banana question...

[turnpike]

at the beginning of this month (feb.), we bought 5 different varieties of bananas, 10 plants in total...from the "farmer fair" (agricultural exhibition) in khon kaen.

they weren't living plants, so to speak, but just the stalk and root ball, with basically all of the roots cut off. they were all roughly 3/4 of a meter long. sort of like planting a huge onion bulb, I guess...

I dug holes for each of them about a half meter across and a half meter deep...tough going, the ground was very hard. put a half bucket of very old cow manure in each one and filled them with water (twice) to help soften up the soil below.

in the meantime, like the gal who sold us the bananas said, I soaked the bottoms of the bananas in water overnight. the next day I planted them in the holes, using the basic black bagged dirt they sell in the gardening shops on the side of the road. I planted them almost as deep as the hole and packed the black dirt around them, then covered the dirt with rice hulls to help with water retention. then, like banana girl said, I sliced a few inches off of the top of the stalk and have watered them well, once or twice daily ever since.

my question is this. when should I expect to see some action? am I right in assuming that shoots will pop up from the sides? or does the main stalk just start growing again? I'm just worried I messed something up, like maybe overwatering. my thumb is not the greenest, but I do have some common sense when it comes to gardening.

been looking on the web, but not much info that I can find about planting the stalks like this.

thanks in advance for any help or advice given.

[pigeonjake]

im no expert, but my wife did plant over 50 on our land and take it from me she didnt plant them almost a mtr deep,

i think that could be to deep, all the shoots are in that ball that you have put so deep,

jake

[Jotham79]

I agree that you are probably too deep. In any case it will be some time before you see action so you will have to wait a while. Might be worth pulling on of each type and planting about half as deep just in case.

[soidog2]

you could post a picture of the tops to see if they are healthy.

Most bananas like a lot of water, keep them on the moist side.

I am worried about the cow manure part, if you only put a couple of handfuls in each hole is OK, if you overdid it, it may burn the roots, you will know when they turn to mush.

If all goes well; in one or two weeks (the most) they should start shooting new leafs from the main stem, side shoots will come later, much later for you because you planted deep. (rainy season)

[loong]

As already said - probably too deep. If I remember correctly, you can see the difference in colour between the part of the sucker that was underground and the part that was above ground.

Chicken poo is better than cow manure.

Lots of organic material.

You can cut the top off almost to ground level and it will grow from the centre.

Soil needs to be kept moist, not soaking. At this stage, there is very little water loss from the plant by evaporation. When the big leaves come, it's a different matter, the plant will suck the soil dry.

[cobbler]

Hi.

We got about 1000 namwa from A friends in sukothai .Took them back to bangsaphan at our farm.Planted them about1.5 feet deep.This gives them strength if its windy so they dont blow over.Also they can get moisture in the dry time.These were just the bulb with about 2 to 3 feet of stalk.99% of them grew but b sure u plant them in wet season .Its better than dry.Dry is just not the right time of year.You will pour amazing amounts of water on them if dry.

Cheers Cobbler

Sent from my GT-N7100 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[turnpike]

happy to say that all 8 bananas (not 10 like i said before, forgot i gave 2 away) have finally grown up out of the ground.

this is the last straggler, but it's going to unfurl now any day.

funny, 7 out of 8 have grown out of the stem, where the 8th on has shot up from the side.

i never planted them "almost a meter deep", it was 40cm, tops. not sure why some thought that.

and soidog...you've pointed out a problem with me that i may need to seek professional help about.....overfertilizing. i've killed more plants with kindness than by any other method. my way of thinking is that if 1 spoonful of fertilizer is good, than 3 heaping spoons must be better. in my defense though, the cow manure was very old, and smelled nothing like it did when it first emerges from the cow. in fact, it just smelled of that rich earthy smell that i think we all know and appreciate.

anyways, here's some of the remainder. (if my dad were still alive, i'm sure he'd give me hell about the crooked row)

sorry for late reply...i was working offshore. i figure it's been about 50 days since i put them in the dirt. water them twice daily.

thanks to all who posted, much appreciated.

Edited March 23, 2014 by turnpike

[turnpike]

btw, it was likely near 30 days before the first leaf appeared on any of the eight.

i guess due to the depth i planted them....although, like i said, 87.5% of them leafed thru the stem.

[rice555]

Hello All, the two red's I got on the 3/7/14 have grown a bit since I carried them on the back

of a Baht Bus home, latter to be planted at the farm.

The red's 3/22/14.

Red's at the farm, but nobody takes care of them.

rice555

[Showbags]

Bananas are pretty hardy things...hard to kill...even I can grow them.

Although....just this morning we hand a few hand out at the back door ripening and my daughter saw some monkies come and grab them and run off into the jungle...bastards.