How to grow a banana at home at home. Seed preparation

An indoor banana is a natural vacuum cleaner; it pulls everything out of the air. harmful substances and dust. At good care dwarf banana bears fruit in 2-3 years. The flower is large and long, somewhat similar to an elephant's trunk. It can bear several dozen fruits that ripen in up to 9 months.

The plant will feel best on the south window. An adult banana, of course, will no longer fit on the windowsill. Important! Indoor banana does not have a powerful root system. Don't plant it in huge tubs. The maximum pot volume is 20 liters. The dwarf banana is very light and heat-loving plant, he constantly reaches out to the sun and leans towards the window.

You need to rotate the pot periodically, especially in the cold season, when daylight hours are short. Therefore, the tub should be on wheels or on mobile platform to make it easier to twist an adult plant. And turn indoor banana will have to 3-4 times during the winter.

Varieties of indoor banana

• Technical varieties, from which ropes are made.
• Feed– the fruits are large and long.
• Edible– a fruit measuring 10-12 cm with a pineapple flavor.

By the way, our stores sell mainly fodder varieties, while edible varieties are passed off as an elite variety, the so-called baby banana. And it costs many times more. For growing in an apartment or winter garden only suitable dwarf edible varieties bananas:

• Kyiv dwarf
• Super dwarf.

Dwarf bananas are preferable because the maximum height of an adult plant is only 1.5 m, and the length of the leaves is about a meter. In flower shops you can often find Dutch plants of an unknown variety. Most often these are technical varieties that will not bear fruit. Inedible bananas also grow from seeds. Therefore, purchase seedlings of indoor bananas only in garden centers or greenhouses that specialize in dwarf edible varieties.

Banana planting

Suitable soil mixture for flowering plants or soil from deciduous forest mixed with humus and sand in a ratio of 3:1:1. You still need to add ash. Before planting indoor bananas, the soil is disinfected with boiling water. With each transplant, the root collar of the plant is deepened by 3-4 cm. Therefore, choose a deep container for the dwarf banana.

Every 3 months, an indoor banana is transplanted into a pot with a volume of one liter larger. There must be a layer of coarse drainage at the bottom.

Important: you can replant sproutsonly in summer, in extreme cases - in September. If you do this in the cold season, the indoor banana will get sick and will not take root. It is necessary to spray the leaves daily in the summer, and 2 times a week in the winter.

The main rule of watering

The dwarf banana is completely unpretentious and can withstand a whole month without watering. But this does not mean that you don’t need to look after it at all. Watering a banana in the apartment plenty of warm water so that the entire soil is saturated with moisture.

Important: It’s better not to water a banana at all than to water it a little. Avoid the other extreme - too frequent watering.The roots of the dwarf banana do not like stagnant water.

What to feed

This exotic plant loves organics in any form: humus, vermicompost, humisol, etc. Reacts well to iron chelate. In the summer, the banana in the apartment is fed every week, and in the winter you can feed it twice a month. The dwarf banana is very loves spraying.

Pests and diseases

Pests almost never attack dwarf bananas. If all the other plants on the windowsill are getting sick en masse, for prevention you can treat the indoor banana with a pest repellent for indoor flowers.

• The lower leaves of indoor banana gradually turn yellow and dry out. This is not a disease, but a natural process. They just need to be trimmed carefully.
• Sometimes on the edges of the leaves of a dwarf banana appear brown spots . The reason may be rotting of the root system or a lack of nutrients. In the first case, you need to reduce the frequency of watering. In the second - feed the plant.

On wide spreading dust settles on the leaves of a dwarf banana, so it is useful to wipe the leaves with a damp cloth once a month and sometimes spray them.

Reproduction

It reproduces easily children-children. Three years before flowering, a dozen or even two of them grow. When the children grow to 20 cm in height, they can be carefully separated from the mother plant with a knife and placed in water with a root growth stimulator, such as Kornevin, for a couple of hours. Mix the soil for the shoot with humus or vermicompost in a 1:1 ratio.

