Growing bananas is a fun, easy way to add edibles to the home landscape, and the fruit is both delicious and packed with nutrition. Gran Nain Banana Plants have a thick, redish pseudo stem (or trunk) with dark maroon spots that give the plants an exotic look. Young stems, called pups, also have red streaks on the leaves, but the leaves become solid green as they mature. Each sword trunk produces a hefty head of bananas that follow its large flower. A single bunch of Gran Nain Bananas can weigh up to 150 pounds.
Since the fruit bunches are so large, the trunks grow to be stout and strong. This not only helps the Gran Nain hold fruit, but makes them very wind resistant and far less prone to damage from storms than other Bananas. Mature Gran Nain Banana mats produce trunks that reach up to eight feet tall with crowns of wide leaves that can be eight to ten feet across. Gran Nain Bananas can be grown outdoors in USDA Zones 9 to 11, or indoors over winter in Zones 4 to 11. The beautiful Gran Nain Banana Plant likes full sun, plenty of water, and is a great choice to add tripoical style to the yard or container garden.
Gran Nain Banana Plants can grow in partial shade, but need direct sun for six hours or more each day. Afternoon shade is better than morning shade if there is a choice when planting. Gran Nain Banana Plants in six or more hours of direct daily sunlight will grow bananas faster, and produce larger heads of fruit than those in less light. Be sure to plant in rich, well-drained soil and water the trees often. Water new plants once per day for the first week or two, then once per week once the Gran Nain Banana Plant is growing new leaves.
Gran Nain Bananas can be fertilized once per month with balanced fertilizer. Citrus or other fruit tree fertilizers work well for Bananas. However, since they like frequent feeding, reduce the amount recommended to half when determining fertilizer dose based on tree height. You can also mulch the Gran Nain Banana mats with leaves, cut grass, or wood chips. In the growing season you can add organic matter such as compost or manure to the mats at any time. Always water fertilizer or compost in well.
Fruit & Harvesting
Gran Nain Banana Plants produce large heads of fruit. Each bloom is followed by clusters of eight to twelve bananas called hands. Each stalk can have as many as ten hands or more, so one Gran Nain Banana stalk can have one hundred or more individual bananas. Gran Nain Bananas are similar in size to store-bought bananas. They have a smooth texture, sweet taste, and slight acidity that gives them a tropical flavor. Harvest the entire stalk when the first fruits begin to turn yellow. The stalk can be hung in the shade to ripen further, or the hands can be removed, stored indoors, and shared. Ripe bananas can also be peeled and frozen for use later.
Uses for bananas and banana plants are nearly endless. The large leaves can be used to wrap meat and fish for cooking. Green bananas can be cooked or fried as a starchy vegetable. Ripe bananas can be eaten fresh, added to fruit salads, used to make banana bread, cakes, pies, ice cream, or frozen to blend into smoothies and drinks. The nutritious banana is one of the most widely grown and consumed fruits in the world.
Growing Zones
Advice
Bananas are tropical herbacious plants that grow multiple pseudostems from a pseudoblub. Each cluster of banana pseudostems is called a mat. The oldest pseudostems (commonly called banana trees) produce fruit, while the younger trees are grown to replace the fruited stalks. Once a single pseudostem blooms and grows fruit, that trunk is removed and the next lagest tree replaces it.
The ideal Gran Nain Banana Mat for fruit production is one that consists of three pseudostems (trunks). The largest is the fruit bearing or soon to bloom tree. The second largest is the blooming tree’s replacement, and the smallest is the tree that will replace the middle tree when it blooms then dies. When selecting sports to become new replacement pseudostems, only allow “sword suckers” to grow, and remove any “water suckers.” Young sword suckers are pointed, have narrow pointed leaves, and will grow fruit. Young water suckers have stubby trunks, wide leaves, and will never grow fruit. If you are sharing a plant, only share a sword sucker.
FAQs
Can Gran Nain Bananas be grown in containers?
Yes, Gran Nain Bananas can be grown in a large pot that has drain holes and rich, well-draining soil. Choose a ten gallon or larger container and place it in full sun.
Are Gran Nain Bananas the same as the bananas in the store?
Gran Nain Bananas are often sold in stores. However, homegrown and cared for fruit is usually of higher eating quality.
Can Gran Nain Bananas take freezing temperatures?
Gran Nain Bananas are somewhat cold hardy, and a mat can survive freezing temperatures. In extreme cold the visible trunks will often die, but replacement sports will arrive in spring to start the mat again.
How much room should I give my Gran Nain Bananas?
Gran Nain Bananas grow to about eight feet tall and the canopy gets to about ten feet across. The best location is in full sun and allows the mat to have at least ten feet on all sides for growth and maintenance.
Janie (verified owner) –
Love this banana tree. Anxious to watch it grow.
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Gail P. (verified owner) –
Our banana tree arrived very healthy and much larger that what we expected!! It now outside with our other tropical plants and is thriving!
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