HOW TO GROW BANANAS – ESSENTIAL TIPS ON GROWING BANANA TREES
Growing bananas, like growing sugar cane, is normally a task reserved for people in the tropics. But at Home Fixated, we don't want to be normal.
A few years ago, I decided it was overrated to buy bananas at the store and set out on a virtual and real journey to learn all I could about growing bananas... in San Diego.
Granted, San Diego isn't exactly Minnesota, but it's not tropical either. But that didn't stop me.
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First, a few basics. Bananas are delicious. Actually, "dessert" bananas are delicious. These are the bananas you usually eat when they are yellow and ripe.
Cooking bananas are best eaten cooked and generally when the fruit is still green. Both varieties are tasty, but I prefer to grow the "dessert" varieties.
There are also ornamental trees that bloom beautifully but do not bear edible fruit. India is the largest producer of bananas in the world.
Now back to the esoteric. Apparently bananas are radioactive. Straight from Wikipedia:
Bananas are naturally mildly radioactive, more so than most other fruits, because they are high in potassium, and the potassium-40 isotope is found in small amounts in natural potassium.
Proponents of nuclear power sometimes refer to the equivalent radiation dose of bananas to support their arguments.
Banana shipments often trigger radiation monitors installed at US ports to detect illegal shipments of radiological materials. Now I'm not so enthusiastic about this argument.
They seem to find radioactivity delightful. Perhaps the only doctor who reads Home Fixed can say something about the relative levels of radiation in the fruit in the comments.
In the meantime, I stand by my opinion: bananas are safe and should be eaten. In the esoteric category fall bananas, which are actually very large herbs.
When you cut off their "stem", you discover that they are really just stems wrapped tightly with leaves. This gives a whole new meaning to the term 'herb'.
Another random tidbit: banana hearts (the large Hershey's Kiss-shaped part underneath the banana) are supposed to be edible and taste similar to artichokes.
I think it's the vegetable equivalent of "tastes like chicken". I haven't tried it yet.
Many people I talk to are shocked to discover that the bananas we buy here in the US are usually of a single variety known as Cavendish.
Some might think we buy Cavendish because it's the best variety, but it's actually the variety that's available after being picked unripe because of its shelf life and ability to withstand a long journey.
It seems there are many varieties of bananas that are much tastier but cannot be exported as profitably.
As long as you live in a place where they can be grown in temperate climates, you don't have to worry about their transportability or storage.
Another little known fact is that banana plants die after they bear fruit. But don't worry, they also produce babies, called offspring, which you can take with you.
Need more information about bananas? Check out the California Rare Fruit Growers banana page (you're members, right?).
That's enough facts, now let's get to growing bananas. When I started my journey, I kept finding references to a man named Jon Verdick here in San Diego.
He lives about 6 miles inland from downtown San Diego and it turns out he's a real banana aficionado!
Jon runs the Encanto Farms nursery, which not only houses one of the most impressive collections of banana trees, but is also managed from his home or suburban jungle.
Bananas are available for around $15-35 apiece. If you live in Southern California and are seriously interested in growing bananas, I highly recommend a visit to Jon's (by appointment only).
Jon's also offers some transportation options for those living outside the region. Almost everything I've learned about growing bananas has been passed on to me by Jon.
Therefore, I am quoting here much of the fact sheet he was kind enough to provide me in 2006. He has an updated version, also available here.