How to make it bloom

• Banana flowering in an apartment is facilitated by fertilizing with potassium and phosphorus, and by observing all agrotechnical practices.
• We do not recommend separating the baby if she is alone.. This significantly delays flowering, sometimes by a year or two.
• To save the view A young banana should grow next to the adult plant, which will replace the “parent”, because after fruiting the above-ground part of the banana completely dies off.

The “young generation” of the dwarf banana will grow up to a meter tall in six months and the cycle will repeat again.

Want to all year round Do you have fresh bananas, but the prices at the market are very high? Then plant an exotic plant at home! But before that, let's find out how to get a banana from seeds, how to properly care for it and which plant variety is better.

Banana from seeds: how to choose

There are 2 types of bananas - decorative and fruit. Decorative varieties include lavender, bright red and velvety varieties. They are grown for landscaping and interior decoration.

Fruit bananas are edible and the most delicious. Among them are Cavendish dwarf, Kiev dwarf and Kiev superdwarf. They grow well on plantations and at home.

Choose bananas based on their type, height, propagation method, care and fruiting.

The listed varieties of fruit bananas grow up to 2 m, when their other counterparts reach a height of 12 m. Due to their low growth, they are grown in residential premises.

Edible bananas are hybrids that reproduce vegetative way, because they have no seeds. Therefore, it is impossible to grow them yourself - you can buy a germinated young shoot or an adult plant.

For decoration, any varieties of low-growing bananas that are sold in the store are suitable. Some of them are eaten, but they are characterized by low taste qualities compared to store ones.

The fruiting and growth of bananas from seeds directly depends on climatic conditions and care.

How to grow banana from seeds

The seeds of the decorative banana are covered with a strong shell - before planting, scratch it slightly so that the future shoot can receive water and nutrients. Just be careful not to damage the seed.

To grow a banana you will need a substrate, drainage and a 5-7 liter pot. How to plant a banana:

1. Remove upper layer soil 5–10 cm thick from under linden, birch or acacia.
2. Mix the soil with wood ash, river sand and vermicompost. Pour boiling water over the resulting mixture to disinfect.
3. For drainage, use small pebbles or expanded clay. The height of the first drainage layer is 1.5–2 cm.
4. Behind the drainage there is a layer of substrate - wet sand 4 cm high.
5. Fill the substrate with soil to the edges of the pot.
6. Press the seed into the soil without covering it on top.
7. Cover the pot transparent film and put it in a well-lit place where there are no direct sun rays.

Banana loves water, light and fertilizer. Water it deeply when the top layer of soil is completely dry and spray the leaves of the plant warm water. Optimal temperature indoors – 25–30°C.

Banana is a light-loving plant, but it gets sick and dies when exposed to direct sunlight. Therefore, keep an eye on the plant: in the summer, take it out to the balcony or street under the shade of trees, and in the winter, keep it on the windowsill.

Features of care after purchase

After purchasing a germinated houseplant, keep it at rest several days in exactly the place where the banana will grow. The plant then follows transplant into a pot of appropriate size.

IMPORTANT! When buying a plant, find out whether the variety you choose produces edible fruits. Unfortunately, not all home and garden bananas are edible.

Trimming

Home and garden banana does not need in trimming. It is pruned only in case of rejuvenation of the plant or to cut off the damaged above-ground part.

Bloom

A well-developed banana that has produced up to 18 large leaves, blooms. Rosettes appear in which red-violet flower buds bloom. They last from 3 months to 1 year, eventually starting to sink to the ground.

How a banana blooms - photo:

Lighting

A tropical plant needs good diffused lighting - then it will develop safely and bear fruit. Therefore, it is better to place a homemade banana on the south, eastern or southeast windowsill. Or next to the corresponding windows, if the plant has already reached a large size.

