Grow your own bananas - it's easy!

Bananas

Bananas are one of the most popular fruits sold in New Zealand and yet, as far as I know, all the ones sold in supermarkets are imported. It is a plant that thrives naturally in the tropics with uniformly warm and hot conditions. There are a number of varieties of banana plants, and a couple can be grown in temperate gardens in New Zealand, including frost-free spots in gardens around Wanganui.
Misi Luki is one variety. The plants grow well in a garden situation that is warm, sunny and frost-free. They will also thrive in the extra heat of a glass house. Protection from the wind is essential as the plants can topple in strong winds when they are older and taller. Misi Luki is a highly disease resistant variety that produces bunches of the smaller lady finger bananas that are short, fat and very sweet.
Habit: Bananas are very easy to grow. A vigorous plant that is tolerant of drought and poor soils. Ideal family is one mother plant with two or three daughters. Once a plant has fruited, cut it down and chop into pieces and add as mulch around the daughters.
Size: Quick growing banana reaches an approximate height of 3-4m.
Pollination: Self-fertile. The flower stalk appears out of the centre once the plant is fully grown. It hangs down as the flower develops. The male flower develops at the end of the flower stalk creating a bell. The female flowers spiral around the stem, and are white and tubular, with rich nectar purple bracts and deep red within.
Harvest: Once a bunch of bananas has developed, remove the bell flower. This will make sure the energy is put into fruit development. Harvest the bunch once the oldest bananas start to yellow and hang up in a shed to ripen. Or harvest fruit individually as they tree ripen in spring. This is ideal in cooler climates. Good shelf life.
Banana information kindly supplied by Tharfield Nursery @ www.edible.co.nz
Rhubarb is a vegetable that will often conjure up childhood memories of rhubarb crumble, Grandma's garden and such like. It is a hardy and adaptable edible that is easy to grow, so much so that it can grow in an untamed garden for years and still produce good quantities of harvestable stems.
The humble rhubarb has made a massive comeback in popularity over the past few years as many that have ventured into developing home vegetable gardens have looked for what else that they can grow and be productive within a small space in the home garden.
Rhubarb might be a favourite pie plant, but it has interestingly been described as an "uncommon vegetable" that's used as a fruit in sauces and pies, but either way it's easy to grow and super-yummy to eat. Grow it in a sunny to partly shaded spot in the garden or planted in a container - just as long as the container is large enough to accommodate a season's growth because it will get quite large. Unlike most vegetables, rhubarb is a perennial so it can be left in the ground and will return a crop for many, many years. Once it's ready to harvest from mid to late summer you'll be ready to bake a few home-made rhubarb pies or perhaps freeze some fresh for later use in wintertime. In colder areas rhubarb will die down completely during the winter months. However, in a warm spot, particularly in more frost free gardens in Gonville and Castlecliff, plants will sometimes not die down at all during a warm winter.
A question we have often fielded in the garden centre is "how do I make the stems turn red?" Stem colour is actually related to the variety and the particular characteristics of the plant, not soil type, fertiliser regime or time of the season. Rhubarb is often grown from seed which adds to the variability of stem colour. However stem colour and sweetness are not related. It is a common misconception that green stems are tart and red stems are sweeter. Greener stemmed varieties do tend to be more vigorous growers, sometimes producing thicker stems than those with redder stems.
There are two main varieties widely grown in New Zealand; Victoria and Glaskins Perpetual. Interestingly, Victoria and Glaskins are often both described as red-stemmed and while both possess some traces of red, Victoria, particularly in New Zealand is more green-stemmed.
Generally red-stemmed varieties are the favoured choice because of the visual appeal, and a variety recently released in New Zealand fits the bill perfectly. Moulin Rouge rhubarb is an old heritage variety, handed down from generation to generation. It has exceptional winter holding and its colour is deep red - exactly what people want in a rhubarb plant. It's a great cropper, with juicy stalks ready to harvest from early season, and it has a lovely sweet flavour. When harvesting stems they must be pulled downwards and twisted removing them from the plant. Never cut stems from the plant as the remaining cut stalk can be a source of disease or rot into the crown of the plant. Rhubarb leaves are poisonous and must never be consumed. They can be harvested and boiled in water and then used as naturally-derived insect spray.
When a clump has been grown for a number of years they can be lifted and divided in late winter or early spring. Older less productive parts can be thrown away and the rest replanted. Rhubarb benefits from an annual feed with a highly nitrogenous fertiliser to promote stem and leaf growth. An excellent organic based product for Rhubarb is Yates Dynamic Lifter for Leafy Vegetables. This will also help improve soil structure as it adds organic matter. Rhubarb also responds well to blood and bone. Good deep watering during dry periods is recommended but watch that plants never sit in water as this can cause the crowns to rot.
Have a good week
Gareth Carter is General Manager of Springvale Garden Centre