Hi, I have recently bought a red banana tree which I intend keeping indoors. The temperature in my apartment seldom drops below 70f - 22c. Is there anything that I should know about keeping it healthy. I have had it almost 2 weeks and it has produced two beautiful leaves anhs increased in height from 90cm to 1m30cm
Don't let it get too wet indoors - only water when the soil is dry to the depth of your first knuckle; this will prevent corm-rot. Other than that, during the summer it's a good idea to fertilize it with something balanced (I like seaweed emulsion or seaweed-fishmeal for bananas, or if you're into artificial ferts, 12-12-12) fairly regularly. Banana plants are quite heavy feeders. Did your nursery say anything about what kind of "red banana" this is? The term can refer to three widely different plants, one of which produces edible fruit (the cultivar most commonly known as 'Cuban Red' or 'Pisang Raja Udang'), one of which is purely ornamental (Musa zebrina), and one of which isn't really a banana but rather the related Ensete (E. ventricosum 'Maurelii'). I ask because the three have fairly different cultural requirements when grown as indoor plants. The Ensete, in particular, can get very big. If you post a picture, I can probably tell you what you have.
