How to Plant and Care for Banana Plants

 

Banana is one of the most famous fruits in Indonesia. Bananas can be eaten directly when ripe and can be processed into various dishes when raw and ripe. Sometimes it is made compote, steamed, or fried. The delicious taste makes various processed bananas almost every day. Not only because of the delicious taste of the fruit, but also because the stems, leaves, heart, and roots can also be used.

Banana plants are usually found growing wild in remote villages. Left alone, on the side of the road, grows, bears fruit, and dies. In fact, cultivating a plant with the Latin name Musa paradisiaca can provide promising prospects. Why? Because the demand for bananas in every area, whether in villages, urban areas, hotel level places, to international standard restaurants continues to flood and does not stop. The demand for the stock of the fruit has also soared from year to year, making banana farmers feel overwhelmed by the constant demand.

Banana trees can grow on any land where their nutritional needs are met. The picture above is one of cultivating various types of bananas on school grounds.

So, are you interested in cultivating it? Besides being able to consume it yourself, it can also be used as a business area. Moreover, for planting and caring for banana trees is very easy. You can learn how to do this below:

1. Determine the best land or location

Bananas thrive in tropical areas where a year-round supply of sunlight and water is available. Therefore, an area with a tropical climate is needed if you want to get good quality banana trees.

Banana trees grow well if they are on high or low land. The point is 2500 meters above sea level. Then the soil is cultivated to have a neutral pH. In addition, it requires 1500 to 3000 mm/yr of rainfall. For maximum results, the land is loosened and mixed with nutrients first

2. Determine the selection of Seeds

Because bananas have a lot of close relatives. So choosing the right type of banana for what type you want is a good point. Bananas are usually grown in a generative way or by using their shoots. For the selection of the best tree shoots are:

• The shoots are erect with a size of 100 cm to 150 cm.
• Cut the tubers with a diameter of 15-20 cm.
• Bulbs shoots clean of dirt or plant moss.
• The shoot leaves are like leaves that are narrow and have 4 strands.

3. Plant a banana tree

• The first step

Loosen the land using a hoe or plow that will be planted with banana trees. But first, clear the land from wild plants such as weeds that can damage the growth of banana plants later. After digemurkan, provide intake of compost and nutrients throughout the land. Let stand for 1 week to wait for the soil to mix with nutrients.

Make on the ground with a size of 30x30x40 cm with a distance of 3 x3 M in each tree. After that, make good drainage for the irrigation system, namely by making a trench around the plant hole. This is so that the shoots are maintained without damaging the plant roots.

• Second step

Plant banana tree seeds in a perpendicular direction so that later the banana tree will grow firmly.

Plant the shoots on the land. It is recommended to plant banana trees in the early rainy season. This aims to provide an adequate supply of water to the banana shoots that you plant.

Pay attention to the position of the shoots that are planted. Direct it perpendicularly so that the newly planted shoots don't collapse easily because of the wind. Then cover the shoots again with soil that has been mixed with compost  to provide sufficient nutrient intake to start growing.

4. Treatment

After planting, to get maximum banana fruit production, you should pay attention to the following things:

• Follow-up fertilization. After the banana plant is 6 months old, it is necessary to do additional fertilization. This is done to increase the supply of nutrients in the soil. Use manure or NPK .

Follow-up fertilization is carried out when the banana shoots planted are 6 months old.

• Irrigation. When it is not dry, the banana tree does not need to be watered regularly. But in the dry season, banana trees need a little more water.
• Weeding. Wild plants can inhibit the growth of banana trees properly. So pay attention to the growth of these weeds and get rid of them immediately.
• pruning. Banana trees that have grown large have large and wide leaves that dry easily. Prune the dried leaves and leave the fresh leaves. If not trimmed, the dry leaves will release gas that can make other fresh leaves dry too.

Immediately prune banana leaves that are damaged or dry to protect the fresh leaves.

In addition, it should be noted that there should only be 3 to 4 banana trees in one tree clump. This is because the nutrients contained in the soil can be fulfilled. If there are too many banana trees in one clump, then the possibility of depletion of nutrients in the soil can occur. Banana trees become infertile and slow to bear fruit.

5. Harvest

Before harvesting, it is better to take care of bananas that are not ready to harvest. In this article, we will give some tips on how to care for them to get maximum yields.

• When the banana tree has shown bunches of 5 to 7 combs, it means that the capacity of the combs that the bunches bear is maximum. Then you should cut the banana heart. Although there are still new comb marks that will appear.

Pay attention to the sign. If you have reached the maximum number (5-7 banana combs), then cut the banana heart.

• Immediately wrap the fruit using a dry sack, or plastic.
• Give fruit stimulant fertilizer (you can get it at the plantation store ) to stimulate maximum fruit growth.
• When the bananas are green, it means they are ready to be harvested.

Furthermore, when the fruit is ready to be harvested, harvest it using a sharp knife. Cut the bunches and store them in a reverse direction so that the sap from the bunches doesn't spread to the bananas. After the harvest period, it is recommended to cut the entire tree trunk until leaving the tubers. And it is better to use new shoots for re-cultivating, which is to start planting from scratch again when the land is 5 years old. This is done to regain soil fertility.

After the harvest period is complete, cutting the entire tree trunk to the tubers is done to replace it with new shoots.

After knowing how to plant and care for it, you can immediately apply it to your land or garden. Happy gardening…