If there is no such possibility, and the only affordable option - north window, it is necessary to resort to additional lighting.

However, even such a light-loving plant as a banana needs protect from direct sunlight so that they do not burn its leaves.

Therefore, home and garden (as well as balcony) bananas are needed shade from direct rays of the sun using gauze.

Temperature

The indoor heat-loving southerner grows poorly if the temperature becomes below 16 degrees Celsius.

Therefore, in summer it must be surrounded by warmth. at 24-26 degrees. It is also important to protect the banana from drafts.

Air humidity

Another one necessary for successful cultivation factor - high humidity. In summer, indoor banana should be sprayed at least once a day.

It would also be important to place a container with wet expanded clay next to it. In winter, the issue of humidity becomes less important: spraying can be done only once every 7 days.

For a garden banana, you can shower it with a hose once a week.

Watering

Banana needs much water, but the main rule of watering remains unchanged: moisture should not stagnate in the soil. Therefore, you need to water the plant when the 2-centimeter top soil layer has dried out (this can be easily checked by touch).

In winter, even less frequent watering is required. Tap water It’s quite suitable for watering, but it should sit for at least a day and the temperature should be close to room temperature (or even slightly exceed it by a couple of degrees).

IMPORTANT! For better flow of water and air to the roots, the soil must be carefully loosened periodically. In the case of an indoor representative, you can use a stick with a blunt end for these purposes.

The soil

Banana prefers neutral or slightly acidic soil. For a home specimen, it is prepared from the following components:

• 1 bucket of soil from under a linden tree, walnut or acacia;
• 0.5 liters of ash;
• 1 liter of humus;
• 2 liters of coarse sand.

The resulting mixture must be poured with boiling water to get rid of possible pests.

Concerning garden banana, then, if the soil on the site is unsuitable, you should add a couple of buckets of rotted manure, a handful of complex fertilizer and half a bucket of sand to the planting hole.

Fertilizers

The banana boasts good growth and a corresponding good appetite. It requires feeding once a week in summer and once a month in winter.

How to feed him at home? For this purpose alternate:

1. Humus(cow only): dilute 200 g of manure with 1 liter of boiling water and leave for 24 hours.
2. Ash: 1 tablespoon diluted with 1 liter of water.
3. Green manure fertilizers: Pour 1 tablespoon of chopped herbs into 1 liter of boiling water and leave for 24 hours.

IMPORTANT! Chemical fertilizers are contraindicated for bananas - they can damage it root system.

Fertilizers for bananas are applied immediately after watering.

Plant growth

banana growing extremely fast. Every two weeks the plant produces new leaf. In less than a year, it can overcome the height two meters(if provided for by this type and variety). Therefore, in the first stages of plant care you may need more frequent transplantation.

Winter care

Before the onset of cold weather, you need to insulate the banana for the winter: the roots of the garden banana should be sprinkled dry sawdust, and cover the ground part with a cardboard box, wrap it with film on the outside and secure the shelter well so that it not blown away by the wind.

The main thing that the roots are not frozen: everything else related to the above-ground part of the plant is fixable and restoreable.

If the winter is warm, it can continue to grow - in this case, young tender shoots should also be protected from the cold.

Homemade banana in winter time does not need in no way special conditions. The only difference from summer care- significantly reduced watering. Protect the plant from the cold.

Transfer

For low specimens homemade banana (from 10 to 20 cm) a pot with a capacity of 1 or 2 liters is suitable, respectively. Large plants 60-70 cm high are planted in a container with a volume of 10-15 liters.

These recommendations are better don't neglect because the pot is too big for small plant- this is an excess of excess soil and stagnant water in them, which will lead to acidification of the earth and, as a result, to rotting of the roots.

At the bottom of any pot, a 7-centimeter drainage layer of expanded clay or red brick fragments is laid out, which must be sprinkled with sand. Place the pot on a stand so that through the drainage holes the root system receives more air.

