Congratulations! You have a banana baby!

Now to take him/her home and let them set root so they can thrive.

First, find a sunny, sheltered position with good drainage. That is where your banana tree will be happiest.

Banana trees are productive plants, and therefore require a lot of 'food' for themselves. You can feed them by either purchasing commercial fertilizer for them, or do what we do by following instructions under 'Fertilizing'.

Your bananas will produce once. But don't worry! They also produce more plants so you'll never run out.

To encourage fruit productivity, cut away and replant the pups (they sprout out from the base of the Mother plant). 

Once the Mother plant has produced, remove it completely - see the end of 'Harvesting' for instructions.

If you have opted to fertilize your trees the way we do, read on!

We make our own composting buckets and place them either on top of the soil beneath our tree's dripline, or bury them in the soil so the lid is either flush with the soil surface, or at a height that suits the situation. Either way, this method provides constant nutrient flow to your tree so do whatever works best for you.

To make your own composting bucket, get an old paint or plaster bucket (10 litre/20 litre) or a huge drum if you prefer! Drill large holes all around the base of the bucket. If you are burying it in the soil drill holes up and around the sides too, up to where it will be buried. 

Now place (or bury) your composting bucket and hey presto! Pop your kitchen scraps into the compost bucket and your plants will enjoy a constant nutrient supply. No waste here 😇 good for you, good for the planet 🌏

When the Mother plant has been in the ground for approximately 3-4 years, she should produce a flower that eventually turns into a bell. This flower will slowly open it's petals, displaying individual fruit flowers for bees (and other pollinators) to turn into fruit for you.

When the tree has multiple hands of bananas lining the stem, the bell will hang toward the ground. The fruit will slowly become fuller. You can either wait for the fruit to ripen on the tree, or you can remove it and allow it to ripen in a sunny place (kitchen bench, outdoor table or anywhere you have space to let it sit to ripen).

The fruit will ripen one by one on the stem. Once they are yellow, pull them off and enjoy! Yum yum.

Once you have harvested your fruit, remove the spent Mother plant and dispose of it either by composting or advertise free on Marketplace for those who use the stem for cooking.