Characteristics
These are the main group of cultivated bananas. They can be classed into diploid, triploid and tetraploid kinds with various amounts of the A or B parents. They grow 2-9 m high. They are large non woody herbs with broad long leaves. Most kinds have several suckers. Bananas grow a soft firm false stem from an underground corm. The fruiting stalk eventually emerges from the top of this false stem and normally curves over pointing towards the ground. Fruit occur in clumps or hands along this stem. The male flowers are in a red bud at the end of the flower stalk. The colour of the stem, bracts, bud and fruit varies considerably depending on the variety. The fruit can be 6-35 cm long depending on variety. They can also be 2.5-6 cm across.
| Life form |
perennial
|
| Growth form |
|
| Growth support |
-
|
| Foliage retention |
evergreen
|
| Sexuality |
hermaphrodite
|
| Pollination |
-
|
| Spread |
-
|
| Mature width (meter) |
2.5 - 4.0
|
| Mature height (meter) |
8.0
|
| Root system |
-
|
| Rooting depth (meter) |
-
|
| Root diameter (meter) |
-
|
| Flower color |
|
| Blooming months |
-
|
| Fruit color |
-
|
| Fruiting months |
-
|
| Nitrogen fixer |
-
|
| Photosynthetic pathway |
-
|
Environment
A tropical and subtropical plant. They grow from sea level up to about 2000 m altitude in the tropics. They are rarely an important food above about 1600 m. In Nepal they grow to about 1800 m altitude. They do best in warm and humid tropical climates. Temperatures need to be above 15°C. The best temperature is 27°C. The maximum temperature is 38°C. Bananas grow best in full sun. For best growth, a rainfall of 200-220 mm per month is needed. A deep friable soil is best. They can tolerate a pH between 4.5-7.5. It suits hardiness zones 10-12. In Yunnan.
| Light |
|
| Soil humidity |
|
| Soil texture |
|
| Soil acidity |
|
| Soil nutriment |
-
|
| Hardiness (USDA) |
|
Usage
Fruit are eaten raw or cooked depending on variety. Male buds and flowers are eaten on some varieties. They are cooked as a vegetable. The central pith of the false stem and the underground rhizome are also sometimes eaten. The corm is boiled, dried and eaten with the false stem. (It has little food value)
Cultivation
They are planted from sword suckers. Diploids need re-planting annually but many triploids can be re-suckered from the base on the same site. Spacing depends on variety. A spacing of 1000-3000 plants per hectare is used depending on variety. Suckers are usually put 30 cm deep.
| Mode |
seedlings
suckers
|
| Germination duration (days) |
7 - 180
|
| Germination temperacture (C°) |
21 - 26
|
| Germination luminosity |
-
|
| Germination treatment |
-
|
| Minimum temperature (C°) |
-
|
| Optimum temperature (C°) |
22 - 32
|
| Size |
-
|
| Vigor |
-
|
| Productivity |
-
|
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