IMPORTANT! The banana is transferred into a new container without destroying the old soil lump. Plant it a couple of centimeters deeper than in the old pot.

If made for banana optimal conditions, it will grow very, quickly and will have to be replanted every year. As a rule, replanting is carried out in the spring, if there are no urgent reasons to do it earlier.

Planting and growing from seeds

At home, only wild bananas with inedible fruits can be sprouted from seeds. It bears little resemblance to the fruit we are used to and is generously filled with seeds, from which they grow a houseplant that serves only a decorative function.

Seeds - photo:

For better germination, the hard shell of the seeds can be slightly damage using a nail file. Banana seeds are kept in warm water a couple of days to germinate, and only after that they are sown in the soil. Its composition may include 4 parts river sand , mixed with 1 part peat. A good drainage layer.

Seeds are sown on the surface of the ground, slightly pressing them, but not sprinkling them on top. Then the container must be covered with glass or transparent film. You need to keep the container with seeds in a well-lit place, but they should be protected from direct sun.

Periodically "greenhouse" should be ventilated, and as the soil dries, moisten the soil with a spray bottle. Do not overdo it: moisture should not stagnate. If traces of decay appear, the damaged area of ​​soil is removed, and the remaining surface is treated with a manganese solution. Shoots should be expected after 3 or 4 months.

If you are wondering where the seeds of a banana are, then take a look at next photo:


You can learn how to grow indoor banana from seeds by watching this interesting video:

Maturation

The banana bunch begins to ripen at the top. Don’t be surprised that the taste of your bananas will be different from store-bought ones: your fruits ripen on the plant, but for stores, bananas are picked still unripe and they “arrive” after transportation - in gas chambers.

How are bananas processed to ripen? A mixture of nitrogen and ethylene.

At home a peculiar one is also possible "carbonation" bananas that for some reason did not have time to ripen on a garden or indoor plant. Such bananas are placed in plastic bag together with ripe apples . It is these fruits that will start the process of fruit ripening. The success of this procedure not guaranteed, but quite is real.

Diseases

Bananas rarely get sick and are susceptible to insect attacks.

Due to dry air, leaves may appear spider mite, for the same reason, the leaf plates may dry out at the edges. But all this can be easily fixed.

Dry areas are carefully cut off, and the yellowing leaf is cut off completely.

Reproduction

They reproduce by root shoots (also called “babies”). They are separated in the spring, when they grow 10-15 centimeters in height and have fairly strong roots.

Cut off offspring with a piece of rhizome, the cut is sprinkled with ash, and "baby" immediately planted in the ground. Its composition is the same as for adult plants. Pot with a young plant put in a bright and warm place and care for it like an adult specimen.

Benefit

The fruits are rich:

• potassium;
• fiber;
• serotonin and tryptophan;
• vitamins and other useful substances.

Also because they provide the body with a charge of energy, contribute to effective mental and physical work. They are especially relevant for diabetes, atherosclerosis, kidney disease, liver disease, and hypertension.

Conclusion

Create a corner of tropical exoticism in your home or garden not difficult: Just buy a banana plant. The cultivated species will also delight you not only with its impressive appearance, but also with edible and tasty fruits.

Watch a video of how bananas are grown in a greenhouse:

Eco-friendly home: There are specially bred dwarf varieties bananas intended for growing at home, less demanding on conditions and resistant to disease, for example Kiev dwarf, Super dwarf

Banana is a tropical plant, which means it prefers a correspondingly humid and warm climate. At home, it is quite possible to recreate the microclimate suitable for a banana plant. Remember, banana - herbaceous plant and therefore more demanding to care for.

There are actually two ways to grow indoor banana. You can plant a banana at home as a seed, or you can purchase a ready-grown specimen. You need to keep in mind that these will be different plants.

