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Tropical Gardens with Hardy Plants |
Swanky
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Apr 03, 2002
Posts: 4814
From: Hapa Haole Hideaway, TN
|  Posted: 2008-06-10 11:48 am Permalink
I am right with you. Epsomed everything early spring, but could use it again now that it's more awake.
I repotted it this spring in peat and sand mixed.
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Tiki Zen
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 15, 2007
Posts: 352
From: Too far from the beach Bowling Green, KY
| Posted: 2008-06-10 12:20 pm Permalink
Do you suggest using epsom salts with the banana trees? I'm trying them for the first time this year.
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Swanky
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Apr 03, 2002
Posts: 4814
From: Hapa Haole Hideaway, TN
| Posted: 2008-06-10 1:31 pm Permalink
The epsom is for the palms mostly, and for mineral liking flowering bushes. One tablespoon in a gallon of water.
Bananas want lots of nitrogen and water. Good draining soil. I mix 1/3 peat moss, 1/3 sand and 1/3 regular yard dirt to fill in when I plant the bananas and water daily. If you are feeding and watering right, you'll get a new leaf every 5-7 days. Lots of sun too of course.
Right now I have hardy Musa Basjoos, and not so hardy Abbyssinian and Blood bananas.
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ahvyna
Tiki Centralite
Joined: Feb 05, 2008
Posts: 38
From: san diego
| Posted: 2008-06-14 7:56 pm Permalink
Tip from a Master Gardener friend of mine: We put everything not cold tolerant in pots in the ground and pull them in fall, force them into dormancy. I've had the same plants in every year, even after the spell of below freezing temps we had a couple of years ago (in San Diego!). And the "nanners" came back fine despite being frozen to the ground. Epsom really made a difference bringing them back.
My brother in Vermont does the pot in the ground thing and says he hasn't lost anything since he's tried it.
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Swanky
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Apr 03, 2002
Posts: 4814
From: Hapa Haole Hideaway, TN
| Posted: 2008-07-13 11:18 am Permalink
Zone 7b, but last few winters we've been 8b.
The Golden Lotus bananas are not near their usual 6-7 foot heith this year. Don't know why. I just fertilized the heck out of them again. We'll see.
For scale, that's one BIG cat...
New Abbyssinian Banana for this year is about to hit 6 feet tall. It'll have to be brought in. Elephant Ears stay in the ground.
This upright alocasia came back from last year with no real care. Not sure of the variety.
Blood Banan pups are gettign big and the croton is yellow and happy. Plumeria is shooting out leave like crazy now.
Hardy stuff mostly. Asparagus Fern in the center. The blue-green stuff is new this year. We'll see how it winters.
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Swanky
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Apr 03, 2002
Posts: 4814
From: Hapa Haole Hideaway, TN
| Posted: 2008-08-01 5:49 pm Permalink
The Gardenia is finally blooming after having buds for 2 months. At the same time we have all these blooms, the buds are falling off like crazy. This is one tempestous plant!
This is the biggest elephant ear we've ever had. This ear is 40 inches now, and was 34 inches last weekend!
The Passion Vine has grown like crazy and has 2-8 blooms every day.
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Lake Surfer
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Oct 21, 2002
Posts: 3322
From: Milwaukee, WI
| Posted: 2008-08-03 09:41 am Permalink
Going strong here in Zone 5 as August starts. A long, snowy winter which led to a long, cold spring. The real growing season started around Memorial Day.
The bananas are really growing this year, the 2nd I've had them since I brought them up from a friend's yard in Florida in 2006. I cut all but 1 leaf off of them and store them in the basement all winter. They have 1 southern exposure window for weak sunlight all winter and I try to keep the soil moist, but not soaked.
During the summer, I add nitrogen to the pots and water daily with 2 gallons of water.
Lots of pups to harvest at the end of the growing season, which will add to my collection next year!
Bought this Taro in Charleston this year after Hukilau. I divided it all up between this planter and the yard. It is doing well. At the end of the growing season I'll dig up the tubers and store over the winter. I'll replant most of it after the last frost next year, but will leave some in the ground to see if it will come back on it's own.
Not tropical, but a bush that does very well here in Zone 5. I think it is a member of the Hibiscus family. We get new flowers every day, lasting about 3 days.
We have two, and eventually they will grow from 6-8 feet tall.
