I got this banana plant for christmas and i live in nc;I,m not sure what kind of banana plant it is;so i can look up care information on it.The pic i have on here is what it looks like when it has mature;you can see the banana's on it. Any help will be helpful.
A picture of the actual plant would help immensely. There are only one or two types of bananas that actually look like that illustration, and they're confined to the Polynesian islands - they're not in common trade, thus I doubt highly that you've got one... I'd venture that you've got Musa 'Dwarf Cavendish' - that's the most common of the banana plants available in North Carolina, and the one most often sold with highly misrepresentative tags of that type. Fruiting bananas produce a bunch that is pendant, not erect - see the photo below.
here's what i know about bananas in general: most bananas love lots of bright light, warmth, well-drained soil, and FOOD (bananas are heavy feeders). most banana plants need to be watered when the soil is dry to a 1/2 inch depth and they like humidity above 50 %. i'm not certain if bananas need direct or indirect light, but my indoor banana plant gets very bright indirect light and is doing well. on the other hand, the banana trees in my yard in brasil were in full sun and they grew like weeds. hope this helps!
Light availability depends on where you're growing and your microclimate. In Ecuador, I can give my plants full sun if I water them daily. In North Carolina, at least 30% shade is advisable. How big is the pot you've got your plant in, Bionicgrl? How big is the plant?
The pic i put on here a few days ago came from the web site gardenchoice.com where my friend brought the banana plant from;she gave me a little book that came with plant that said;it can't live outdoors in the winter and its tooks 3 to 7 years for it to make real eatable hole banana's and buy that time it would have to be in a five galloon pot.I have it in a 8in pot i think.This pic in this reply is what it looks like now. The book siad that the leaves at bootom will died off as the plant grows.And before it made banana's it will have purple flower to come out on it. Banana plant is supposed to look like the one on the web site of garden choice. There's no banana's on it now its a very young plant.
Bionicgirl, I grow six or seven different cultivars, but I'm tropical and all of my bananas are grown in-ground. For full info for North Carolina, and for container-grown plants, I'd reccomend that you join the International Banana Society - it's free, and there are members in your own state who will be able to give you specific care information for your zone, including tips for overwintering, soil composition, and fertilization schedules.