By purchasing banana seeds, you will be planting a wild, uncultivated subspecies that is stronger and more viable, but such bananas have inedible fruits filled with seeds. Garden stores often sell selected varieties of bananas that reproduce vegetatively and after flowering can delight you with real homemade edible bananas.

There are specially bred dwarf banana variety , intended for growing at home, less demanding on conditions and resistant to disease, for example Kiev dwarf, Super dwarf. These varieties reach a small height of up to 1.5 and are quite suitable for growing in apartment conditions.

Growing banana from seeds.

Having purchased the seeds of a banana plant and carefully examined it, you will notice that it has a fairly strong shell that needs scarification. First you need to slightly damage the durable shell using, for example, a nail file or a needle. There is no need to pierce the seed; a few scratches will be enough so that the future sprout can break the shell.

To plant the seeds, choose small pots, about 10 cm in diameter for each banana seed, or you can use long flower boxes for several seeds, keeping a distance of about 15 cm between them. For the germination substrate, a mixture of river sand and peat 4:1 is suitable; you do not need to use any fertilizers, make good drainage. Distribute the seeds on the surface of the moistened substrate and press them down a lot, without pouring them on top, leaving access for light.

Cover the pots with seeds with film and place them in a bright place, but without direct sunlight. Every few days, ventilate the pots, and if they dry out, spray the substrate with a spray bottle. Do not allow the soil to become waterlogged or rot. When mold appears, the affected area of ​​the substrate must be removed and the entire surface treated with a solution of potassium permanganate.

When growing a banana at home from a seed, you will have to wait quite a long time for the emergence of seedlings, 2-3 months. However, after the sprouts appear, rapid growth of the plant will begin; after about a week, the young bananas must be transplanted into the ground.

If you set out to grow your own edible bananas or simply want to avoid possible failures when planting seeds, it is possible to purchase an already grown banana of indoor fruit subspecies. Subject to certain growing conditions and with proper care, it is possible to achieve flowering and fruiting of bananas in an ordinary apartment.

Growing conditions and care for bananas indoors.

After purchasing a banana tree, keep it alone at home for several days, in the place where it will grow in the future. Then the purchased plant needs to be replanted. In a 5-7 liter pot, make drainage using expanded clay, cover the expanded clay with a small layer of sand. Suitable for banana soil simple earth from deciduous forest, with the addition of humus 1:10, or you can buy a flower mixture at a garden store.

Banana requires frequent spraying of leaves with water and abundant watering. At the same time, do not allow the soil to rot; make sure that water flows freely through the drainage holes. To improve growth, especially during the flowering period, bananas can be fed with organic fertilizers about once a week. Suitable temperature for banana is 25-30 degrees C. Necessary good lighting without direct sunlight. In summer, bananas can be placed on the balcony in a bright but shaded place. Like any home plant banana does not tolerate drafts.

IN comfortable conditions and with careful care, the banana grows very quickly. When 15-18 leaves are formed at home, a banana plant usually begins to bloom and bear fruit.

Each of us knows what a banana is. These tasty, edible fruits are available in most grocery stores and make up significant part our diet. Children and adults love bananas and buy them willingly, and passionate gardeners grow bananas on their own windowsill. Yes, yes, you heard right, you can grow your own homemade banana, and the process will not cause much trouble. Want details? Read the article and you will learn all the secrets of growing indoor banana.

Perhaps it’s worth starting with the botanical classification of banana, because this is what determines how to care for the plant. So, banana (lat. Musa) is the name perennial plants of the same genus of the Banana family (lat. Musaceae).

Despite its size (in conditions natural growing bananas reach a height of 10 meters), a banana is not a palm tree or a tree at all, but a grass, while the banana fruit, oddly enough, is a berry. The banana has a fairly powerful root system, a short stem hidden underground, and oval-elongated large leaves, the number of which varies from 6 to 18 on one plant.

[!] What appears to be the trunk of a banana is actually its leaves, the lower parts of which are tightly wrapped around each other.

