Banana, "banana palm"

Musa

Bananas are herbaceous plants with a false hollow inside the trunk and large leaves. In the wind, the edges of the plates often tear, and the leaves become unsightly. Banana is a plant that will give your collection a luxurious view of the tropical garden. But to grow a banana in a room is not so simple that it is due to its rapid growth, high requirements for lighting, humidity and substrate.

Banana bascio M. basjoo

Homeland - South Japan.

Inedible species, distributed as an ornamental plant in the Black Sea regions of our country. In the vicinity of Sochi it is wild and weeds. It reaches 4 m of height. The fake trunk has anthocyanin color. Leaves up to 2 m long, green.

Banana paradise M. paradisiaca

Homeland - is unknown, a cultural hybrid.

This is a kind of heavenly edible( dessert) banana. False trunk up to 8 m in height. The leaves are up to 2.5 m long and 60 cm wide. There are brown spots on the leaves.

Banana pygmy M. velutina

Homeland - is unknown, a cultural hybrid. Dwarf hybrid species, deduced specifically for indoor culture. It reaches 1.2 m in height. In good conditions it is able to bloom and bear fruit, but the fruits are inedible. A red banana - M. coccinea - up to 1 m high and reddish fruits is close to this species.

Courtship. They require a well-lit place, with some direct sunlight. The temperature in winter is about 16 ° C( for M. basjoo it can be even 6-8 ° C).Summer temperature is 22-24 ° С.In the summer, water is very abundant, but you need to make sure that moisture does not get on the kidney, into the rosette of leaves. Often sprayed. In winter, water carefully from the pan, as the base of the stem quickly rot. It is better to water when the leaves begin to lose the turgor. The plant does not tolerate cold drafts in winter and too dry air in summer. You can take out in the garden on a place protected from the scorching sun and wind( the leaves are easily torn by the action of the wind!).Feeding weekly in the summer with any full mineral fertilizer. Well responds to fertilizing mullein. The composition of the nutrient mixture: turf, leaf, peat soil, sand( 1: 1: 1/2: 1).

Reproduction. Seeds and vegetatively. The seeds are very hard. Before sowing, they need to stand a day in warm water( 37-40 ° C) in a thermos. Seedlings appear unevenly during the month. Vegetatively propagated by offspring, which easily take root.