Ideas for community gardens < fast fruits

Bananas turn yellow when ripe.

BANANA

Botanic name

• Musa spp

Growth form

• single stemmed plant with large, broad leaves at crown reaching three metres (cavendish) to five metres (sugar banana, lady fingers) in height
• fruit produced in bunches

Edible part

• fruit - turns yellow when ripe
• eaten raw
• some species, less common in Australia but common in the Pacific islands and Asia, are cooked

Growing + harvesting

• propagation - bananas grow by suckering from the root mass; allow a single stem to grow beside the mature stem to replace it after fruiting
• self-pollinating
• when fruit has grown, cut off the purple male flower (sometimes known as the ‘bell’)
• fruit on tree may need bagging to protect it from fruit bats in some areas
• when fruit on tree starts to ripen, the bunch can be cut off and hung in a protected place until fully ripe
• needs a frost free climate

Centre of diversity

• South East Asia.

PAGE UPDATED... Wednesday, 16 January 2002