We are talking about the same banana, the fruits of which both children and adults love to feast on. It turns out that it can be grown at home. At the same time, he will delight his owners not only with the taste of the fruit, but also with the appearance.
Banana (Musa) is a very tall (up to 10 m) powerful perennial plant of the family of the same name. Despite its impressive size, bananas are classified as herbs, and their fruits are nothing more than a berry.
Bananas grow in the tropics and subtropics. His homeland is southeast Asia and Hindustan. The taste of the fruits of this plant was liked by travelers and sailors, who contributed to its spread.
Description of the plant
The underground part of the banana is represented by a powerful, spherical rhizome with well-branched adventitious roots and a central growth point. Shortened escape, underground. What we are used to seeing above the surface of the earth is not a shoot, it is leaves.
Leaves are long-petiolate, wrapping each other's bases. They form a kind of trunk. The leaf blades are impressive in size: 2, sometimes even 3 m in length and up to half a meter in width. Ellipsoidal, juicy, green, sometimes with a burgundy or dark green spot. After fruiting, the leaves of the plant gradually die off, they are replaced by new ones.
Flower: The first banana bloom will come in about a year. By this time, it develops from 15 to 18 leaves. The peduncle emerges from the flower bud and does a great job, "breaking through" the base of the leaves, growing through the long vaginal tube and stretching out almost to the height of the leaves. There it "ends" with a huge, up to one and a half meters, inflorescence, consisting of a large number of small single flowers, painted in pale yellow and greenish tones. Among them there are both bisexual and heterosexual flowers. The banana bloom is a magnificent sight, lasting two or even three months.
The fruits are tied after pollination of the largest, female, flowers and are located in their place, forming a kind of brush called bunch. A ripe single fruit has an elongated bean-like shape and reaches a length of 3 to 40 cm.
Banana care at home
Location and lighting
Banana loves bright rooms, is not afraid of direct rays of the sun, and also needs a long day of light. In winter, he needs a backlight.
Temperature
Banana is a thermophilic plant. Optimum for the full development of a banana is considered to be an air temperature in the range of 24-30 degrees. It is important that the temperature does not drop below 16 degrees.
Air humidity
Banana does not tolerate dry air, reacting to it with a loss of gloss and drying of the leaves. For additional moisture, the plant is sprayed daily, and the banana pot is placed in a tray filled with wet expanded clay. It is important that the bottom of the pot does not touch the water.For the purpose of moisturizing and hygiene, wipe the leaves of the plant with a damp soft cloth or arrange a warm shower for the flower.
Watering
Banana needs not only humid air, but also abundant watering, especially in spring and summer. In autumn, watering is reduced, and by winter it is completely reduced to a minimum. For irrigation, only settled water at room temperature or slightly higher is suitable.
The soil
The optimal composition of the soil for growing a banana: a mixture of turf, humus, leafy earth and sand in a ratio of 2: 2: 2: 1.
Top dressing and fertilizers
Like most plants, bananas are fed using liquid fertilizers designed for indoor plants. Top dressing is carried out twice a month, starting in April and ending at the end of September.
Transfer
Banana grows rapidly, so it needs to be repotted periodically. It is better to do this in the spring, choosing a more spacious pot. A drainage layer must be poured onto the bottom of the container.
When replanting a banana, it is always deepened more deeply than the previous time. This is done in order to stimulate the emergence of new roots.
Banana propagation
Bananas are usually propagated by offspring, by dividing rhizomes, and some species by seeds.
Reproduction using seeds is quite laborious. The hard shell, reminiscent of a nut shell, is a serious and sometimes insurmountable obstacle to a delicate sprout. Therefore, 2-3 days before sowing, the seeds are placed with warm water, and then scarified (filed). Sowing is carried out in a moist substrate made up of equal amounts of leafy earth, peat, sand and charcoal. The planting depth of the seeds should be equal to their size.
Greenhouse conditions are created for seedlings by covering the container with glass or transparent film and placing it in a warm place with a temperature of 24-26 degrees. The crops are ventilated and sprayed daily. Seedlings will have to wait at least a month, sometimes even two. A pick is carried out after the seedlings get stronger and give 2-3 leaves. Young plants are fast growing.
Vegetative propagation is carried out by root suckers. It is very convenient to propagate a banana in this way during transplantation, separating layers from an adult plant, making a cut on the rhizome. The cut points are sprinkled with coal. The root offspring is placed in a separate container filled with a mixture of equal amounts of leaf, peat soil and sand.
Diseases and pests
Over-watering can lead to root rot and leaf spot. At home, it is possible to damage a banana with a spider mite, thrips, a scale insect, a mealybug.
Popular types of banana
They differ in more modest, in comparison with wild plants, in size, beautiful flowers and leaves, for the sake of which they are grown.
Banana velvet - rises above the ground by one and a half meters and has spectacular bright yellow flowers with scarlet wrappers or bracts. The bracts are gradually bent outward, curling up the tube. This species has velvety fruits, which owes its name.
Banana lavender appreciated for its beautiful, lavender, pink or orange inflorescences.
Banana bright red does not exceed a meter in height, and has a bright flower with a scarlet wrapper, effectively set off by green foliage.
