Bananas easily belong to the most popular category of fruiting trees and are known to be highly adaptable to a wide range of areas. In other words, this tropical tree can be pretty much grown in a lot of locations around the world. With over 1,000 different species, banana trees are great to have around your home.
If you’re seeking to grow banana trees around your yard, you may wish to know the basic tips to follow. This article provides all the basic information necessary for buying banana trees. Here, you’ll learn about the cost, some popular banana species, as well as where to buy them from.
About Bananas
Known for its rich fiber, banana trees can be grown for such material for manufacturing quality textiles. This plant has its origins from the rainforest, as such; it’s not difficult to figure out why these trees do best in areas with rich moisture. For hardy banana trees are known to reach heights of around 12 ft in a single season.
This tree is known as the largest herbaceous flowering plant. In reality, these aren’t trees but herbs that have a sturdy structure. The trunk you see in banana trees are actually stems. You’ll hardly find wood on banana trunks because there isn’t any.
One easily noticeable feature about the banana tree is that it has no branches. Its leaves are large and broad and mostly found at the top. Whenever you grow banana trees, consider planting them in batches or clusters. This is because they tend to do better as regards moisture retention and protection from strong winds.
If you aren’t planning on buying these trees in bulk, you’ll have to figure out how to protect them from wind and provide the moisture necessary for growth. These perennial herbs do well in loose, deep well-drained soils. The most common way of growing them is through irrigation.
Tips on Buying Banana Trees
When buying banana trees, you’ll have to figure out the cost angle of things. There’s also the need to have some knowledge about the different species available. Where do you buy your banana trees from? Also, what hardiness zones are bananas most suitable for?
Understanding all of these points gives you an edge when making a purchase. You don’t only get to make better buying decisions, but also grow them in such a way that enhances their productivity. With that said, let’s discuss each of the points mentioned.
-
Cost of Banana Trees
When it comes to the cost of banana trees, such will be better represented by a price range. This is due to many reasons including the size as well as banana species. Cost can also be affected by where you buy your trees from.
Costs are likely to range between $49 to $100 or more. In other words, the cost you incur will be anywhere within the cost range mentioned. What banana tree size do you wish to buy? You’ll definitely find a variety banana tree sizes being sold in nurseries. The larger ones are likely to cost more.
Your preferred banana tree species will determine the cost incurred. There are different species including those mainly for ornamental purposes. The type you want will have an impact on the cost incurred. How you go about buying your banana trees will determine the cost as well.
In other words, the nursery you patronize will impact on costs. One of the cost-saving measures adopted by gardeners when buying their banana trees involves finding out and comparing the different prices charged by different nurseries. Every nursery has its pricing structure which you can take advantage of.
By comparing prices from one nursery to the next, you’re able to leverage on the price difference by going for the cheaper option. When comparing these costs, you’ll notice similar banana tree varieties of the same length having different costs.
-
Banana Varieties
Before you buy your banana tree, you’ll have to identify the different varieties. We’ve said there are over 1,000 different species of banana. Identifying each of these simply for the purpose of buying isn’t feasible. Rather, you’ll do well to know some of the most popular varieties to choose from.
Examples of these varieties include the smoothie kit banana tree, the dwarf red banana, and the Puerto Rican plantain banana trees. Buyers can also go for the veranda banana tree, the grand Nain banana, red Abyssinian banana, ice cream banana, cold hardy banana, or the dwarf Cavendish banana trees.
There are others like the Gros Michel banana tree variety, blue java banana, lady finger, red bananas, manzano bananas, and the nanjangud banana trees. Others like the praying hands species, Orinoco species, Bluggoe species, Fehi banana, the pisang raja, and the macho plantain banana trees can serve as ideal varieties to choose from.
It’s possible that your preferred variety hasn’t been included. If so, you’ll need to do some researches on some of the best banana tree varieties you can pick from.
-
Where to Buy Banana Trees
Getting the right source for your banana trees is as important as buying the right banana tree variety. While you can get these trees in nurseries, it’s important to only patronize reputable nurseries. It doesn’t matter whether you’re buying from a garden center, an online nursery or a local nursery.
Knowing what customers think about a particular nursery will help you avoid unpleasant situations or experiences. You’ll have to go through as much customer reviews as you can. To improve your chances of finding the right nursery, go through multiple nurseries and read reviews about them.
You get to see through the eyes of the customer what you’re likely to experience if you go ahead to patronize a particular nursery. If you’ve previously patronized a nursery in the past and are sure about their reputation, then by all means continue buying your trees from them.
-
Hardiness Zones for Growing Banana Trees
As mentioned earlier, banana trees are highly adaptable. As such, they can grow in a wide range of locations. Nevertheless, it’s important to fully understand the different growing zones they’re well suited to.
Species like the dwarf red banana, the smoothie kit banana, and the red Abyssinian banana tree variants all thrive in growing zones 8 to 11. For the grand Nain banana species, the Puerto Rican plantain banana, and the veranda banana tree species, all share a growing zone of 9 to 11.
You have a better shot at buying the right kind of banana tree for your location in addition to getting the best possible deal simply by following the details provided above.