Image – Wikimedia/Forest and Kim Starr
Who hasn’t eaten a banana? But surely it had to be yellow or green, right? These are the ones that are sold in European supermarkets and greengrocers. Now well, in other parts of the world it is also possible to find blue bananas. And even if it’s hard to believe, no, they are not painted (but be careful with advertisements found on the Internet, as these sometimes show retouched images, giving them a much more intense blue).
As can happen to anyone who is shown a food they have never seen before, doubts will surely arise about the blue banana, such as, what species does it come from or what is its aroma. Well, let’s solve them.
Contents
What is the origin of the blue banana?
Image – Wikimedia/Prenn
It is a cultivar of Musa acuminata x balbisianaknown as the “Blue Java Banana” or vanilla flavored banana, because its fruits, i.e. the bananas themselves smell of this orchid (Vanila sp). This therefore means that it is not found in the wild, but is cultivated in gardens, and even in Hawaii there are plots dedicated solely to its production.
When he reaches adulthood and finishes growing, It reaches a maximum of 6 meters and a minimum of 4 meters. The stem or false trunk measures about half its height; and as for the leaves, you should know that they are not only very long, but also simple and fragile, being able to break easily when the wind blows.
The banana, when ripe, reaches between 15 and 20 centimeters in length and turns yellow with a cream-colored pulp; however, when ripe, it has a bluish-colored skin or shell.
What uses does it have?
blue banana can be used as garden plant or edible for its fruit. In this sense, you should know that you can eat them freshly picked, or put them in the freezer -after having removed the shell beforehand- and then eat them as if they were ice cream.
To have it in the garden or in a pot, we tell you here how to take care of it:
What is the care of the blue banana?
Although it is an exotic plant, you should not worry about the color of its fruit, because it does not stop being a banana tree, and as such, it takes relatively little to be happy, namely: lots of sun, water and a mild-warm climate. If there are frosts in our area, we tend to take them inside the house because otherwise they wouldn’t survive unless they were very weak.
But to make everything clearer, let’s see how to take care of this banana:
Location
As I said, it is a plant that wants to be exposed to the sun. In addition, it is recommended to give it direct light for at least 6 hours a day, but the more the better. It is very important to remember this, since it is not the one that we can put in the shade, and even indoors it could have problems, since there is not always a room with lots of light coming through the windows.
earth or earth
Image – Wikimedia/Ruestz
It is a banana that can be kept for a few years in a pot. In fact, if it is planted in a larger one every 3 years, until you have it in a container that measures at least 80 centimeters in diameter by the same height, you can leave it there. Likewise, it is practical to know that it is necessary to put a substrate or a soil of universal culture which is spongylike this one for example.
If you have land to plant it there, in the ground, do so if the ground drains water well; that is, if it doesn’t puddle quickly and absorbs it at a good rate.
Irrigation
How Much Should I Water the Blue Banana? Well, if it rains so little that the land takes a long time to dry out, it will need to be watered oftenseveral times a week during the summer.
In winter and the rest of the seasons, on the other hand, the waterings will be spaced out, because the soil remains humid longer.
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Fertilizing it regularly during the warm months will help it grow and produce fruit.. For this reason, it is worth fertilizing it with organic fertilizers, such as those of animal origin: manure, guano (on sale here), earthworm humus. This way we will make it grow faster, and therefore have enough energy to produce its blue bananas as soon as possible.
planting time
the blue banana can be planted in garden or orchard soil throughout spring, or even the summer as long as it does not bear fruit. Since, like all banana trees, it is a rhizomatous plant and shoots will emerge from the rhizome, it is important that you consider whether you want to leave them, in which case you should find an area where there is no no trees or oversized fence of other plants; or if, on the contrary, you are going to delete them when they germinate, in which case you will not need so much space.
hardiness
The cold doesn’t hurt him, but the frost does.especially if they are moderate or intense. We recommend that you wrap it in an antifreeze cloth if the temperature drops a little below 0 degrees, and bring it inside if it drops below -4°C. You can buy it here.
Have you heard of the blue banana?