Saturday, November 22, 2008

Banana plants


Down in our bush area there is a nice clearing where we put some cabbage tree and flax plants (in bags) when we first bought our land. Some of these got planted around the area later on and others we planted around our stream edges and in boggy areas.
We also used the area to house half a dozen Abyssinian banana plants that we purchased at an A&P show. The bananas took root and have done extremely well. They are not an edible type, but used more for shelter in a subtropical orchard. The clearing is not where we intend to have our main subtropical orchard but since a) it is a good spot since the ornamental banana is doing so well and b) we have no shelter whatsoever as yet for our main subtropical orchard, we decided to plant the edible banana there too.


The edible banana has had a tough life, we bought a plant years ago in Auckland and planted it in our garden there, but it was in the wrong spot, too dry and probably not enough sun. So it never gave us any bananas. When we sold up and left our house in Auckland to move here, we brought a few suckers with us in black plastic garden bags. Only 1 has survived. Unfortunately I can't remember what variety it is, but I think it may be 'Lady Finger' (very small bananas). In any case we'll be very happy if we get any edible fruit. Hopefully it will now thrive!

2 comments:

Liz said...

They are indeed Lady Finger. I have heaps growing here at home. I'm going to transplant a few suckers soon. I used to have a Madagascar Banana at Helensville where I lived for nineteen years. Lovely but not fruiting. Let me know if you want any suckers from my lady fingers. I'll let you know how many we end up with.
Liz

Cabbage Tree Farm said...

Hi Liz
Yes please that would be great thanks