All You Need To Know About Growing Bananas in Melbourne (+ Other Cool Areas)

[@eddieable]

I never get used to watching aussie gardeners on youtube and seeing the same tools I use. great hose sprayer btw, shower mode + low pressure so you don't push the mulch around 😅

[@RealLifeFruitopia]

Ah, I also use the shower setting to rinse off at the end of the day.

[@Ragman-s1s]

Speaking of the devil 😂 Yiasou Theo..... OMG THOSE BANANAS..... Only a small rack???? 😮 (I'm putting a banana tree in for sure) 💪 14 years?????? Bravo, LEGENEND 👌 DUCASI AND GOLDEN FINGER (Got it) THANK YOU 🙏

[@RealLifeFruitopia]

I planted my first bananas in 2009, but I chose the worst variety for Melbourne's weather and they are yet to fruit 15 years later!! ( Red Dacca). No KZbin channels back then advising on growing cool climate tropicals. To recap, stick with consistent champs for our climate, like Ducasse and Goldfinger. Rajapuri is another good one if you have room. Enjoy!

[@Ragman-s1s]

@RealLifeFruitopia done, thanks again theo 🙏

[@Ragman-s1s]

Hey Theo, how you doing, alright? I just ordered my first gold finger should be here by Friday (fingers crossed) Thanx for the advise and inspiration, LEGEND 🙏 Fyi, I seen your response to comment below, I'm from SE suburbs aswell (waverley) I do most my generic nursery shopping at pinewood (love them , their products and produce) my dad got all his trees from there back in the days too! And I'll be going to cams for the tropical 👌 Thanks again 🙏

[@Backyardbanana]

Musa comes from the rainforest...chop n drop man good job

[@Backyardbanana]

All you Melbourners if you can grow banana you can grow pineapples too

[@RealLifeFruitopia]

Pineapple takes upto 2 years to develop in the tropics. Therefore it could take 3 years in my climate.

[@maltmania]

Love what you have created, but do you need to spend a massive amount of money on fertilizer for all of these wonderful trees? They are planted so close together and I am amazed at how well they all seem to do. Absolute inspiration, I am looking at getting some dwarf bananas to keep in pots in my small backyard because of this.

[@RealLifeFruitopia]

I'm big on how many varieties of trees I have but a minimalist when feeding them. By following how nature feeds plants through falling canopy leaves and branches. Therefore chop and drop from my other trees is sufficient plant food and saves money. All the best with pot gardening.

[@barbaratimmermans5484]

I’m on the Mornington Peninsula in Melbourne near the beach. Where did you get your banana plant from please? I’m growing sugarcanes at the moment, but they are skinny as 😂

[@RealLifeFruitopia]

Many varieties of bananas are available at Bunnings right now. Make sure to get Goldfinger or Ducasse, the best ones to fruit within a year and survive our winters. Sugar Cane need full sun and water till they establish. Also, grow it in ground.

[@RussellBooth1977]

That's what I mentioned in another post, on my dads side of the family they were growing bananas at Gisborne in New Zealand (not Victoria) before my great grandfather, my great grandmother, my grandfather, my great uncle & great auntie migrated to Adelaide in South Australia then they finally made it up to Mullumbimby in NSW where my grandfather started growing bananas with the Crandell family in the 1950's after he was discharged from the Australian army in 1946 prior to World War 2. So they were growing them in a cooler part of the world in New Zealand where it's lucky to get up to 26°C during summer time, the reason that I don't think that they grow them in the Newcastle & the Hunter region in NSW which is my location is because of a lack of water, to make it commercially viable to grow them they need lots of water which is why my grandfather watered his for 3 days non stop per week when there was an absence of rain during summer time, the water siphoned out of the creek then gravity fed to the sprinklers. The only reason that I grow them in pots is to keep the corms alive until I can plant them in the ground later this year some time, by then I want to try other varieties including the Red Dacca & Musa Basjoo varieties. I already have the Lady finger & Cavendish varieties growing in pots & I also want to get the cooking type of banana 🍌 plant.& Maybe try the Ducasse as well. While they're not commercially grown in my area there should be plenty of them for me to eat, my grandfather used to give us a whole lot of the lady finger bananas to eat when we used to visit them (my grandparents) near Mullumbimby !

[@RealLifeFruitopia]

I reckon you could write a book on your family's local history and link to growing food on the land!

[@gorillapermacuture]

Big cigar tips on those thing. What kind? You should check out some of my racks. Fricken huge! Nice to see you mulch heavy. Try burying some dead animal matter 3 ft from the base, fish, chicken, rats and mice, road kill etc. Ever make starch from your Canas? Aloha.

[@RealLifeFruitopia]

Most bananas grown here are Goldfinger & Ducasse, as they are cold hardy and take freezes. I avoid using animal products for ethical reasons. Chop & drop together with kitchen waste is all I use to feed. I didn't realize canas are edible, but arrowroot is.

[@sikuanyu8329]

Do you ever grow up super dwarf Cavendish ? Are they easy grow and how the taste?

[@RealLifeFruitopia]

I recently acquired super dwarfs, but haven't yet planted them out. I imagine they would be the slowest to set fruit in my climate.

[@vloku3613]

Which area in Melbourne do you live?

[@RealLifeFruitopia]

Outer SE

[@JaydenFamilyVlogs]

😍

[@yoelgonzalez347]

The ones hanging over the fence, yours, the neighbor’s or first come first serve?

[@RealLifeFruitopia]

The neighbour on the banana hanging side isn't a fruit or garden person, so no worries.

[@kudehh]

What banana variety is that bunch from? And what suburb are you in Melbourne? Suspect you might be close to the sea

[@RealLifeFruitopia]

I'm 20km from the sea on the SE side. Banana bunch is Goldfinger.

[@dhanushkakodituwakku5165]

Usually you can eat the flower and core.

[@RealLifeFruitopia]

Most people starting out will be over the moon to get their bananas to survive the winter. Thanks for sharing. My wife always uses the flower in curry!

[@sunshinedayz2172]

It is the dead of winter here... My banana trees are asleep right now..

[@RealLifeFruitopia]

I know the feeling, which is in July for me.

[@Hydreii]

I'd love to get some bananas on my plant ! It's a potted orinoco, barely 1m in height after 3 years. I bring it inside in winter. I recently met a guy close to where I live (France zone 7b), he actually gets a few bananas every few years. His plant comes from a french island in the Indian Ocean (don't remember where from exactly), he barely protects it and it dies back in winter, but regrows and flowers from the damaged stems. In winter it looks completely dead though ! If I can get a Veinte Cohol (Philipino variety), I'm definitely gonna try it in ground. It has the shortest cycle of all bananas (6 months from sprout to flower, then 2 months to ripen). Maybe that one would work okay at my location, if the stems can come back from one winter to finish their cycle the second season.

[@RealLifeFruitopia]

Sounds like that variety might work for you. Good luck with growing bananas in Zone 7!!