Scientific Name:
Musa acuminataProduct Details:
Ships late May 2010
Musa acuminata 'Sumatrana' (Rojo)- This is one of the most beautiful of all ornamental bananas. This strikingly red and green ornamental plant is grown for its foliage. The leaves are burgundy or wine-stained and striped. The foliage is long and wide and shows off well in the landscape, in both containers and indoors under high light conditions. This cultivar is unmatched for containers and small areas. Makes a drastic statement when planted in masses.
Banana leaves, pseudostem(trunk) and fruiting stem (raceme) grow from the underground rhizome (or pseudobulb's) top surface and the roots grow from the lower surface of the rhizome. The fleshy stems sheathed with huge broad leaves can grow from 2 to 35 feet in as little as 1 year, depending on variety and growing environment. Each pseudostem produces one flower cluster, which develops fruit, then dies. In addition each parent banana plant during its life cycle, will produce as many as 10 suckers which grow into new plants. New pseudostems then grow from the rhizome.
Bananas grow best in a uniformly warm environment and need 9 to 15 months of frost-free conditions to produce a flower stalk. In the subtropics, fruit ripens in 2-3 months. In cooler climates it may take several weeks longer to ripen. Plant growth stops when temperatures drop to 57°F. Stokes Tropicals' Banana Blend (6-2-12) is the best fertilizer source for these fascinating tropical giants.