Growing AN INDOOR BANANA PLANT seems like an impossible dream, but it doesn’t have to be! WE GOT YOU! With a few helpful tips and tricks, you have your own fresh bananas year-round.
You can TRUST US! We have researched things about gardening. Our team has the lowdown on growing an indoor banana tree.
We know a thing or two about these BERRIES. With our help, you have your indoor banana trees SOON! We’ll provide tested information to ensure it grows healthy and strong. With a little effort, you’re well on your way to enjoying sweet bananas! So WHY WAIT?
Bring THE TROPICS INDOORS with our help.
You’ll learn the best varieties, what containers to use, how to care for them, and common issues. So let’s go bananas!
What are the Best Banana Varieties to Grow Indoors?
Banana plants, or Musa spp., are great TROPICAL PLANTS you can grow in YOUR HOUSE. Here’s the scoop on some of the best banana tree varieties to grow indoors:
1. Dwarf Cavendish Banana
This is a popular DWARF VARIETY. I always feel tall when taking care of it. Now, that’s growing something with confidence. Hahaha. It produces LARGE CLUSTERS of sweet and creamy fruit that will have you drooling!
2. Gros Michel Banana
If you want lots of fruit in no time, this is your plant! Gros Michel bananas ripen FAST and produce BUMPER CROPS. If there were ever an “instant gratification” fruit, this would definitely be it! It would be a hit with Gen Zs. Hahaha.
3. Apple Bananas
Apple bananas are a RARER kind with yellow-orange skin. I had difficulty finding them and might have hired a banana bounty hunter. They’re like unicorns of the banana world! And no, in case you are wondering, they DO NOT taste like apples when ripe. Hahaha.
But they have a magical flavor that makes them an EXCELLENT SMOOTHIE addition. If you want to get fancy, you can make an apple-banana martini!
4. Strawberry Bananas
These bright red bananas smell like STRAWBERRIES when ripened! They’re not as sweet as other varieties but still tasty enough to enjoy raw or cooked.
Plus, adding some strawberry banana slices to your morning cereal is sure to put a SMILE on your face! Now that’s how I roll.
5. Pisang Raja Red Bananas
These deep red bananas are perfect for baking. That’s because they have a FIRMER TEXTURE than yellow-skinned varieties.
So, your cake won’t be soggy even after HOURS in the OVEN. Delicious! Plus, if you give them as a gift to someone special, they might say “Raja me!”
6. Cavendish bananas
A popular variety, Cavendish bananas have a thick, creamy texture and a mild flavor. They make a GREAT SNACK straight off the plant! As an old saying goes: “A Cavendish a day keeps the doctor away!”
Whoever came up with that saying must have had great experiences with this variety!
Suggested reading: Top 10 Types Of Banana Plants
Best Containers for Growing Banana Plant Indoors
So you are ready to get that ORNAMENTAL FOLIAGE from your banana plant indoor? Even if monkeys don’t use pots and containers to get their bananas, you can! Here are some of the best containers for growing your banana tree:
1. A Well-Draining Pot With Drainage Holes
This ensures that water DOES NOT stay in the pot TOO LONG and drowns the plant. The key to a happy plant lies in AVOIDING any watery grave!
2. A Large Decorative Basket
Enjoy the ornamental foliage from your indoor banana tree with an ATTRACTIVE BASKET. It will also show everyone that you’ve got a style as “well-basket” as looks! Hahaha.
3. A Clay Pot Or Terracotta Container
The POROUS MATERIAL helps keep moisture levels just right. I found this allows OPTIMAL GROWTH and FRUIT PRODUCTION of my banana tree. If it’s good enough for ancient Romans, it’s good enough for your bananas!
4. Repurposed Buckets Or Containers
If you have them lying around, why not get CREATIVE with repurposing them? You can make them into STYLISH CONTAINERS to grow your DELICIOUS BANANAS. It’s like creating art with a tropical spin! [**Inspires my inner Picasso**]
How to Grow Banana Plants Inside Properly?
Here’s what you need to know to get that TROPICAL PLANT JUNGLE going:
1. Choose Your Banana Plant Carefully
It should be comfortable indoors and easy to care for, like the varieties I’ve suggested above. Plus, you don’t want a banana that runs away when you bore them!
2. Plant ’em Babies
Plant those banana babies in WELL-DRAINING SOIL with ORGANIC MATTER mixed in. Also, keep them moist but not soggy (they don’t like their feet too wet) – no one does! [**remembers how annoying wet socks can get** ]
3. Let There Be Right
Make sure you have ENOUGH LIGHT! Banana plants need lots of BRIGHT LIGHT. Ideally, direct sun for at least six hours a day or grow lights if sunlight isn’t available.
Otherwise, the bananas might start looking PALE and WEAK. Think of yourself after binge-watching for a whole weekend indoors!
4. Keep Their Environment Warm
Temperatures between 60–90 degrees are ideal during the growing season. That’s just what a banana-loving genie would wish for! The warmth helps them FLOWER and BEAR FRUIT!
HOT AND HUMID conditions are also necessary to produce that yummy yellow fruit we love so much! Think of it like giving your banana plant a mini vacation in the tropics!
Also, adequate ventilation will PREVENT fungal issues. And it keeps your indoor banana trees HEALTHY too!
5. Feed ’em
Fertilize every month during the growing season. This gives your indoor plant ENOUGH NUTRIENTS to produce quality fruits. I opt for NATURAL ORGANIC FERTILIZERS such as fish emulsion, compost tea, or manure!
