Even if they don't fully ripen, bananas make wonderful, fast growing, Jack and the Beanstalk novelties that delight appreciative garden visitors of all ages. Plants can range from 3' (‘High Color Mini,’ and ‘Super Dwarf Cavendish,’ very tender, warm growing novelty types) to 20-25' (‘Ele Ele,’ a very ornamental fruiting type), with the majority in the 7-12' range. Also you want at least four leaves on a plant to develop the fruit once the flower spike emerges. Plants which flower when almost leafless tend to not be able to fill the fruits, though in warmer climates, and on plants with multiple pups, they may succeed.

     IMPORTANT: It seems the major cultural practice that leads to success in fruting bananas in the tropics is to control the number and vigor of pups lest they steal all the energy the mother stalk needs to finish the fruiting cycle. This is much more important in our marginal climates. This is probably the major factor that keeps amateurs from succeeding with bananas. Most banana mats are untended groves bent on devoting most of their energy to increasing size. If you want fruit, you have to control the pups.

     Growing Conditions    wind shredded foliage, Lighthouse Point    the tropical-grown bananas of commerce, ‘Cavendish’ or ‘Dwarf Cavendish’ and their derived cultivars, need relatively warm conditions to thrive, and will tend to fail under cold, wet, winter soil conditions. They also tend to be damaged at higher winter temperatures, often in the mid thirties Fahrenheit. They will tend to choke, a condition describing the failure of the flower spike to emerge the following spring. This can occur either from damage due to low temperatures chilling or killing the internal growing point, or lack of vigor to push through damaged, dried, frost-collapsed leaves and pseudotrunk tissue left over from winter. In either case, the plant will fail to complete the flowering/fruiting cycle. Varieties resistant to choking, more tolerant of cold, wet winter soils, able to take lower winter temperatures (near freezing) before being damaged, or able to ripen under cooler conditions (for coastal growers) form the backbone of the list best experimented with by California gardeners. Those are the varieties we concentrate on providing.

     Warmer areas will probably grow sweeter fruit, but if you are cooler than the Central Valley or Southern California, don't give up hope: in consumer testing in Australia, color was better on fruit from Sydney (subtropical, warmer than San Diego) but flavor was better from near Melbourne (more temperate, cooler than Modesto). According to commercial grower Ben McNeill of New Zealand, “This suggests to me that those of us near the edge of the climatic tolerance of bananas actually have a flavor advantage compared to the tropical growers.” You may get better fruit off the mat (the name for a cluster of banana stems) in your back yard than you can buy from the store!

     What about frost?    cold russeted bananas, Lighthouse Point    let's face it, bananas don't like frost, they would rather do without it. But they can still be overwintered in most areas in California most years because our hard freezes are either infrequent or of short duration. As far as the “cold tolerant” varieties are concerned it doesn't matter much if they lose all their leaves, or if the trunks freeze down a bit under the assault of repeated winter frosts. There is so little light energy available during the three months of winter that the plants are essentially standing still anyway, from a growth perspective. They will flush out and grow quickly once the weather warms in late winter or early spring. All that is important is that the meristem (tissue at the center of the stalk that will form the flowers/fruit) doesn't freeze in order to finish the fruiting cycle. Since most bananas make lots of growth during the growing season, and their trunk gets to be quite substantial, it takes quite a freeze to freeze it all the way through. How much protection they need to keep that from happening will vary depending on where the bananas are being grown.

     It is probably possible to regularly fruit some varieties as far north as Portland (Sunset zone 6!!) most years if the plants are well protected (wrapped, light bulb against trunk for heat, etc.) every year. One variety, Raja Puri, has actually been reported as being grown as a deciduous perennial as far north as Ohio. Unfortunately it is notorious for choking even in warm climates. This is one of the pieces of evidence that suggests it is probably possible to create a “California List" of those varieties which are forgiving of cool winters and some frost.

