Grow Bananas!

Getting banana seeds is simple enough. Many places sell them online. I've had particularly pleasant experiences with Georgia Vines (or visit her ebay store). She has an excellent selection of exotic plants & seeds including bananas and everything is very reasonably priced. I would recommend buying a dwarf variety if you intend to grow them indoors or need to bring them indoors for the winter as bananas tend to grow quite large.

Once you've ordered your seeds you'll be ready to start growing bananas. Be sure to have a sunny and warm spot for them. Mind that these won't be like the bananas you get in the grocery store which are propagated using suckers.

My banana seeds

On day one you're going to need to grab a cup of lukewarm water and soak the banana seeds in it for 48 hours. I set mine outside in the sun so it would stay warm and would get cycles of warm/cool and day/light but you could also set it on a heating pad or seed mat for warmth. The seeds often benefit from some form of temperature fluctuation so feel free to turn off any heating at night provided your house is not below 60 degrees (I'd even say below 70). You may also consider turning it down.

Once your seeds have soaked for 48 hours you will be ready to plant them. Things you will need include a cup/pot, bark chips/shards/rocks for the bottom and some well-draining soil. Bananas are tolerant of most soils but cannot handle standing water so make sure you maintain a well-drained environment.

Some growers suggest you nick the seed coat and others insist that you don't due to potential bacterial and fungal infections. In my opinion it's up to you. I have nicked hard seed coats and had them grow and I have not nicked hard seeds and had them grow. Either way I think germinating banana seeds will be semi difficult and take a while. I suppose to play it safe you might not nick it but if you feel the need that's fine. Soaking them in the lukewarm water is intended to soften them up, though.

First you'll need to prepare the soil. If you are using cactus soil or orchid soil it should drain well enough for the banana, but if you are using regular potting soil you'll need to mix in 40-60% sand for drainage. Mix your soil with a time release fertilizer (such as osmocote) and water in a bowl or pot until damp (not soaking!). Put a layer of bark chips, shards or rocks on the bottom of your pot or cup and then fill the rest with your soil and fertilizer mix. Pat down the mix and make a small depression in the soil. Banana seeds don't need to be terribly deep, just deep enough that they will not uncover with watering. Cover the seeds with soil.

Now you'll have to play the waiting game. Seed germination is all over the place for bananas. It could be as little as 3 weeks or as long as a year before you get germination. Once germinated, however, bananas tend to grow quite rapidly and you can get a fruit-producing tree in as little as a year if it is happy. However, fruit production is difficult. Ornamental bananas often will not fruit and with indoor conditions even wild bananas may not. You will have to be patient and if you want fruit try to mimic its natural tropical environment. Note that not all of the banana fruits will taste good but the bunches pretty if you can get them. Good luck!

Dwarf banana tree by Tony Buser

[Deck]Orations

So this is just my little rant about decorating my back deck/fire escape. It's the only escape from indoors my apartment has and it's spacious enough to do something with. Not to mention no one else has direct access but me.

So here it is. It's not much but it's mine (yes I strap down my chairs!). I'm simply glad I have a private place for sitting outside and cooking. Technically those steps go up to the roof so that's fun and gives me a lot more room; however, I can't really leave my plants up there nor would I decorate that view since I can't look at it. It get's pretty hot in my little space but plastic bags keep my cacao humid and frequent waterings can keep anything else from getting too dry. The main problem I've had was the sun. Most plants need to be in the area where the sun isn't quite so constant. My palm got sunburnt when I left him where the sun lasted most of the day.

Right now it's pretty boring looking (and dirty but unfortunately there's not much I can do about that when you consider the "floor" material). I think some pots beneath the steps and some vine over the balcony portion would spice it up. I'm also thinking that hanging some pots from the railing going up would be nice. Luckily there's plenty of room to plant without causing a fire hazard. Lots to play with and Home Depot will be calling my name tomorrow.

Additionally I'd like to add something to hang off the third floor balcony. Vines would be nice but we'll see. I think it could look nice. I'm going to be throwing my best friend her first birthday away from everyone she knows here so I want things to look festive. So many ideas for a girl to garden up. I will be sure to post any final project photos and I'm open to any fabulous suggestions!

Go Bananas!

Photograph by Jeremy Franchi

The time has come to introduce bananas to my blog. My seeds will be here Friday and the next round of tropical crop will commence. Hopefully the 48 cacao seeds that are sucking up space in my house will have made a little room by then.

With that said, I'm very excited to grow myself this large herb (nope it's not a tree!). Bananas, like their relative the the bird-of-paradise plant (S. reginae),  are slow to germinate. They can take up to 7+ months! Once they've sprouted, however, they grow rapidly and can reach full size in just a few weeks. The variety I bought is a dwarf of the Musa acuminata variety, which is pretty much a necessity considering some varieties can reach 25 feet in height! We can't have that in my little apartment.

Wild banana, photographed by Hidenobu Funakoshi

The bananas you buy at the grocery store are actually a parthenocarpic variety from the wild species Musa acuminata and/or Musa balbisiana. This just means there's no seeds in the kind you buy at the store. As you can see from the photo to the right, wild bananas are chock full of seeds and wouldn't be quite as smooth to eat.

The banana's anatomy consists of an underground corm and a "trunk," technically a pseudostem, composed of concentric layers of leaf sheaths.  Flowers grow along the stem in bundles called bunches and are subdivided into "hands." The individual fruits/bananas that develop from the hand are referred to as fingers.

