Here is what I do with my bananas over winter. I buy a wrap through online companies that sell from China a plant wrap to insulate the stem over winter. Unwrap when spring arrives and the danger of frost is passed.
Tissue culturing banana is achieved by stripping back the outside to find the meristem and the stem cells then regenerating these in growth media under sterile conditions.
It takes about 3 weeks to initiate growth, then another 5-6 weeks to multiply and then a further 3-4 weeks until there is a plant with roots ready to go in to soil.
Its both easier and harder in some ways. What we know is that bananas tolerate a wide range of conditions. But they do not like the cold or the wind.
That said, a number of bananas are being grown across the warmer and more sheltered parts of NZ from North Taranaki to the East Coast and Gisborne, from Hawke’s Bay to Martinborough, from Palmerston North and Feilding to Whanganui. Northland are already into a commercial quantity and others will follow soon.
How to grow and care for your banana
Dwarf Cavendish
Below are pictures of Dwarf Cavendish growing under cover in 2 different tunnel houses in Northland near Whangarei.
