The Latest Guide to Banana Shrub Planting Techniques and Methods
The banana shrub is also known as bajiao, banjiao, banjiao and so on. It is a perennial herbaceous plant of the genus Musa in the family Musaceae, in the same family as the banana, similar in appearance, with certain medicinal value. It originated in the Ryukyu Islands, and in our country it can be cultivated in the open ground south of the Qinling Mountains and the Huai River, mostly grown in courtyards and near farmhouses. Now let us take a look at the planting techniques for banana shrub!
Growth Habits of Banana Shrub
The leaves of the banana shrub are large and wide. It likes warmth and has weak cold tolerance. Its stem has strong tillering ability, tolerates partial shade, has fairly strong adaptability, and grows quickly. It grows better in soil that is deep, loose, fertile and well drained. It is not cold tolerant, and in winter the temperature must be kept above 4°C, but it can also tolerate short periods of low temperature down to 0°C. It tolerates partial shade; if too shaded, the plant grows poorly and is difficult to flower. Because its leaves have parallel veins and a loose structure, they are very easily torn by strong wind, so a wind-sheltered place should be chosen for planting. It likes moisture; during cultivation it should be watered frequently and the plant should be misted to maintain relatively high soil and air humidity, but continuous waterlogging in the soil should be avoided, otherwise the roots rot very easily.
Propagation Methods of Banana Shrub
The banana shrub is mostly propagated by division, preferably in early April. When dividing, first dig away the soil around the banana shrub with a shovel or hoe to expose the small banana shrub suckers and stolon roots, then use a sharp knife to cut them off from the mother plant together with the stolon roots. The cut small banana shrub suckers are the seedlings for division propagation. If the stolon roots of the seedling already have fibrous roots, it can be planted directly in a courtyard or grown in a pot for ornamental viewing. If the cut seedling has no fibrous roots, it can first be rooted in a seedling bed filled with plain sandy soil. Before burying it in the sandy seedling bed, consider the future need for potting, and the stolons may be appropriately shortened to make later potting easier. During the operation, be careful not to damage the root nodules.
Cultivation Techniques of Banana Shrub
1. Site selection and land preparation: For the cultivation site of banana shrub, choose a cool, damp and fertile place, preferably beside ditches, banks, embankments, dams and ponds, especially low-lying land. If sloping land is chosen, select a place with deep soil and a good source of water and fertilizer. When preparing the land, loosen the soil and break up the clods, so that after planting the “running horse whip” (that is, the underground stem) can spread and grow through the soil in time.
2. Transplanting time: Division and transplanting of banana shrub are generally carried out from late autumn to early spring of the following year, because at this time the banana shrub is in its dormant period, and division and transplanting cause only slight damage to the plant and make it easier to establish. When dividing suckers, in a banana shrub grove that has already grown for more than 5 years, select new sucker stems that have just emerged from the running horse whip that year. For the running horse whip, choose those around the plant, because such running horse whips have well-developed fibrous roots and strong soil-penetrating ability. At the same time, avoid cutting the running horse whip, and require each sucker to have 2 to 3 one-year-old stems.
3. Transplanting method: When transplanting banana shrub, the number of sucker stems planted per hole should suit the plot. Generally, plant 2 to 3 per hole along banks and embankments, and 1 per hole in low-lying land, because low-lying land is cool and damp with good water and soil conditions, and the plant easily grows large. When planting, place the sucker stems upright in the planting holes dug in advance, and after placing them, cover them with relatively finely broken pig, cattle and sheep manure mixed with a small amount of fertile soil.
4. Post-planting management: After the banana shrub sucker stems are planted, cover them immediately with rice straw, thatch or plastic film to prevent freezing injury. After the ground warms up again, remove the covering. Within 3 to 4 years after planting, apply fertilizer and cover with soil once each year to promote breeding and growth. Fertilizing and soil covering should be done in spring when the ground warms up and the heart leaves begin to grow. Break up pig, cattle and sheep manure or farmyard manure finely, spread it evenly over the sucker stems, then take fertile soil to cover them. Poor plots should be given more manure, while fertile plots may be given less manure. In addition, when the tender stems begin to grow, livestock should also be prevented from trampling and gnawing them.