Comments on: Build a Banana Circle

By: wendy

wendy — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 09:18:29 +0000

a drawing or photo of the process would be helpful.
great idea, though. I am going to give it a try. Hopefully I have understood the directions. (ie which ‘rim’ are you talking about? the rim of the mound or the rim of the inner dugout circle? )

If i have understood the directions, then it sounds like you plant the bananas on the mound of soil around the hole in the middle.
Wouldn’t that mean that when you water the bananas, the water would run off away from their roots?

By: Cam Wilson

Cam Wilson — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 22:31:42 +0000

60cm is very close to plant the bananas, and will cause them to lean out considerably. Banana plants are filled with water, hence they are very heavy and can have a tendency to topple over if leaning too much. I have found it best to plant suckers at 3,6,9 & 12 o’clock on your circle. If you stick a bunch of sweet potato cuttings in your newly planted mound, this will hold, protect and improve the soil below.

The ongoing management of the stand is important too. You want to encourage the plants to walk around in a clockwise circle. Each of the original suckers you plant should eventually consist of a Grandma (full size plant with fruit formed) A Mother (medium sized plant which will take Granny’s place, as you must hack her down once she’s fruited, adding her body to the pile in the centre) and a Baby (one new sucker, again in a clockwise direction). All other suckers should be removed and replanted elsewhere or thrown into the centre if you’re already up to your eyeballs in bananas.

As Jan mentioned, you should always keep the pile in the centre heaped. If you follow these simple steps, you will have some very productive bananas on your hands (much more so than the sad looking bunch in he photo by the way)

By: MelJimAdelaide

MelJimAdelaide — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 00:59:06 +0000

sounds great but what climate limitations are there? i’m looking for a way to grow banana’s, pineapples and mangos in SA and dont think i have a snowballs chance.

By: ewan quirk

ewan quirk — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 08:27:55 +0000

well if there is no reuser or scavengers to recycle them they break down into the elements that made them and return to the food chain. instead of being an eyesore and or hazard. though I think that was a bit sarcastic the original suggestion.

By: naught101

naught101 — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 07:56:24 +0000

Tin cans?? You put tin cans in your compost? Why??