I guess it wasn’t the year for home-grown bananas :(
Well, we didn’t get to eat home-grown bananas like I thought we would. The fruit stayed small, and never even got close to ripe. Here’s a pic of the tiny hand of bananas when I cut them off because nights were starting to freeze. That was mid-November.
I’m still learning how to do this right, and apparently I didn’t give them enough fertilizer and maybe not enough water this year. A new friend (met through Instagram) who grows tropical stuff here in Fair Oaks told me I might need to fertilize them every week! Ugh. That’s a lot of maintenance!
Another Instagramer said she makes a new compost pile on top of the banana root clump in winter and lets it decompose as the new season progresses, and this gives regular nutrition to the banana clump. I have done some of that, dumping a bunch of shredded leaves collected this fall over the base of the clump. I should add more material soon.
Anyone out there successfully growing bananas in zone 9? I’d love to hear your secrets to success in the comments!
Hi there! How is this years crop going?
We have been successful with Blue Java (Ice Cream) bananas in Sacramento. We planted one in 2021 and have got a few bunches the last 2 years.
Our first bunch of this year is just ripening now (flowered in December), and there are 6 more coming in different stages of development. I think it’s a particularly good variety for our climate. It is positioned such that it gets a lot of sun and is well protected from the wind.
Definitely agree with the Blue Java. Give them water and it can be hard to control the growth (Davis). Ours have flowered in the late summer and fall. Not quite sure what to do with the bunches over the winter…let them continue to grow or harvest now? Will leave at least one bunch to see what happens but hard to find info on what to do with immature fruit in the winter. Regardless, great bananas in this zone.
Hey, sorry I didn’t see these comments earlier. My email notification must have been glitchy. Yes! I planted my Blue Java last spring, and it’s already 15 ft. tall. I’m hoping it will give viable fruit in the next couple years. Thanks for the feedback!
Wow, I’ve been terrible at answering comments. Must have missed a notification! If you get notified of this, I’m hoping your bananas did ripen well last summer. My Blue Java has been in the ground since May and got about 15′ tall this year. I imagine I’ve got a few years until it flowers, and I’m hoping to have some viable fruit! I’m still growing the Cavendish bunch, but I’m going to thin the stand to maybe five stems this year to see if that pumps more energy into ripening fruit. I’ve read others in Sacramento saying to keep it to three stems, but I’m not sure I can stand to remove that many!