and they insulate beautifully. Avoid getting tree sap on your clothes as it stains dark brown, almost black and doesn't come out.... ever!

Choose the type of banana you and your wife like to eat and find someone willing to give you a sucker from their tree. Plant the sucker in soft, fertilised soil with at least 2 feet of space either side of it. It will grow quickly and hopefully produce a bunch of bananas. To avoid the problems with pests, cover the banana bunch with a plastic bag early on after the bunch has formed, you may be able to find the proper uv protection bags from agricultural suppliers to prevent 'burning' of the fruit. When the bananas are of a size you are happy to eat, cut the flower (heart) from the end of the bunch (and let your wife cook it). The bananas will now stop growing and ripen more rapidly. Rats are unlikely if you maintain your garden well too. Chop out all suckers (new shoots from the bowl of the tree), clean out all weeds and grasses from around the base and remove diseased or yellowed leaves. Try to maintain at least 3 good healthy green leaves to ensure the fruit matures. Start with one tree and after you've eaten your first bananas (9 months after planting, you can chop the tree off with a machete (one strong swing will do this), dig up the bowl of the tree and peel back the skin. You will see 'eyes', much like a potato has. Chop the bowl with your machete into 4 or 5 slices like a cake and plant the pieces, eye downwards into soft soil in a prepared furrow, heap the soil over the top and firm the soil into place over your new tree. Fertilise and water the soil to ensure the plant grows rapidly and 9 months later you'll have 4 or 5 new bunches of bananas to eat or sell/share.

If that is all the trees you want and the condition of the trees is good, just let them grow and the next year, you'll have another bunch of bananas, maybe less perfect than the first but still good to eat. Any tree that deteriorates, allow a sucker to develop from the base to take over and when it's a metre tall, chop off the main tree, above the sucker and the remaining trunk will 'feed' the sucker. You can chop out the remaining dead trunk after a few weeks to maintain a good looking tree.

As you probably guessed, I've had a little experience in this field. Feel free to pm me for more free advice ;-)

[kaptainrob]

^ Good advice, Andy. I just learnt about why I was doing certain things handed down via the mother-in-law, thanks.

The flowers cook up rather nicely on their own or in a curry. Leaves wilted over a hot flame = Thai baking paper/alum. foil. We transported many lady-finger suckers from Phuket to Isaan and Chinag Mai. Planted here in Feb, we have more fruit than we can eat or freeze and give away many clusters.

3 of our 15 plants are the Thai black-stem variety with trunks thicker than a man's waist and leaves up to 4m in length, just the green part! The fruit on these magnificent locals, are so high up I'll need a ladder to harvest them.

[Andyfarquar]

^ Good advice, Andy. I just learnt about why I was doing certain things handed down via the mother-in-law, thanks.

The flowers cook up rather nicely on their own or in a curry. Leaves wilted over a hot flame = Thai baking paper/alum. foil. We transported many lady-finger suckers from Phuket to Isaan and Chinag Mai. Planted here in Feb, we have more fruit than we can eat or freeze and give away many clusters.

3 of our 15 plants are the Thai black-stem variety with trunks thicker than a man's waist and leaves up to 4m in length, just the green part! The fruit on these magnificent locals, are so high up I'll need a ladder to harvest them.

If you foster a sucker from the base each time, you can harvest the bananas by chopping just half way through the trunk, catch the bottom of the bunch with your left hand, chop off the stem and let the bunch fall onto your shoulder, then you can remove the upper part of the tree, leaving the lower trunk to feed the new sucker. The benefits of this system are twofold, firstly the quality of the bananas stays high (as long as you fertilise the soil, and secondly the tree doesn't get a chance to grow to an unmanageable height. The alternative to fostering suckers is to re-plant with fresh planting material from an old tree, which I prefer because suckers take nutrients directly away from the mother tree, whereas you can plant a new tree with mulch and fertiliser in its' own space.

If you suffer parasites in the trees from your soil, you can protect new trees by 'boiling' the plant material in water for around half a minute at 100 degrees or for an hour or more at 55 degrees. I have experience with the 55 degree method and it was very effective on cut pieces of planting material. Nematodes cannot survive anything above 52 degrees for very long but note that at very high temperatures you risk damaging the plant material if you expose it too long.

[kurtramsbottom]

Banana's don't grow on tree's

[Andyfarquar]

Banana's don't grow on tree's

Apostrophes don't belong in plurals

[kurtramsbottom]

Banana's don't grow on tree's

Apostrophes don't belong in plurals

I'm glad someone understood!

[xen]

Banana's don't grow on tree's

Apostrophes don't belong in plurals

I'm glad someone understood!

To be pedantic they are banana plants and the individual trunk is referred to as a "stool" in the commercial banana industry . The flower was often called a" bell" . These are the terms i was taught when i was in the industry many,many years ago. They may differ from country to country and region to region of course.

[Andyfarquar]

Banana's don't grow on tree's

Apostrophes don't belong in plurals

I'm glad someone understood!

To be pedantic they are banana plants and the individual trunk is referred to as a "stool" in the commercial banana industry . The flower was often called a" bell" . These are the terms i was taught when i was in the industry many,many years ago. They may differ from country to country and region to region of course.

I agree that if you choose to be pedantic they are technically herbaceous plants and the fruit is actually a 'berry' but at 2 metres, these plants will show a flower, bell, heart, followed by a bunch of bananas that with Cavendish will grow up to 100lbs or more in weight. I'm happy to call such a plant that can carry this weight a 'tree' for the same reason most people call the banana itself a 'fruit' and not a 'berry'. By the way, some banana 'plants' grow to over 30 feet tall....