Bananas used to be one of the few things here that produced fast enough to harvest regularly rather than just admire while waiting. That’s changed, and not for a good reason.
The Basics
Banana, Musa spp., is native to Southeast Asia and New Guinea and has since become one of the most widely grown fruit crops on the planet.
Origin and Habitat
Originally a Southeast Asian and Pacific understory plant, now grown in essentially every tropical and subtropical region worldwide.
What It Looks Like
Technically an herbaceous plant rather than a true tree, growing from an underground corm and sending up a single flowering stalk per pseudostem before suckering out new shoots to replace it.
Uses and Flavor
We used to grow a few different types side by side, Namwah, Apple, and Williams among them, and once harvested three full bunches of those three varieties on the same day, a nice spread of flavor and texture from sweet and firm to soft and aromatic. That’s no longer the reality here.
Growing It Here
Banana bunchy top virus has made it so we can’t really grow bananas here anymore, which stings, because bananas used to grow like weeds on this property. Our Apple and Dwarf Cavendish plantings are gone. Namwah is the one variety that’s shown some resistance, and the original Namwah row, planted about 10 years ago, is still standing near where our aguaí guaçú is growing. The plan for now is to phase out banana plantings entirely for a while and hold off on replanting until bunchy top is actually eliminated from the area, rather than just replant into the same losing situation.
Pests and Diseases to Watch For
Banana bunchy top virus is the big one, spread by aphids and untreatable once a plant is infected, it stunts growth and eventually stops fruiting altogether. Various fungal leaf spots are a lesser, more manageable issue by comparison.
Kenta’s Take
Compared to a lot of what’s on this list, banana used to be almost boring in how reliably it performed. Losing that reliability to a virus we can’t treat is one of the harder lessons this project has handed me, and a reminder that even the easiest crop in the food forest isn’t guaranteed.