     Varieties on that list could be successfully overwintered away from structures and with no additional protection most years in zones 8-9 and 15-16. The plants would probably just act like giant deciduous perennials. Almost all the varieties we offer should be candidates for that list. Those that are known warm growers or question marks are noted. And remember that the list is still a work in progress, with continuous updates.

     In many relatively frost-free areas bananas can be overwintered without any extra protection most years. Those areas are Coastal Northern  and Central California (Sunset zone 17, perhaps 16) and Southern California (zones 12-13, 18-24). In other areas such as the Central Valley (Sunset zones 8-9) and Northern Inland Valleys (14-16) you will probably have to have some sort of minimal protection most years and may have to use good protection during the very coldest years. “Minimal protection” means a good overhang plus a warm wall, such protection as you might find if planted against a house. Some hobbyists build minimal cold frames to protect just the trunks over winter when planting away from structures. “Good” protection would mean wrapping in burlap and adding a light bulb for night warmth, perhaps loosely mounding straw from a bale of hay as far up the trunk as possible, etc. In general that is far more trouble than most people (including me) want to go through so they would just start over after the ten or twenty-five year freezes.

      If bananas aren't sufficiently protected and they do lose the central meristem they probably survive but will fail to fruit the following year. Since the pups start from below the ground the plant should survive all but the very worst, longest, deepest freezes (1972, 1990, 1998), those where the ground starts to freeze solid. With even minimal help the mat would probably still live to see another day even in those snappiest of cold snaps.

      The most likely scenario is that gardeners in California will just plant the things and hope the winter isn't too cold. Most years the plants will bear the following year. If they aren't getting fruit, and the growing season/site and cultural practices are adequate, especially controlling pups, it probably means the plants might need a little extra winter protection, might need to be resited, or might need to be replaced with a more cold tolerant or cool growing clone.

     Culture    typical untended (yet fruiting) mat at Lighthouse Point    plant in full or almost full sun. Water and feed regularly during spring, summer and fall, and mulch the soil surface heavily with rich organic material except directly against the trunk. Bananas are notoriously heavy potassium feeders. Signs of potassium deficiency are a yellowish leaf margins. The best solution is to find a fertilizer high in nitrogen AND potassium but not too high in phosphate. Ask your local independent nursery professional for help here. They like manure, in moderation, but watch out for burning off roots by using too much or especially applying during or going into cold weather, when poisonous ammonia and nitrites can accumulate from partial nitrogen conversion. In all situations plant in coarse, well aerated, heavily amended (with organic material) soils and (very important!) where the sun will warm the root area somewhat, especially during winter. Withhold water as much as possible in winter unless you are south of the dividing ranges where dry Santa Ana winds can desiccate plants quickly. In extremely wet winter climates, protecting the root area from rain with tarps may be necessary if you have the motivation. In marginal areas, a simple PVC pipe or redwood stake and plastic cold frame will protect the plant from killing frost until the fruit is ripe enough to harvest. If you anticipate having to do this, look for the dwarf varieties, most of which will fruit at under 7-8'.

     Most growth will occur when soil temperatures are no lower than 65-70°F. To help increase the number of days that occurs, keep weeds from around the base of the plant in summer in order to minimize cool, shaded roots. Clematis might enjoy that, bananas don't. In winter you can allow some vegatation to grow near the base somewhat to help pull moisture away and insulate soil temperatures. 

     Many of these varieties have been bred or selected for resistance to Panama Disease (Fusarium wilt), Yellow and Black Sigatoka leaf disorders (Mycosphaerelia fungus), and nematodes. Some of these problems may be found in California, or all could be absent. I can't find reliable information to indicate which is the case. Our plants are all from tissue culture and should be free from problems. Plants bought as divisions from out of state (especially Florida) or over the Internet from backyard growers should be held in deep suspicion. Only Black Sigatoka is unknown in Florida. Once you have these diseases you aren't going to get rid of them. Also, never cut bananas with any implements (shovels, shears) that haven't been scrubbed to mostly bright metal and disinfected (heat, Lysol spray) for monocot viruses, to which bananas are extremely susceptible. Trying to fruit virus-enfeebled bananas in marginal climates is almost certainly a lost cause. Any virused clumps should be immediately rogued out and disposed of.