[!] In nature, there are also real trees called banana trees - plants from the genus Azimina. The taste of their fruits is very similar to banana and papaya.

The exact origin of the Latin name is unknown - according to one theory, the plant is named after the court physician of the Roman Emperor Antony Musa, according to another, the word has Arabic roots. The common name for the fruit is borrowed from West African languages.

The homeland of bananas is the islands of Southeast Asia and the Hindustan Peninsula. Over time, the plant, the fruits of which were very popular with the seafaring travelers who visited those places, spread throughout the world. Bananas are now grown in many countries with tropical climates and are one of the main export products. For example, the main exporters of bananas to Russia are Ecuador, Costa Rica, the Philippines, and Mexico.

For you and me, a banana is just a tasty fruit, but southern countries The plant is used for a variety of purposes. In addition to eating, bananas are used in folk medicine, as a basis for fishing gear and rafts, for making ropes and so on. We can say that people have learned to process every part of this wonderful plant, obtaining many necessary products. And of course, one cannot help but note the culinary value of the fruit - bananas are eaten raw, fried, boiled, dried, baked. They are the basis of the diet of a number of countries and, in importance as an agricultural crop, can be compared with potatoes in the northern regions.

But let's return to the main question of the publication - how to grow a banana at home? Perhaps we should start by choosing the right variety.

Types of banana suitable for home cultivation

The homemade banana can still be classified as an indoor plant. And yet, the popularity of exotic fruits is growing year after year. This happens, among other things, thanks to the work of breeders who breed low-growing species and varieties adapted to indoor conditions. Today, all types of homemade bananas can be divided into two groups:

• decorative foliage,
• beautifully flowering,
• fruit.

Indeed, some gardeners grow bananas only because beautiful leaves or flowers. The fruits of such plants, if produced, do not have the delicate, sweet taste we are accustomed to and contain too much a large number of hard seeds. TO decorative types relate:

Bloody banana(lat. Musa sumatrana Zebrina) - wide leaves are covered with a beautiful green-burgundy pattern. The fruits are small, red, inedible;

Chinese dwarf banana(lat. Musella lasiocarpa). Other names are Musella roughfruit, golden lotus. It has bright green large leaves and a beautiful bright yellow inflorescence. The maximum height of the plant is about one meter;

Banana bright red(lat. Musa coccinea Andrews) - like the previous species, it is beautifully flowering. Attention is drawn to the rich scarlet bract, favorably shaded by green foliage;

B. bloody, B. Chinese dwarf, B. bright red

Velvet banana(lat. Musa velutina) is also known as purple, dwarf pink or velvet pink banana. It is distinguished by oval light green leaves, often decorated with red edging and large bright pink flowers. The skin of the fruit also has an unusual crimson hue. The variety is grown as a flowering variety, but, if desired, the fruits can be eaten;

Banana lavender or pink(lat. Musa ornata Roxb) just like Musa velutina is valued for beautiful flowers and the fruits are pale pink.

B. velvet, B. pink

Fruit species and varieties of domestic exotics are not so diverse. Almost all of them are just like their brothers. growing outdoors, bred on the basis of two species - pointed banana (lat. Musa acuminata) and balbis (lat. Musa balbisiana). Most often you can find the following representatives of edible indoor banana on sale:

Dwarf Cavendish banana(lat. Musa acuminata Dwarf Cavendish)

Super dwarf Cavendish banana(lat. Musa acuminata super Dwarf Cavendish)

Both varieties are distinguished by their short stature, which allows them to be grown indoors, and their abundant fruiting. The leaves of the plants are large, dense, bright green, oval shape. The peduncle is bright burgundy in the shape of a candle.

B. Cavendish dwarf, B. Cavendish super dwarf

Caring for homemade banana

The first thing flower growers who decide to get a homemade banana should pay attention to is the size of the plant. Even dwarf varieties have an impressive height (up to one and a half meters) and large spreading leaves. Therefore, it is best to grow banana in large rooms with high and wide windows.

