Are you wondering when your banana tree will start yielding fruit? Do all banana trees produce fruit at the same time? Do banana trees only fruit once? What are the things you can do to increase fruit production in your banana tree plant?
When do banana trees produce fruit?
Your banana tree plant needs nutrient-rich soil, warm temperature, proper fertilizers, and so on to produce a good harvest fully. Therefore, by following the above-mentioned tips, you can expect your banana tree to produce fruits in about 9 to 15 months.
The fruiting production of a banana tree will depend a lot on the variety of banana plants you have in hand. Therefore, being knowledgeable about such distinctions will help you to determine proper care for your banana tree.
Dwarf banana tree:
The dwarf banana tree is a great variety of banana plants that produce sweet and textured bananas.
Accordingly, to get these sweet and tasty dwarf bananas, you need to wait from 9 months to 15 months for your dwarf banana tree to produce fruit for consumption.
In addition, you can increase the fruit-yielding quantity of your dwarf banana tree by propagating properly, pruning appropriately, providing nutrient soil, and so on.
Common banana tree:
The common banana tree plants that you see most commonly should take somewhere between 9 to 12 months to produce fruit. Moreover, fruit production will be prompted by the germination state, vegetative growth, and flowering growth.
In addition, the timeline of banana trees’ fruit yielding may also get disrupted due to different diseases witnessed on banana trees such as black spots, cracked skin, wilting problems, and so on.
To get rid of these problems and to make sure the fruit yielding is abundant, you need to make sure that the soil, temperature, water intake, and fertilizer requirement are appropriate for your banana tree.
Things to know about banana tree fruiting:
When you plant a banana tree, you need to be aware of all the facts and facets of banana tree plants so that you can mold your decisions accordingly to remove any confusion.
Banana trees only fruit once:
Banana trees only fruit once and you can only harvest the banana bunch once a year. After that, it is necessary to cut down the banana tree so that other sprouts of the banana plant can grow to make room for more fruit yielding.
In addition, the reason behind this is that the banana tree rises from corm which diminishes after fruiting. Accordingly, the parent tree thus paves way for baby banana plants to sprout from the same parent corm.
The months of the year when banana trees produce fruit:
It is really important to be aware of the months of the year when banana trees produce fruit so that you can make appropriate preparations.
Therefore, it is usually spring to early summer when you will be able to see your banana tree producing bananas.
Amount of bananas produced from a tree each year:
You can get almost 200 bananas from one banana tree each year. Accordingly, this amount of bananas can be harvested from the main banana bunch that grows more than 10 hands in each banana bunch.
In addition, these hands come from the flowers within the banana bunch which then grow into bananas by the amalgamation of male and female flowers.
A banana tree can produce more than 200 bananas in a year, but the underground rhizome will keep on producing more bananas once every year with new sprouting.
What causes a banana tree not to bear fruit?
There are several reasons why your banana tree may not be fruiting even during the harvesting season. Therefore, being knowledgeable about the reasons will help you to mold your steps accordingly.
Presence of alkaline soil:
Your banana tree will not fruit but grow if you plant your banana tree in not-so-well-drained, acidic soil. In addition, if the soil has more alkaline in it, it will hinder the growth of your banana tree.
Lack of warmth:
A banana tree will only bear fruit if the temperature is about right for fruit yielding. Therefore, if your plant is in an environment where the temperature is below 50 degrees, chances are the banana tree will not bear fruit properly.
Lack of pruning:
It is important to remove all the diseased leaves from your banana tree by pruning so that the disease cannot spread.
Accordingly, the lack of pruning will lead to the rotting of the banana plants’ bunch in the early stages thus will result in a lack of fruit yielding.
Tips for encouraging fruiting on banana trees:
What can be more fulfilling to see your banana tree yielding fruits which will make up for all the hard times and hard work that you put into planting your tree?
However, things may not always go as planned therefore you need to know the proper tips for encouraging fruiting on your banana tree to surpass any unwanted incidents.
Nutrient-rich Soil:
You need to make sure that you provide the best soil requirement for your banana tree so that it encourages fruit production. Therefore, you need to make sure that you provide acidic soil for your banana plant which has a pH level of 5.5 to 6.5.
Moreover, the soil also needs to be very well drained and the soil should be blended with different materials.
In addition, bananas need a lot of potassium for their growth and for yielding fruit and this is why you need to use a good potassium fertilizer in the soil.
You also need to make sure you mist your banana plants regularly to make sure of the correct humidity level.
A banana plant also needs a lot of organic matter and a rich compost soil will prompt it to yield fruits faster. Therefore, coco fiber, peat, and compost should be added frequently to the soil to make the soil preferable for your banana tree.
In addition, you can also use nutritional sprays where there will be a mixture of potassium dihydrogen phosphate and urea of about two percent so that the fruiting of banana trees is strengthened.
Humidity:
Another tip to encourage fruiting on a banana tree is to provide the referable humidity level for your banana tree’s growth. Therefore, you need to make sure there is a 50% humidity level at all times for your banana trees’ growth.
To make sure of this percentage of humidity, you need to water your banana tree every day twice or thrice. You also need to make sure not to over-water your banana tree as this will rot the roots from the inside.
Right temperature:
Another thing that will encourage fruiting on your banana tree is related to the appropriate temperature. Accordingly, banana trees don’t really do well in cold or dry temperatures where there is the possibility of frost.
This is why you need to make sure that your banana tree is planted in a place where there is a temperature of about 50 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit. Moreover, you also need to make sure that your banana tree is getting almost 8 to 12 hours of sunlight every day.
In addition, you also need to remember that not all banana tree species will need the same amount of direct sunlight for encouraging fruiting.
Occasional fertilizing:
Adding fertilizer to your banana plant to increase fruiting is the most important thing. Therefore, you need to make sure that you so fertilize your banana plant six or more time every 2 months or so.
In addition, the amount of fertilizer you need to add to your banana plant is roughly about 3-1-6.
Cover the bunch:
You can increase the fruit yielding of the banana tree by 15 to 20% if you cover the bunch of banana trees with polythene or gunny cloth.
In addition, covering the bunch will also help to make sure that the banana bunch matures quickly with the raised temperature due to the cover.
Regular pruning:
Regular pruning of affected and diseased banana tree leaves will definitely assist in fruit production.
In addition, it also saves the banana bunch from getting infected with fungus or bacteria and the pruning of the banana tree will also enhance growth and maturity.
Do you need two banana trees to produce fruit?
You do not need to have two banana trees to produce fruit and this is because banana trees can usually self-pollinate without any assistance from other trees.
In addition, although banana trees can self-pollinate but planting two banana trees to produce fruits is believed to increase the fruit yielding percentage.
Moreover, the culture of having two banana trees to produce fruits is also maintained for many commercial productions as well.
Final Thoughts
A banana plant can produce fruit in about 9 to 15 months. Moreover, the banana bunch itself will need three to four months to be fully right for harvesting. Therefore, you need to provide proper support and care to your banana plant for a great harvest.