     Gophers LOVE bananas, they really do. And if you have rats they may crawl up into the canopy and devour the developing fruit unless it is protected with chicken wire.

     Ripening and Harvesting    flower bract and spike    almost spent spike    conventional wisdom says the plant will need four to six months to ripen the fruit, and that range should cover fast ripening varieties in hot areas and slower varieties in all but the coolest-summer areas. Ripening will take longer later in the year as total energy available per day starts to fall dramatically with the onset of shorter days, cooler temperatures, and cloudy weather beginning in fall. If your plant hasn't initiated its flower spike by June or July, you can either wait and see what happens and risk winter-ripening the fruit, or you can experiment and cut it back hard, though resetting bloom by cutting back hard seems to be so unreliable as to be not worth trying. You are probably better off observing whether your variety will fill when spring starts again, which some can, if they don't get burned off by a true hard freeze. 

     Many varieties will abort their fruit under winter temperatures, some will simply stop further development when night temperatures drop below 50F (or some lower point), some might pause development until night temperatures rise again in spring. It appears that Goldfinger and Dwarf Orinoco, and undoubtedly others, are perfectly capable of pausing fruit development under cool conditions and resuming in spring, based on my observations of plants in Santa Cruz and corroborating reports from various other local growers.

     You want at least four leaves on the plant as it is ripening fruit if possible. However I am aware of at least one Goldfinger grown outdoors in the Petaluma area which produced good quality fruit from a stalk which initiated in fall, overwintered, and finished in late spring with no leaves at all to support the developing fruit. So all the development was supported by stored food reserves in the roots and stalk. This plant then produced three pups and formed a new canopy after spike was removed.

      It is best to plant several varieites and experiment. Fruit will often be ripening August through December. If they get a direct hard freeze you can kiss all of them goodbye. So if a hard freeze is predicted and you can't offer supplemental protection, harvest anyway since there is nothing to lose. Once the fruits have finished filling you stand a good chance of ripening them. Reducing the amount of fruit to ripen by reducing the number of the hands (horizontal fruit clusters that the spike is composed of - the fruit themselves are called fingers), or perhaps choosing larger varieties over dwarf strains (and thereby gaining more leaf area) may be strategies to try. Commercial growers shorten stalks from the bottom (the end, remember it is arching over!) to size up fruit, and one grower in cool New Zealand reports it only took only one month to ripen a two-hand stalk. In frost free areas, most non-Cavendish varieties will continue to ripen over winter though Cigar End Rot (a fungus) can become a problem in cold, wet conditions. Protect by removing dead tissue from around fruits and even covering with a plastic bag.

     It is not uncommon for a plant to miss its crop for the year due to one factor or another (planted late, early frost, cool year, Santa Ana winds, run-in with a gopher mob, etc.). Plant lots of varieties to spread out your chances, it helps ensure you at least get a little fruit every year. If only one variety comes through and has a good crop you may have well over a hundred pounds of bananas to dispose of anyway. The range of fruit cluster sizes quoted is what commercial growers in traditional banana growing areas report. Your results will vary.

     Any fruit cluster over about 25 pounds should probably be propped. A favorite method is to use a piece of old hose looped several times around the stalk, with the hose then hung from a stout pole(s), for hanging support that distributes the bearing surface. My best information indicates that plants which bloom "on time," (May-July) will produce smaller stalks around 20 lbs, and those which bloom later will produce larger stalks that probably won't ripen before winter in California.