Secondly, when caring for a banana, you need to remember that its homeland is the hot tropics. This means perfect room conditions for the plant - warmth, good lighting, high humidity. Let's look at each parameter in more detail.

Temperature and lighting

Unlike many others indoor plants this southern guest is very, very thermophilic, and the comfortable temperature range for him is 25-30°C. There is no dormant period for bananas and this heat air is needed almost all year round. Only in winter it can be a little cooler - about 20°C.

The countries of Latin America, Southeast Asia and Africa, where the banana grows naturally, have a large average annual number of sunny days. In our climate there is much less sun, so the banana must be placed on the most illuminated windowsills - southern, south-eastern or south-western. On a too hot sunny day, to prevent burns on the leaves, the location of the plant can be slightly shaded.

[!] Health and appearance indoor banana directly depends on the amount of sun. In the shade, homemade exotics will stop growing, blooming and, of course, setting fruit.

Watering and air humidity

Bananas cannot be classified as either very moisture-loving representatives of the flora, nor among those who prefer drought. Rather, the banana gives preference to abundant, but rather infrequent watering - on average once or twice a week. It is useful to imitate a warm tropical downpour using a shower in the bathroom. After this procedure, you need to leave the plant for about half an hour to allow excess water to drain.

One of the most important parameters for keeping bananas at home is high air humidity. The air in our apartments, especially during the heating season, is too dry. This negatively affects the well-being of most house plants. In order to southern flower did not suffer from dry air, it is recommended:

• place the bowl with the plant on a tray filled with wet pebbles,
• place a banana next to the aquarium,
• spray the leaves with water from a fine spray bottle at least once a day,
• use a household humidifier.

Additional moisture is vital for a banana, so you should never forget about air humidification.

[!] In the warm season, bananas can and should be taken out into the open air to replenish moisture.

Soil, replanting and fertilizing

As for the soil, here indoor exotic plants demonstrate unpretentiousness. Any universal soil from a specialized store that has sufficient looseness, which means water and breathability, and neutral acidity, will do.

One of the most common plant problems is root rotting. To prevent this disease, a high drainage layer, at least a third of the total volume of the pot, is required. Expanded clay, broken brick or clay shards.

You can prepare the substrate yourself by mixing leaf soil, sod land, peat and sand in a ratio of 2:1:1:1. Coconut fiber and vermiculite, added in small quantities to the soil, will help reduce the risk of developing root rot.

As a rule, homemade banana develops quite quickly, so an adult plant needs to be replanted annually. In some cases, when the banana grows very actively, the indoor exotic plant should be moved twice a year. The container for transplantation should be only a few centimeters larger than the previous one.

[!] Too large “to grow” dishes can cause acidification of the soil and, as a result, rotting of the roots. In a bowl that is too small, the banana will stop growing and blooming.

During the period of active growth and development (spring, summer), bananas must be actively fed. For additional food plants can use universal mineral and organic fertilizers, alternating with each other. In general, the frequency of fertilizing during the growing season is once a week. With the onset of autumn and throughout the winter, fertilizers should be eliminated.

Reproduction

Propagating bananas at home is not an easy task. There are only three ways to get a new young plant:

• using seeds
• with the help of shoots
• by dividing the mother plant,

each of which has its own subtleties and secrets. Let's take a closer look at them.

Propagation of indoor banana by seeds

First of all, it is worth saying that banana seeds are quite unusual - they look like small nuts covered with a hard shell. It is because of the shell that the seeds germinate rather poorly - not every sprout is able to break through the strong shell. In order to facilitate the germination process, nuts can be scarified.

[!] Scarification is a mechanical or chemical violation of the integrity of the hard shell of seeds.

This is done as follows:

1. The seeds are soaked in warm water for two days.
2. The swollen shell is carefully ground off, trying not to pierce it. sandpaper or a nail file.

