Worth knowing:
The Musa velutina is the ideal banana plant to cultivate in your home and as a tub plant. As a dwarf banana it can grow up to two meters with rather slender and waxy flyleaves with pink mid-ribs. It blossoms latest after three years and develops red, sweet bananas, that can be eaten. The Pink Velvet Banana can even resist cold temperatures to some degree, if it is properly protected.
Natural Location:
The Pink Velvet Banana originally comes from Northeast India. All banana species originating in the Southeast Asian region. From there it was brought through migrants to Africa and through south European farmers on the Canary Islands to America, where Portugese settlers established the first banana plantations in the Caribbean and Middle America in the 15th century.
Cultivation:
Seed propagation indoors is possible throughout the year. To increase its germinability, you can slightly roughen the seed with a soft file or a piece of sandpaper and place it in warm water for about 12 hours. Press the seeds in moist potting compost, put just a little compost earth on top and cover the seed container with clear film to keep the earth moist. Don’t forget to make some holes in the clear film and take it every second or third day completely off for about 2 hours. That way you avoid mold formation on your potting compost. Place the seed container somewhere bright and warm between 25°C and 30°C (for instance near a heater) and keep the earth moist, but not wet. It usually takes about three weeks until germination, in a cooler environment it may take up to ten weeks.
Place:
The banana plant should be given a nice sunny spot, and if kept outdoors in a tub during the summer, it should be placed somewhere wind-protected, so the leaves don’t get torn.
Care:
You can plant your Dwarf Banana in a bigger pot filled with rich standard soil right away since it roots very fast. Keep the earth consistently moist, but avoid waterlogging, otherwise its fleshy roots will start to rot. The best way is, to water the plant penetratingly two to three times a week. From April to September it is recommended to give fertilizer for tub plants once a week.
During the winter:
The Musa velutina is quite cold-resistant and some plants can even survive outdoors a freezing cold winter if they are well protected. The sprouts can be pruned back to 50 to 80 cm. Best is to keep your banana plant in a bright spot with a temperature not less than 8° Celsius. Moderate watering is still required.
Picture credits:
- © naturfreund_pics - Pixabay -
- © Frank Laue - © Saflax - http://www.saflax.de/copyright
- © Frank Laue - © Saflax - http://www.saflax.de/copyright
- © David J. Stang - CC-BY-SA - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
- © David J. Stang - CC-BY-SA - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
- © David J. Stang - CC-BY-SA - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
- © C T Johansson - CC-BY-Sa - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
- © Alejandro Bayer Tamayo from Armenia, Colombia - CC-BY-SA - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
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