Soon I will post my how to grow bananas segment, but for now a little background will prepare you for that step. Watch this video (there are 4 parts, this one and the second one contain most of the information mentioned here) for a nice visual and/or visit the link below for a wealth of information on bananas and their propagation.



PART 1 OF 4



References:
Greenearth Publishing: Banana Plant Growing Info

Marbella: ciudad de inspiración botánica

Photograph by Annabel Davis

What is it about Marbella, Spain, that makes coming home to my own city so drab? Perhaps it's the vibrant culture, the spicy music, the fabulous street vendors or the delicious food. More than any of these delightful things I'm inclined to think it's the gardening! Every alleyway, square and white terra-cotta house seems to be covered in greenery. It's literally one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. Red-flowering vines drip from balconies and windows, pots full of flowers burst near every entryway and vibrant green shrubs and trees grow along every street. Everywhere you look there's evidence of just how much the Spanish love their flowers.

I wish every city decorated like this (especially mine). It gives things a more rural, natural feel. I always felt at home in Marbella. Spain in general has lots of this gorgeous gardening and in my opinion America could import a little more of this vision.

This summer I want to try growing some of this vision on my fire escape/deck (yes, for me they are one in the same). The drab alley it faces could use a little loving.

Photo by Hakan Bilgiseven

Flowering vines are very popular on the streets of Spain. It seems the flower of choice for balcony vines is one that took me a little research to find: Bougainvillea,* a thorny shrub/vine native to South America. It produces gorgeous red to pink flowers and can grow up to 40 feet long! When I was in Spain this plant was thriving in every balcony and window box. You can see it in the photo to the right here, blooming bright red on a balcony and rooftop. I'm hoping to try and grow some up my own "balcony" if I can.

The other vine/plant I commonly see is one called Lantana camara which has a gorgeous scarlet and yellow umbel flower (read more about inflorescences at the link below). It's gorgeous and I'd love to grow some of this plant out back as well. So many ideas, so little time.

Another popular flower is the geranium. These I'm sure you've seen around at the grocery store and whatnot. They're not uncommon locally nor are they uncommon on the Spanish streets. As you can see in the photo below there are some lovely and creative ways to utilize them.

Photo by Marc Anderson

Additionally I think that the Clerodendrum speciosum flower would look gorgeous in the Spanish gardens.  It's scarlet flowers with long anthers give beautiful contrast to its deep green leaves.

I should probably mention that the pomegranate, which is the national flower of Spain, is also popular and quite beautiful. You can see my posts on pomegranates to learn about their nature and growing them.

All these plants are commonly red or pink and as you might notice from the photos above this is what you'll see on the Spanish streets. With a few pots and some fence or railing for them to climb and/or decorate you can have your very own Spanish balcony/fire escape or yard decor.



Additional Resources:
Read more about inflorescences (flowering patterns)

Great Gardening Links

Here's some great links that you can use for reference, purchasing or just for fun:

The Chocolate Life: a great site to discuss anything pertaining to chocolate; includes many forums on growing and caring for a cacao plant.

Montoso Gardens: their online store has a wonderful selection of rare and tropical plants & seeds.

Carribean Cuts: call and make arrangements. They'll ship you cacao pods.

Georgia Vines: huge selection of exotic plant seeds and FREE SHIPPING if your in the U.S.  You can't beat it!

Birds & Blooms: some great DIY projects and discussions about gardening.

Theobroma Cacao: information about the plant from Purdue University.

Synsepalum dulcificum: The Miracle Fruit

Source: Journal of Healthy Living

"Carrie Dashow dropped a large dollop of lemon sorbet into a glass of Guinness, stirred, drank and proclaimed that it tasted like a 'chocolate shake.'

Nearby, Yuka Yoneda tilted her head back as her boyfriend, Albert Yuen, drizzled Tabasco sauce onto her tongue. She swallowed and considered the flavor: “Doughnut glaze, hot doughnut glaze!” (source)

How is this possible? One little red fruit. The miracle of Synsepalum dulcificum is that it amazingly changes sour and bitter to sweet and delicious. Maybe you've heard about it through the grape vine or seen it featured in an episode of CSI: New York. Whatever your source the fruit is making a comeback from the 70s when an attempt was made to commercialize it as a sugar-free diet alternative. Unfortunately, amid a haze of rumored conspiracy, the fruit was banned commercially as such by the FDA. That's not to say you can't buy it though, just not as an alternative to sugar or as a dietary supplement. The seeds are readily available online--albeit a bit expensive--and the plants are not overly challenging to grow. If you're just up for the experience and not so much the growing part then you can try packaged Miracle Frooties which are available from a number of vendors and directly from Sour2Sweet.com.

Watch the video below to learn more about one man's miracle fruit plant business and the reactions of two taste testers:

Growing Cacao in Plastic Cups

When you order a pod you'll likely be getting upwards of 30 seeds that are all only good right now. If you're like me you can't bring yourself to just toss them out with the trash. Now I might be a bit of a plant hoarder but it just seems like a waste to do that. What I'm doing this time around (I can't honestly remember what the heck I did with all those seeds last time) is using plastic cups.

Whatever cheap variety you choose if you decide to plant them all you can be sure there won't be much drainage there. What I like to add for drainage is a small layer of bark pieces at the bottom of the cup. You can buy orchid bark or any other chip-style bark pieces to accomplish this. I bought mine for about $5 at the Home Depot. All you need to do is add in that little layer and then put the soil on top. It'll leave a gap at the bottom for the water to drain into. You'll know there's enough water in there if you use clear cups since you can watch it gather. Remember, damp not wet for cacao.