If this is not possible, you can use NORMAL FERTILIZER. This way, your banana won’t start asking your neighbor for food. Or even worse, it won’t start writing bad reviews about you online! Hahaha.
7 . Prune Often
Pruning helps create an EVEN CANOPY that supports more branches & blooms. Without it, your plant would look like a wild Tarzan jungle.
Plus, it keeps your plant compact enough to thrive indoors without taking over your space. Enjoy your delicious tropical plant jungle. I wouldn’t tell Tarzan about it!
How Do You Take Care of Indoor Banana Plants?
Here are the basics for keeping your tropical beauty happy and healthy:
1. Full Sun Exposure
Banana trees love DIRECT SUNLIGHT, like a kid loves candy! But, since they will grow smaller indoors than outdoors, give them 6-10 hours of natural light each day. Otherwise, your plant will be droopy and dull.
ARTIFICIAL LIGHT also works well for indoor plants. So, if there’s not enough NATURAL LIGHT, opt for a combination of the two.
2. Prevent Root Rot
Nobody wants their banana plant to suffer from ROOT ROT! It’s not as bad as it sounds, though. All you need to do is water with room temperature water and allow any EXCESS to DRAIN AWAY. I like to think of it as giving my banana plant a bath.
This could be from HOLES in the base or sides of the container. Excess water in your banana-growing pot is not how you make banana soup. Hahaha
This will help ensure your soil stays evenly moist; no more dried-out roots and aged damage here! Your banana plant will THANK YOU for keeping them healthy and root rot-free.
3. Make Sure Leaves Are Clean
Cleaning the FALLEN LEAVES can be like cleaning up after your kids – it’s never-ending! But don’t worry. Regular cleanup will provide much better airflow to your plant and keep it looking neat.
Remove BROWN SPOTS or YELLOWING LEAVES as soon as possible. This also helps new ones to take their place more easily.
4 . Provide Fertilizer Regularly
You should provide fertilizer every FEW WEEKS, like a pet plant. Remember to give it a pat on the head when you’re done! Hahaha. Spread it along the EDGES at the BASE near its stem.
5 . Track Fruit Production
Monitor newly forming fruits carefully, as if they were your children! If left UNATTENDED, rapid growth could cause stems from BREAKING BRANCHES. This happens from the EXCESS WEIGHT they carry.
6. Humidity
An OPEN container OVERNIGHT with water near the plant will help increase HUMIDITY. Think of it as a sauna for your plants – except with cold air.
This helps reduce stress in banana plants during warm, dry periods. That’s like giving them a day at the spa.
Common Issues and Problems with Indoor Banana Plant
Ah, you are finally enjoying these beauties of banana plants. But with them come some COMMON ISSUES that could put your beloved greenery at risk. Here are some potential problems to look out for:
1. Pests
Banana plants can be targets for sap-sucking insects. Common pests include red spider mites and black weevils. These can do SEVERE damage if left unchecked. That’s like unwelcome guests. These pests never fail to do serious damage if left unchecked.
You may also encounter the unwelcome presence of black weevils! Look for a sign of infestation – jelly-like sap oozing from your banana plant. So it’s best to watch them before things get really hairy……. or buggy!
2. Nutrient Deficiency
Lack of nutrients can leave your indoor banana tree feeling like it’s RUNNING ON FUMES. That’s like trying to drive a car with no gas. Signs include your banana tree’s leaves looking SHRIVELED and DROOPING STALKS.
Make sure to give it the RIGHT FERTILIZER depending on its development stage. And use compost to enrich the soil around its own roots.
Trust us; this is better than giving them ice cream toppings with a sundae. We’ve tried it, hahaha. You want to see upright stalks on your banana plants.
3. Fungal Diseases
Fungal diseases can be caused by TOO MUCH MOISTURE. This is like giving your plant a permanent shower without drying it off – you would be sick too. So if you see the plant is affected, keep your space well-ventilated and dry.
And finally – ensure your indoor plant has ENOUGH DRAINAGE, as this PREVENTS DISEASES! When in doubt, remember nobody likes standing in a puddle all day long.
FAQs about Indoor Banana Plant
1. How often should you water an indoor banana plant?
Water your indoor banana trees regularly to keep them healthy! Give it a good drink every two weeks, and it’ll be as happy as a monkey munching on a banana! Indoor banana trees need just the right amount of water, so be sure not to overwater.
2. Where should banana plants be placed in the house?
You should place your indoor banana tree in a spot with lots of bright light and full sun – as much as possible. Place it near a window to soak up all that light and keep it happy.
3. When should you repot banana plant?
If you have an indoor potted banana tree, it’s important to repot it once a year for optimal growth. That’s right – indoor potted banana trees need a change of scenery as we do! So get those hands dirty and give your banana plant the new home it deserves.
4. What kind of fertilizer do you use for indoor banana plants?
Banana plants love a balanced fertilizer! Feed your indoor banana trees a good quality monthly to keep them healthy. Your banana trees will thank you for it – and you’ll get to enjoy their delicious fruit in no time!
What’s Next
We delved into the amazing world of indoor banana plants. We started by exploring the best indoor cultivated varieties and the ideal containers for growing them. Then we showed you how to tend to them and common problems that may arise.
Are you starting an indoor banana garden? Make sure you get the best advice with Aster Gardening!
We’ve worked with beginners and pro gardeners, so let us help you get the most out of your indoor banana tree. We’ve got your back. Get in touch today, and let us help grow those bananas together!