[ This Message was edited by: Lake Surfer 2008-08-03 09:42 ]
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Swanky
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Apr 03, 2002
Posts: 4814
From: Hapa Haole Hideaway, TN
| Posted: 2008-08-03 10:28 am Permalink
From my experience, and what I was told by the folks at the university ag campus in a sub-tropicals class, you can probably not water that banana when you bring it in and it will be fine, maybe better. These guys put plants under their house with no light or water over winter. Just keep the bananas from getting too cold or rotting. They put them back out in spring and they are fine. I did that a couple of years ago and my blood bananas came back very big.
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Swanky
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Apr 03, 2002
Posts: 4814
From: Hapa Haole Hideaway, TN
| Posted: 2008-08-27 06:22 am Permalink
It's time to stop fertilizing and prepare for the end of summer. This summer, everythign was full and lush. My Gardenia, in the back right theregot really huge and happy. It's hardy.
The Plumeria has bloom stalks! Looks like we will end the summer with these sweey blooms. Thanks Jungle Jim!
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lucas vigor
Tiki Socialite
Joined: May 12, 2004
Posts: 3453
From: "I've chopped my way through real jungle
| Posted: 2008-08-27 07:19 am Permalink
Quote:
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On 2008-08-01 17:49, Swanky wrote:
The Gardenia is finally blooming after having buds for 2 months. At the same time we have all these blooms, the buds are falling off like crazy. This is one tempestous plant!
This is the biggest elephant ear we've ever had. This ear is 40 inches now, and was 34 inches last weekend!
The Passion Vine has grown like crazy and has 2-8 blooms every day.
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Those passion flowers are awesome. They attract hummingbirds and especially monarch butterfies, but they really climb and take over everything. That's a lot of work to control them.
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Haole'akamai
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jul 07, 2005
Posts: 2269
From: The Polynesian Port of NOLA
| Posted: 2008-10-03 6:48 pm Permalink
I'm coastal CA (zone 9) - We got a pleasant surprise today. Our Heliconia send up a bloom.
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Lake Surfer
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Oct 21, 2002
Posts: 3322
From: Milwaukee, WI
| Posted: 2008-10-03 10:58 pm Permalink
Beautiful!
We're under our first frost advisory tonight. Zone 5.
Early, but not unheard of.
I pulled the potted bananas in the garage... have to see if the Taro and other tropicals in the yard get nipped or not.
Nights are just about too cold anyhow for most of them at 40 degrees on average. The bananas are showing brown spots on the leaves.
Nearly time to pull them into the basement for wintering. But we still have some days forecast in the 60's and 70's next week.
The rest of the tropicals will be harvested after the first hard freeze and the bulbs and tubers wintered until next Spring.
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blindy the pirate
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jan 21, 2008
Posts: 160
From: Tallahassee FL
| Posted: 2008-10-04 07:59 am Permalink
Tallahassee is weird for Florida. Hotter in the summer and much colder in the winter than everyone on the peninsula. Banana trees grow like wildfire around here. No maintenance needed, after the winter die off, they just sprout back up to their previous size in the spring.
Elephant ears are the same way. During the winters, you have a bare spot in the planter, but by late fall, they get huge. I don't take care of mine in the least because of where it is (next to where I empty my truck of unneeded stuff) and the bastard has 3ft leaves on it.
Growing up in Orlando, my dad had a pair of hibiscus trees that stood 15ft tall (no exaggeration). But, here, they don't grow very well, which sucks because they are some of the most beautiful looking flowers.
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RevBambooBen
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 12, 2002
Posts: 7217
From: Huntikington Beach
| Posted: 2009-06-20 8:12 pm Permalink
Summer is here. My plants are loving it. On a new kick and only planting edible tropicals now ( and veggies too). Planted 2 Brazilian Papayas and the are loving it and are blooming fruits ( long and skinny with no seeds). Just now (for fathers day) planted 3 Hawaiian Papayas( super sweet with seeds and the size of grapefruit). Next week I'm planting 2 Mexican Papaya( very large fruit. like a melon). Very fast growing too.
Will be thinning out soon so if any Local to HB tiki freaks need any fern and elephant ear ( basically weeds) lemme know.
Or, if any out of towners want to send a prepaid box, I'll toss in some roots.
Mega Banana Bread!
Twins...
3 new Hawaiian Paps..
Blooming Brazilian Paps...
Bamboo Ben
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[ This Message was edited by: Al Gore 2009-06-20 20:29 ]
[ This Message was edited by: RevBambooBen 2009-06-20 20:43 ]
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RevBambooBen
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 12, 2002
Posts: 7217
From: Huntikington Beach
| Posted: 2009-06-20 9:05 pm Permalink
p.s.
Rememeber to Pee on your Plumeria!!
They love it!
( keeps animals away too 
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