Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

The place I recently moved into has a banana plant growing..

Should I cut the stalk down... and/or bag it... to ripen them...

Or just leave them on the plant to ripen??

wait until the fruit is really full, no angles on it, we tend to only bag them when birds/flying foxes start paying attention to them. When the first ones go yellow, or the trunk droops, then cut it and hang it to finish ripening

Thanks Jaymie...

Some people say cut the flower bell off... others say leave it on... your thoughts??

Don Bird posted about this some time ago.I think he was ripening hands ( about 6-12 bannanas) at a time. Much better for home consumtion.

Nice to move into a new house and have that horrible problem to contend with...

Would have been even better a few months back, prices are starting to come down now, I bought a stack the other day for 99c a kg..

I was visiting OBO's today and his banana tree he planted some time ago is doing well. Interesting considering our climate here.

Apologies for me not following Rupe, but are these banana's on your new property? And all for you?

Total score if this is the case, unlike you buggers in metro areas we still pay a fortune for our nana's here in Kal.

mmm they look like lady fingers...
Yep Jaymie is right. Also make sure you hang it upside down, otherwise the bananas might fall off when they get really ripe.
I think its best to remove the bell, its only taking nutrients away from the bananas. Cut it off about 5 inches from the bottom hand, so you have some room to tie a rope, oh and to hold on to it when you cut it down

where was that???

I can answer that one Gorotsuki! Coles Northlake Rd (Lakes Shopping Centre)
What a bargain eh!

Yep, all good advice, those ones have a way to go yet, and to make them last longer, harvest a hand as required.
I found it didnt make any difference if I cut the flower or not, but the flowers attract the bats sooner.
I would bag them now. Watch out for possums and rats, they can take out a lot in just one nite, and they dont have to be ripe.