Dwarf Cavendish Banana Tree

The Dwarf Cavendish Banana Tree produces large bunches of full-sized bananas and is the right variety if you want a real fruiting tree, not just one that is nice to look at. It can be grown outdoors in zones 9 and 11, so if you live in areas that are basically free of frost you can enjoy your own bananas ripened right on the tree. If you live in colder areas you can easily grow this plant in a large pot indoors and no special treatment is needed to get plants growing indoors to produce fruit. So no matter where you live, producing your own bananas is not only possible but actually easy.

The Dwarf Cavendish Banana produces real fruit, just like those in the store, not small, ornamental fruits as some other banana trees do. Left to ripen naturally on the tree the flavor and quality of the fruit will be far superior to the artificially ripened fruit that is sold in stores, and you will know exactly what treatments have been given to your plant. This tree is easy to grow and will usually produce fruit within a year or so of planting, so you won’t even have long to wait to enjoy them.

The original Dwarf Cavendish Banana was grown in England from plants brought from China in 1834. They caused a sensation and young plants were shipped around the world to establish plantations of banana trees in many places. Bananas had been grown for thousands of years in Asia but the Dwarf Cavendish variety quickly became the standard for what a good banana should be.

Growing Dwarf Cavendish Banana Trees

Bananas are not actually trees, but more like giant grasses, with the bases of the leaves wrapping around themselves to make the trunk. The Dwarf Cavendish Banana will grow from 5 to 9 feet in height and will produce young plants around the base so it quickly develops into a clump. The large leaves are at least 2 feet long and appear to grow from the top of the stem.

Knowing When Your Bananas are Ripe

When ready to flower, the Dwarf Cavendish Banana will produce a flowering stem from the top of the plant, which bends down as it develops. At first it looks like a giant pod, but the layers quickly open to reveal the flowers. In a few days, bunches of fruit form on the thick, hanging stem. It then takes around two months for the fruit to mature and ripen, when the lowest fruit will begin to turn yellow and can be picked for eating. A single plant can produce almost 100 bananas.

If you have never eaten a tree-ripened banana, you are in for a treat, as this fruit cannot be compared to those available in stores. Once the fruit has been picked, the stem will die and should be cut out at ground level. However, by then several new shoots will have grown up around it and these will quickly develop into new trees and produce more fruit, so you will always have new bunches developing.

Sun Exposure and Soil Conditions

The Dwarf Cavendish Banana Tree like rich soil and a warm, sheltered sunny place. So add plenty of rich organic material to the soil when you are preparing your planting spot. It also likes plenty of water so keep your plant really well-watered at all times. This also helps to raise the humidity, which banana trees like too. Put plenty of mulch around the plant to feed it and to keep the soil moist. Outdoors your tree will grow mostly during the warmer parts of the year and once the temperature falls below 45⁰F growth will stop until the warmer weather returns.

Growing in a Pot or Container

To grow your Dwarf Cavendish Banana Tree in a pot, choose a large pot with drainage holes and plant your tree in regular tropical-plant soil with some extra perlite added. Water it well after planting and water again when the soil is just beginning to dry a little. Use half-strength liquid fertilizer every week during the growing season.

Plants in pots can be kept indoors permanently in a warm sunny spot, or moved outside during the summer months. It is best to bring outdoor potted trees indoors before the weather turns cool, and to finish ripening the bunches of bananas.Don’t put them outside until the weather is warm again, so that the growth of your plant is not stopped by the cold.

Buying Dwarf Cavendish Banana Trees

The Dwarf Cavendish Banana Tree is a special, heritage variety that must be grown directly from correctly identified parent plants. Our plants are produced in this way, so beware of cheaper plants that may not be the correct variety and will not give you those big, yellow bananas you want. Our Dwarf Cavendish Banana Trees are guaranteed authentic and are suited for growing outdoors or indoors. We constantly receive new plants so that we can send our customers the best quality, so supplies can be limited. Order your trees now to avoid being disappointed and missing out on the fun of eating your own home-grown bananas.