Bananas anyone ?

Here's the 3rd bunch of bananas from my original 2 dwarf red Cavendish bananas that cost $2.97 each. I already have at least 4 replacements growing and should have another bunch or two this time next year. Notice how the leaves have turned yellow on the plant, signalling its death. It has produced a single bunch and now it dies. It has produced 4 or 5 little baby plants in the form of suckers (one which I have dug out and planted elsewhere already). Don't worry, of course nothing goes to waste. The whole plant will be cut down and cut into round slices of banana pizzas and placed at the base of the "clump" providing much needed mulch and protection from the dreadful nematodes here in our sandy soil.











I cut the top off about 10 inches below from where the bunch comes out, this way, the bunch has a natural "hook" that you can use to hang it. I hung it on the side of the barbecue grill on the patio, note the recycled cardboard underneath - that's to catch the resin that will ooze from the cut for the next couple of days. You can see some resin glistening on the first "hand". If you don't place something underneath it, the cleanup is a huge mess and a big task as it dries to a very hard sticky substance.

The bananas ripen from the top down, a hand at a time. Providing a constant supply over a couple of weeks.