Ask a Master Gardener: Yes, We Have No Bananas Today

Rack of Blue Java 'Ice Cream' bananas. Photo by J. Woolsey.

By: Jeremiah “Pepper” Woolsey, Mobile County Master Gardener,

www.mobilecountymastergardeners.org

One of my first memories was, as a 5-year-old, going down to the docks on the Mobile River with my father to watch the banana boats unload racks of fruit from the Caribbean and Central America. It was the late 1950s. The boats from Cuba stopped after the Revolution and the rest, as more modern means of transport were used.

The type of banana being brought into the port back then was the variety known as Gros Michel or “Big Mike.” It was the top banana that was grown commercially and eaten throughout the Western Hemisphere. The Gros Michel was hit by Panama disease which decimated crops in the plantations throughout the equatorial plantations. What replaced it was the Cavendish banana for its resistance to Panama disease. Its taste is unremarkable and is the banana which fills our supermarkets today.

The type of banana that has graced most Mobile gardens is the Golden African banana, a.k.a. the Gold Rhino Horn or Giant African. It’s thought to hail from the Ivory Coast and was most likely brought by enslaved Africans.  It’s cold tolerant (Zone 7) and can grow up to 20 feet.  The Cavendish, commonly sold here, doesn’t appear to have a high probability of fruiting.

The Upper Gulf Coast below I-10 is in USDA hardiness zones 8b-9a. We get temperature dips in the winter that damages the upper, more tender branches, the ones that bear fruit. Generally, it takes about 18 months for most banana plants to get up to size, fruit, and ripen. That means it must span a winter. Some years there will be bananas; most there won’t.

With Mobile being on the cusp of banana viability, gardeners should select cultivars that are cold tolerant, short cycle (fruiting faster than 18 months), or both. Most Gulf Coast banana growers report the best results with Dwarf Orinoco, which produces a shorter, stubbier, square ribbed fruit that tastes pretty good. Dwarf Nam Wah is a close second. Your author was able to grow two racks of Blue Java “Ice Cream” bananas in 2024. And having tasted it, it lives up to the name, sweet with a creamy texture. One of the big box stores started selling Blue Java bananas this 2025 season.

After selecting the varieties that perform here, gardeners should also try to ensure conditions that will contribute to success. Banana plants need lots of water, heat, sunshine, organic matter (compost), and nitrogen. If you have a south-facing wall or a spot near a ditch that gets good sun, both are great spots to plant. They are heavy feeders and heavy drinkers; the plant is not described as “lush” for no reason. Many gardeners grow bananas in a circle where the plants can share the nutrients and moisture.

For a banana circle, a shallow round pit is dug and filled with brown and green compost: leaves, twigs, kitchen scraps, peels, manure, branches, coffee grounds, etc.; and the banana plants are placed inside. Once a banana plant has fruited, it is no longer viable. Cut it down, chop up the stalk, and toss it on the base of the remaining stalks to feed the soil.

There are two camps on how best to winterize your banana plants. Some gardeners prefer simply to cut down the brown wilting stalks to the ground and wait for Spring to revitalize it. Others cut the stem off near the top, just above where the stalk is solid, to give it a head start in Spring. It’s the age-old argument, “aesthetics versus utility.” Well, do you want to be known for “Lawn of the Month” or “Best Potluck Dish of the Block Party”?

Traveling in Costa Rica, Thailand, Singapore, and Indonesia, I saw how ubiquitous sweet bananas are. The morning banana crepes in my bungalow on those temple grounds in Bali forever raised my expectations. Selection of banana varieties appropriate to our area will provide both a beautiful tropical look for your garden, delicious fruit for your kitchen, and you might just be one of the lucky ones proudly singing, “Yes, we have some bananas today.”

Jeremiah ‘Pepper’ Woolsey is also a certified Urban Forester by the Alabama Urban Forestry Association (AUFA), and a certified Permaculture Designer through Oregon State.

Blue Java banana Circle. Photo by J. Woolsey.

Blue Java banana blossom. Photo by J. Woolsey.

Banana Sorting at the Mobile Docks in the 1930s. Photo courtesy of USA Photographic Archives.