Experienced gardeners who grow indoor bananas often express the opinion that the seeds tropical plant There is no need to scarify, just keep them in water a little longer, about a week, for better swelling. As an experiment, some of the seeds can be scarified, and some can be planted without scarification.

After the above-described manipulations, banana seeds are planted directly into the ground:

1. For germination, it is recommended to use a peat-sand mixture (1:1), coconut fiber, and sphagnum moss.
2. As a container, you can take a food-grade plastic container with a lid, which is quite suitable for the role of a mini-greenhouse, or buy a ready-made greenhouse from a specialized store.
3. For better germination, banana seeds are placed with a recess on their side and slightly buried in the substrate.
4. The greenhouse is moved to a bright and warm (25-30°C) place and wait for seedlings, which should appear in about 1-3 months.

During the entire germination period, the soil with the seeds should be slightly moistened, but without excessive stagnation of water, and the greenhouse should be ventilated approximately once a day.

Germinating banana seeds is a rather long process. Flower growers who want faster results can try planting young shoots of the plant.

Banana propagation by shoots and division

As a rule, indoor banana produces a fairly thick root shoots, with the help of which banana reproduces in natural conditions. At home growing these root shoots can also be used to produce a new plant.

For planting, a well-formed shoot with several leaves is selected, carefully removed from the ground and cut off from the mother plant along with the rhizome from which it grows.

[!] Rhizome is part of a branched rhizome that does not have a central stem.

To avoid rotting, the cut sites are sprinkled with crushed coal, after which the shoot is planted in a new container with the same soil as for an adult plant. Typically, young banana shoots take root well and do not require special care.

Banana propagation by division is carried out during plant transplantation. Mature plant cut into two or three parts, each of which should have a healthy, formed shoot and rhizome, after which the resulting specimens are placed in a separate container. In general, propagation by division is a procedure similar to planting shoots.

Fruiting homemade banana

Before expecting fruits from an indoor exotic plant, it is worth finding out the timing of its fruiting. On average, a banana grown from seeds will bear fruit only in the third or fourth year. The plant obtained from the shoot will bear fruit earlier - within one to two years.

In order to get delicious fruits, you need:

• place the banana in the sunniest place in the apartment, highlight it additionally in winter,
• support all year round high humidity air,
• Feed your homemade banana regularly.

Pests and growing problems

As for diseases, the root of all plant health problems is improper care behind him. Main banana diseases and their symptoms:

Banana doesn't grow. Most likely, the problem is that the pot is too small. If there is not enough soil, the home banana stops developing. In addition, the cause of this phenomenon may be a lack of sunlight.

Black-brown spots appear on banana leaves, and the leaf blade loses turgor. The reason is flooding and waterlogging of the soil. This danger sign, indicating the possible occurrence of root rot. It is necessary to remove the plant from the ground, carefully examine it, cut off the rotten areas, sprinkle the cut areas with crushed coal and plant them in new soil. In the future, the frequency and intensity of watering should be reduced.

Banana leaves dry out around the edges. Such symptoms indicate that the air humidity is too low. Indoor bananas especially often suffer from lack of moisture during the heating season.

If dries and subsequently dies off as the basis of a homemade banana sprout, but at the same time the young shoots are developing well, do not worry - this is not a disease, but a completely normal phenomenon. The growth, development and reproduction of bananas in natural conditions occurs in exactly the same way. As a rule, the largest sprout dies immediately after fruiting.

Dark spots on the leaves of young seedlings. This feature is found in some varieties of indoor exotics. The spots have a characteristic red-brown color and are located along the lateral veins sheet plate. Typically, as the plant matures, the spots disappear and the leaf turns a uniform, rich green color.

Do you know that according to ancient Indian legend, the insidious tempting serpent seduced Eve not with an apple, but with a banana? This means that banana can be considered a heavenly fruit that you and I can grow at home.

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