I have a musa acuminata that is doing really well indoors but i would like to place it outside for the summer. The days in calgary can get pretty hot ( around 25-30), and also sort of windy. The only thing that i can think of that would hurt this thing is the dry air. The humidity is around 80% in the morning but suaualy around 40% during the day. Anything above 40% it starts to feel really humid. My phoenix canariensis is doing really well outside, though it is getting some browning on some of the leaves ( im assuming scortching from being acclimitised). Please enlighten me. Peace
Temps in the 25c to 30c (77f to 86f) won't bother your Musa in the least, low humidity will, so a daily misting will go a long way. It's entirely possible, as you've suggested, that your Phoenix canaiensis will need a period of adjustment. Cheers, LPN.
Kind of late to jump on this thread, but canadianplant, I am wondering where you got your musa acuminata from? I am looking for a banana tree but I am having a hard time finding somebody who sells them in Calgary. The guy at Sunnyside basically told me it is hopeless to buy one but maybe they would get some eventually. Not the most helpful advice. Everybody else has just looked at me like I am stupid when I ask for one.
Don't know about where you are but we are not allowed to sell banana trees to prevent spread of disease from home gardens onto the commercial farms. There was a dwarf variety available which involved more paperwork than it's worth and I don't know if it is still available. I got my first sucker from a friend nearly 20 years ago and have continued to take a piece with me everytime I moved. That seems to be the only way to get a hold of any musa plants around here.
zero..... I went to safeway, down in marda loop in summer 06. Ive seen them in superstore huntington hills as well a month or 2 back. They need lots of light and humidity indoors. And in this city i should have to water it almost every 3 days, but it goes about 5. If you have an aquarium, use the tank water to water ur plants inside. They absolutly love it. The banana seemed to respond the best to aquarium water. In about 5 minutes i noticed the leaves stood a bit taller, and the new leaf growth doubled within a week of dosing it.
chung... Were in canada.... only bc and mabey a very select few microclimates in southern ontario would be able to grow bananas outside. So do pests/diseases from them.
Hmm, no aquarium. I have a small house and cats ;) The only aquarium I have is being used as a terrarium, I am trying to grow some miracle fruit plants in it (just got the seeds yesterday so they are still a long time off). I picked up a Meyer lemon tree and a Bearss lime tree today, so the last thing to make my collection complete would be a dwarf cavendish tree (and goji berries but those are supposed to be real easy to find). I think I am okay waiting until next summer if necessary for the banana tree. I'll hit up the safeways in marda loop and try superstore as well. Thanks for the tips.
The terrarium is a 33 gallon tank. Right now there are just 12 cups with miracle fruit seeds in them, but hopefully they will start to grow soon and make better use of the space. I have a couple of grow lights for it (just 1 is on, the seeds don't need _that_ much light) and the tank sits in my front room where there is some sunlight, but away from the window since it is an old house, so it is drafty by the window. The lemon and lime trees are not going to fit in the tank (not even close) so I am working on properly introducing my cats to them so that they can be safe being out and about in the house. They will also get some additional lighting to help them grow and will stay in the warmest room of the house. Right now the plants are in my bath tub because they are absolutely infested with aphids, but things are starting to come together :) I checked a couple more Safeways and a Superstore and again, more confused looks and answers like "We have never carried those..." so apparently the job market has removed anybody who even remotely knows what they are doing from these stores and these positions. I appreciate the suggestions but it is looking like I will need to wait until next spring to track down any more plants. Any particular reason you ask about the terrarium?
Zero: I'd suggest that you check out www.bananas.org and ask some of the Canadian members about trading / swapping / buying one of their banana pups. People are growing bananas successfully as far north as Edmonton.
Wow, you seem to know just about everything :) I'll post up there shortly and see if anybody feels kind enough to help me out by selling a small one. Thanks again.
I only seen them in the summer months or atleast the fall. My musa is just starting to grow a pup... so in a few months who knows??? mabey itll pop out a few more. It is a challenge to grow them up here, especially in calgary. Its really dry here for them. I mist mine 4x a day, and give him my aquarium water twice a month, and also a dose of 20 20 20 fertilizer. It still gets brown tips, but the colour is awsome on it.
I will start fertilizing all of my plants soon, just waiting for the bloody aphids to go away. I wash out the bottom of the tub twice a day and there are 30-50 dead aphids in there every time. I can assume the number of dead ones means my treatment to get rid of them is working though, so I see it as a sign of progress. Sounds like the banana trees really do need a lot of water. That is not a problem. I'm only out of the house a few hours at a time right now so it is easy for me to keep a tab on their water level. Just need to solve step 1, get a plant :) If your plant really takes off and you feel like sharing I'd be more than happy to umm "take care" of one for you. In the mean time I've started posting over at bananas.org so I should probably stop posting in this thread. Thanks again.
