entangled [earlier]
leaves broken...
new baby banana plants,
the biggest is the mother.
That is going to be our third banana. This particular flower is in a very awkward situation for getting entangled inside the roll of new shoot. Earlier, the flower is maintaining its verticality. It then gets heavier, and the shoot hasn't open up, the flower droop but still within the roll of young leaf.
I also observe, that every time a flower is appearing, the leaves will start breaking up... a general weakening up of the mother plant, ready to die, sacrificing herself for the birth of a flower and soon fruits... And the mother plant will always make sure, enough babies are created around her to continue its legacy. That's a little story about our wild banana....
~bangchik
Putrajaya, Malaysia
Sometimes I see one of my plants dying and I feel sad. Later on I realise there are new shoots appearing around the main plant and I am so relieved. Plants are so varied in the ways they reproduce.
ReplyDeleteYour banana leaves are very impressive!
man, what I would do If I could grow a banana.
ReplyDeleteYou lucky ... and talented gardener!
Rosey
Was it tangled because of an insect? We have a caterpillar who stitches the canna leaves closed.
ReplyDeleteBangchik, I thought you were going to peform a C-section! Plants are so much like us, they become weak after becoming pregnant with flowers and delivery of fruits.
ReplyDeleteI wish I could grow them outdoors in MI. Thats why I will have to have a nice little glass house on the south side of my home. I want to grow lemons, limes, bananas, kiwis, etc...
ReplyDeleteI love the look and colors of those aging banana trunks. Alas they won't grow here. My dad has some at his nursery and they're so much better tasting than those in the grocery store.
ReplyDeletenice blog. start following it.
ReplyDeleteThis is so fascinating. So you can't just unravel the leaf? Can you cut off the younger plants to send energy to the banana and top leaves? Sorry, these questions are probably really stupid!
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting to see the life of a plant we only see here in the grocery store as the fruit. I had posted on Autumn Belles blog a while back that I had lived my first year in the Philippines. Most of the photos from that year have my Dad's banana tree in them. I wonder if he had the same problems with the flowers getting tangled up.
ReplyDeleteI hope that the banana survives the wrap up and managed to get ripen. But you mentioned its a wild banana? so, you don't get to eat it?
ReplyDeleteI never tasted a banana right from the tree. Fascinating post. Pam
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing how plants will ensure that there's offspring to carry on.
ReplyDeleteNice. I suppose you actually get fruit from the plant? We have a banana plant, but for looks only.
ReplyDeleteEASYGARDENER, ROSEY, JANET, BELLE, FLOWRGRL1, JGH, JAY, WENDY, JESSICA, JAMES, PAMS, JO, KIMandVICTORIA.
ReplyDeletePlants do handle life to the best of their ability just like us... they coexist with pests, even if they succumb to attack, they make correction through their ability to make seeds and babies. Just count the number of seeds from spinach, huh... hundreds or may be thousands!!
Banana plant is beautiful.. when wind blows, there is a hissing sound as the leaves are holding ground, flapping in the air.
But I have seen ugly banana plants. Caterpillars roll up portions of the leaves for the pupa to rest... I have seen every section of the leaves having pupa.. Ugly yea.. beautiful if one cares so much about butterflies.. haha.
Reducing the number of babies is a smart move to handle banana... or take a few out and put at other locations.. But I don't grow them for fruits. Just for the leaves and flowers. This specie is wild.
I will have to get a ladder to have a closer look what's going on with the tangle.. this weekend. Probably a few photos to show and I may help to unravel the tangle.... May be the flower and the leaf will correct and solve between themselves....
Growing banana is worthwhile... and wish you the best of luck!!
~bangchik
Putrajaya, Malaysia.