How To Grow Bananas For Fruit In Cool Climates

This video is all about how to grow bananas for fruit in cool climates. I live in Zone 8A North Carolina where winters can be cold and frosts and freezes are plentiful, but I am successfully growing banana trees for edible fruit in these harsh conditions. The variety featured in this video is a Dwarf Orinoco banana.

A banana tree is actually not a tree - it is an herbaceous pseudostem that grows from an underground rhizome. Banana plants are tropical and require a long, frost-free period to grow from the underground rhizome and bear ripe fruit - usually 18 to 24 months depending on the variety (with some exceptions).

Most varieties of bananas can be grown as ornamentals with little effort in cold climates because most banana rhizomes are cold hardy to Zones 6 and 7 when mulched heavily in the winter for protection. However, the herbaceous pseudostem will die back to the ground annually after a freeze, making ripening fruits impossible in climates where hard frosts and freezes occur.

However, by protecting the pseudostem before your first frost, you can overwinter the plant and make growing bananas in cold climates simple. Using this technique, you can fruit most banana varieties in Zones 8 and 9, and if you protect the plant sufficiently, growing bananas in Zone 7 for edible fruit may even be possible in warmer Zone 7's. You don't even have to grow cold hardy bananas with poor fruit quality - you can grow the good varieties!

This video will show you how to grow banana plants, how to harvest bananas and store a ripe bunch, and teach you about fertilizing banana trees. Bananas are some of the heaviest feeders out there, so fertilizing bananas properly is a must!

If you have any questions about tips for growing bananas, banana tree care, the things I am growing in my garden, are looking for any garden tips and tricks, or have questions about gardening and organic gardening in general, please ask in the Comments below!

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ABOUT MY GARDEN
Location: Southeastern NC, Brunswick County (Wilmington area)
34.1°N Latitude
Zone 8A

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