May 102013
Hirt’s Super Dwarf Patio Banana Plant – Musa – Great House Plant – 4″ Pot
- Easy To Grow
- Has a very symmetrical and compact appearance: 2′-4′ in height (at maturity)
- Full Sun/Part Shade. This unique super dwarf allows for growing inside the home, on the porch, or close confines of a patio
- It has an attractive mahogany colored trunk and will produce a small edible fruit even in a container
- Size Shipped: 4″ pot
MUSA ACUMINATA SUPER DWARF CAVENDISH BANANA: Forget about huge banana plants that need a lot of room. This unique super dwarf allows for growing inside the home, on the porch, or close confines of a patio. Has a very symmetrical and compact appearance: 2′-4′ in height. Can produce tasty fruit inside or out. Has been used as ground cover around base of palms which provide strong vertical elements. Easy to grow in containers down to 8″ in diameter. Because of its size, our most versatile banana. H
List Price: $ 4.28
Price: $ 4.28
Zone 7 (indoor during the winter, outdoor during the summer)…1 year later.,
I purchased this almost a year ago to the day because I wanted something to fill a corner of a room, and because I love banana trees (they remind me of home) and wanted one I could grow and keep indoors during the winter months in the mid-atlantic region. I was between this and the tiny dwarf variety, but figured I wanted something that would occupy the biggest possible space without being the size of a full banana tree. It arrived a tiny little plant, and at first I was worried that the container I had gotten for it looked ridiculously over-sized.
It grew slowly for the first few months because I tried to grow it using artificial daylight lighting, but then started to pick up a little steam around April and I set it outside from May-September (summer months). I thought it was gonna die outside with the intense heat and sun (I probably should have acclimated it to full sun a little more slowly), but then suddenly it started sprouting leaves at the rate of ~ 1 new bigger leaf per week. The leaves also went from being thin to being much thicker. I watered it daily, btw, since it likes humidity.
FYI, I repotted after the summer and holy moly does this thing have a lot of roots! Give it a week or so to acclimate once you get it, but transfer it to a large pot soonish to avoid getting root-bound. I used well-draining palm soil and apply slow-release fertilizer 1-2x a year.
A year later, it is getting close to 3 ft. tall and still going (with the large container, it’s closer to 4 ft), and currently is overwintering by a sunny window instead. It’s one of my favorite things to wake up to every day. I’ve purchased a few plants from Hirt’s and am yet to have a bad experience. Pretty fast shipping, too!
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|my favorite plant,
This plant was about 10″ tall when I received it. Six months later and it is almost to my shoulders with leaves that are two feet long. No bananas yet but it is a beautiful, lush plant, that even my husband admires.
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|Arrived fast & healthy, but with broken leaves,
The banana plant, along with a Hoya carnosa ‘Strawberries and Cream’ (rated separately), were ordered together and arrived together just 3 days after ordering, an admirable accomplishment. The only thing that could/should have been done better was in protecting the banana plant’s delicate leaves. They were simply suspended in a plastic-foam ‘peanuts’ that provided very good insulation, but they shifted about in transit resulting in 3 of its 5 leaves to be broken and damaged. I have no doubt that given the plant’s overall health otherwise, will recover in a reasonably short amount of time, but is the reason for the 4-star rating. I found the condition acceptable as the plant was ordered for myself, but would not have found it acceptable if the plant was ordered as a gift for someone else. The only other, very minor complaint is that neither plant arrived with a plant tag.
In summary, given that both plants were very reasonably priced and arrived quickly and in good-enough health that I would order from them again. I would suggest that if the plants are intended to be gifts that a note to this effect be included with the order.
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