How to grow banana shrubs? Understand the cultivation methods and precautions in one article
The banana shrub (Michelia figo) is an evergreen shrub. Banana shrubs are often used to make potted plants for home viewing. When the flowers are in full bloom, the fragrance is rich and has a very good effect of calming the mind and relieving depression. Banana shrubs often grow in shady mixed woods on slopes, and grow well along stream valleys. So how do you grow banana shrubs? What should you pay attention to in home cultivation?
How to grow banana shrubs
Banana shrubs like a warm, humid, ventilated, semi-shaded growing environment, and are not tolerant of drought or scorching sun. Under strong light and dry conditions, the leaves easily turn yellow and wither. Banana shrubs like fertilizer, are afraid of waterlogging, and are slightly cold-tolerant. They will not suffer cold damage at -1 to -3°C. They require loose, fertile, deep soil with good drainage that is slightly acidic, with a pH of 5.0 to 6.0 being suitable.
Banana shrubs can be planted in the open ground south of the Yangtze River, while north of the Yangtze River they are mostly grown in pots for viewing.
Banana shrub cultivation methods and precautions
1. Cultivation methods
1. Soil: Banana shrubs have fleshy roots and require potting soil with good permeability. A cultivation soil made of 4 parts leaf mold, 3 parts garden soil, 2 parts decomposed manure soil, and 1 part sandy soil can be used.
2. Watering: Normally keep the potting soil moist, but it must never be too wet. During the growing season and before flowering, more water is needed, watering once a day. In high-temperature summer weather, water must be applied to the leaf surface. In autumn and winter, because sunshine is shorter, watering once or twice a week is enough.
3. Sunlight: In summer, banana shrub plants should not be exposed to the sun and need 30% shading to avoid strong light burning the leaves. They can be placed at an east-facing indoor window or balcony, and outdoors placed under tree shade or a shade shed. After the weather cools in autumn, they can receive more sunlight. In winter, place them in a sunny, ventilated indoor spot.
4. Temperature: The minimum temperature for banana shrubs to overwinter should not be lower than 5°C. At the same time, the maximum temperature cannot exceed 15°C. Therefore, in winter it is suitable to keep the room temperature between 5°C and 15°C for banana shrubs.
5. Fertilizing: Banana shrubs like fertilizer. Mostly use decomposed cake fertilizer, bone meal, chicken and duck manure, and fish offal and other composted fertilizers diluted with water. During the growing season (April to September), apply fertilizer once every 15 days or so, and stop fertilizing during the flowering period and after October. If the leaf color is found not to be bright and dark green, apply one application of fertilized water.
6. Pests: Banana shrubs often suffer from scale insect damage, which can also induce sooty mold. Scale insects can be brushed off with a small brush, or killed by spraying No. 20 petroleum emulsion diluted 150 times with water. Sooty mold can be prevented and controlled by wiping with clean water or spraying a carbendazim aqueous solution diluted 500 to 1000 times with water.
7. Pruning: Banana shrubs should not be pruned excessively. Normally, after flowering, prune the leggy branches, diseased and weak branches, and overly dense overlapping branches that affect the tree shape, and remove the fruit after flowering to reduce nutrient consumption. Before spring sprouting, appropriately thin out some old leaves.
2. Precautions: In summer, they must not be placed in strong direct sunlight, and when watering in summer, choose a time when the temperature is relatively low throughout the day. In winter, the water temperature for watering should not be too cold and should be close to room temperature. Do not let water accumulate when watering.
Banana shrub propagation methods
Banana shrubs can be propagated by cuttings, air layering, and grafting.
1. Cutting method: From late July to early September, take a lignified branch that has not yet sent out new buds but retains 3—8 leaves, or a terminal bud about 15 cm long, dip the base of the cutting in rooting powder, insert it into sandy soil, provide appropriate shade and keep the environment moist. It will root in about 2—3 months, and then be transplanted the following spring.
2. Air layering propagation: Generally in April, select well-developed, full and robust 2-year-old branches. Make a 0.5 cm wide girdle at a suitable part of the branch, deep to the xylem, apply moist moss to the girdled part, wrap the outside with plastic film, and tie it tightly above and below. It will root in about 2 months. After the new roots have fully developed, cut it off and pot it for cultivation. After planting, water thoroughly, then water once a day or not at all. Begin fertilizing when the new shoots are about 7 cm long.
2. Grafting method: Generally carried out between May and June, often using magnolia as the rootstock, and after survival it can grow quickly. The banana shrub, whose roots are thick and fleshy, is not tolerant of transplanting. If transplanting is truly necessary, it should be done with more soil around the roots, and pruning and shaping of the plant are best done before overwintering.
These three methods can all promote the propagation of banana shrubs, depending on the situation.
When does the banana shrub bloom
Every year, April and May are the season when banana shrubs bloom abundantly.
Banana shrubs like plenty of fertilizer and semi-shady places, but are not cold-tolerant, so during home cultivation remember to protect them from the cold, and when the temperature is too low, remember to take good warmth measures. When banana shrubs are in full bloom, the fragrance is rich, calming the mind, relieving depression, and easing fatigue, making them very suitable for home cultivation.