We’ve been in this house for going on five years now. I brought along quite a few starters from the last place and among them were some baby banana plants. I planted two little areas on each side of the yard. East and west. The ones on the west side did better. Probably because of the shelter from the neighbors huge magnolia tree.
One of the first trees that I purchased within the first year for the new place was the mango above. It was in a five gallon or larger pot and was at least eight feet tall. I gave it what I thought was a prime location in the middle of the yard and have babied it since.
This mango tree I purchased a couple of years later. It was in a two gallon pot and was about three feet tall. It had been on sale at Home Depot and was sort of an impulse buy. (I do that with trees a lot)
I didn’t really have a good place for a huge tree so, clever guy that I am I thought that I would plant it under the bananas and keep it a dwarf.
Well, that didn’t work out exactly as I expected it to. It took off like a rocket. Probably grew five feet or more per year. While meanwhile, the main mango hasn’t done much more than five feet in four years.
I also noticed that the pineapple plant that was growing nearest to the bananas produced the largest fruit this year.
This got me to thinking. Could the bananas have anything to do with the rate of growth of the tree? I certainly noticed that the bananas didn’t produce any fruit after I put in the mango. At least they didn’t till this year.
Anyway, one of the other things I brought with me from my last yard was a little mamey tree that I started from seed must be nearly ten years ago now. I put it into the ground before I gave it enough consideration and it languished.
So a month ago I decided to move it.
I was quite concerned about digging it up as I have killed a few trees over the years doing that. But at the rate it was growing, I concluded that it wouldn’t reach the top of the fence by the time I celebrate my hundredth birthday. (You all are invited btw.) I had to do something.
So I dug it up about a month ago and planted it near the bananas on the east side of the yard.
Though these bananas aren’t doing as well as the more protected ones, they are slowly getting healthier.
And the little mamey has already put out some new growth. So far so good.
Now of course this is all anecdotal. The new growth could be attributed to more sunlight and a ton of rain lately. The stunted mango probably was affected by being root bound. Which I discovered that it somewhat was when I planted it. And to be honest, I don’t know the variety’s of the mangoes either. The big tree makes big mangoes. Some are very nearly two pounds each. The main mango makes what look like honey mangoes. Much smaller and more yellow. And it didn’t even produce a single one this past season.
I know that they say that bananas are heavy feeders but from my experience so far they seem to help trees, (and pineapples), planted near them. Maybe they store nutrients for themselves and the trees are able to access it too.
Maybe there is someone out there who knows but I wasn’t able to find much about the subject using bananas as companions for fruit trees. Would sure like to find out more about it if anyone knows.
In the meantime its an experiment in process. Will keep you posted.