     In commercial banana production the first crop from a new division is known as the “plant” crop (P). The fruit are smaller, the crop is smaller, and the quality is generally inferior to what you will get from your next crop off that mat. That next crop will come from a basal pup of the original plant after it flowers, bears and dies, and is called the “first ratoon” crop (R1). By the second ratoon crop (R2) you have the fruit at its best, whatever that is, and subject to varying growing conditions from year to year of course. Under good conditions once the mat is established you should get a crop every year.

     Eating    “dessert” refers to eating the fruit fresh out of hand, “cooking” means it will often have better flavor if cooked or roasted. Even heating briefly releases more flavor in the cooking types, though many are just fine fresh as long as they are fully ripe. My favorite way to cook bananas is just to sauté them briefly in a small amount of butter. I haven't tried roasting them, a common cooking treatment in developing countries or wherever cooking is done over a fire instead of in a stove, but from reports they are just thrown on coals in their skins for 15-20 minutes, turned when the skins blacken, until they are done all over, then they are retrieved, cooled, and eaten. This is the method I use camping, and it has always worked well for me, the kids and I have fun doing it, plus I appreciate the cultural significance of getting closer to my caveman roots by pitching food into a fire and fishing it out with a stick.

     In many if not all varieties the flowers and bracts are themselves edible and can cut off as sure as no more female flowers are being produced, which will further help fill the fruit. In some high concentrations of oxalic acid may make tasting quite an experience of the memorable kind, though I have a feeling those may have come from episodes where the bud wasn't properly prepared. I have also seen a comment that only cooking bananas are used, not fresh eating types. If you start screaming and running down the street, stop, don't eat more, but do please drop us a line as to which variety that was. Pisang Awak, which is probably the same as ‘Namwah,’ is eaten in Thailand. I have also seen reports that male flowers of Saba, Cardaba, and Brazilian/Dwarf Brazilian are edible, and I have myself prepared curry dishes from the flowers of 'Belle' and 'Mona Lisa.'  The flavor is nice, mild, slightly banana-vegetable, and the texture relatively crisp.

     The basic technique is to strip away any bracts or flowers themselves which are deeply colored, until you get down to the hear where the tissue is whitish and more tender.  What you want   Anything with any amount of color is going to be slightly astringent or bitter, which can be more interesting in very small doses. At this point you can test a little of the preparation and make sure it isn't "hot." Exactly how white your starting material is will depend on your personal preference. You can remove and save for use any flowers that are still light colored as you strip away the dark, older bracts surrounding them. Anything removed or cut goes into either water with lots of lemon juice or buttermilk, which will help leach away the sap (which stains black you and any clothing or absorbent material it comes in contact with) and keep the preparation from turning dark brown or black itself. Then you half or quarter the core lengthwise, then chop crosswise, add the unchopped (or halved) flowers, and add all that to the soaking liquid until ready to cook. Ready to chop  It is best to pull the styles from the flowers before cooking, they tend to get woody.

     Then you take some butter, or olive oil and butter, or peanut, sesame or other oil, and melt it into a large skillet, and don't be too stingy. Chop up 6-8 green onions and put them in and drain off the liquid from the banana flowers and add them. At this point recipes start to diverge more widely, depending on whether you are going to go Indian, Southeast Asian, or Southern Pacific, but my preparation would be to add a little dry mustard, some cumin, allspice, caraway seed, and enought turmeric that it turns as yellow as you can stand it, then cook for 10-20 minutes on low. Then add some unsweetened coconut (best fresh, grated, but who has that) and cook some more. You add a small of buttermilk or yoghurt at the end to sauce it up, with more on the side at the table, add some salt to taste. It can be served by itself as a side dish or over rice as a main dish. One flower bud will serve 4-6 , or it will serve you by yourself for four nights because no one else in your family will dare try it. But I know Joe Shultz (India Joze) would be proud of me!

     You can add chilis, or gingers, or keep them out, there are endless variations. In the Filipino version you probably start with vinegar, in the Chinese version you probably start with peanut oil. In Bali they are fried with garlic and onion. In the end the basic method is the same. An Internet search will turn up some interesting recipes. all the above rev 8/2008