Banana tree: how to grow it outdoors, which zones get fruit, and how to overwinter it

At a glance

Is a banana tree actually a tree?

No. A banana "tree" is a giant herbaceous perennial in the genus Musa. There is no wood anywhere in the plant. What looks like a trunk is a pseudostem: leaf sheaths rolled tightly around each other, rising from an underground rhizome (often called a corm). University of Florida IFAS Extension describes the banana as a herbaceous plant built this way, and it explains almost everything about how the plant behaves in a garden.

Three consequences follow from that anatomy:

• Each pseudostem flowers once. After it produces its single bunch of fruit, that stem is finished and is cut down. The plant lives on through the corm.
• The plant is a clump, not a single trunk. The corm keeps sending up suckers (pups), so a banana planting widens into a "mat" of stems of different ages.
• Frost kills the top, not always the root. Freezing weather collapses the soft leaves and pseudostem, but a corm in ground that does not freeze deeply can resprout in spring. That is the whole basis of growing hardy bananas in cold climates.

Banana look-alikes

Several big-leaved garden plants get sold or mislabeled as bananas. Telling them apart matters, because their winter care and fruit potential differ.

If a plant matches the canna description, the care is simpler; see the canna lily care guide.

Where banana trees grow: what to expect in each USDA zone

Bananas are tropical plants. According to Texas A&M AgriLife's Aggie Horticulture fact sheet and UF/IFAS, they grow best with warm temperatures all year. Freezing weather destroys the foliage, and a fruiting stem needs many frost-free months to bloom and ripen a bunch. That gives you a practical rule: you get edible fruit only where a pseudostem can survive more than a year without freezing. Everywhere else, bananas are big, fast, tropical-looking foliage plants.

Not sure of your zone? Use the USDA hardiness zone finder. For Gulf Coast specifics, including heat and hurricane-season wind, see gardening on the Gulf Coast.

Cold hardy banana: Musa basjoo and other choices

Musa basjoo, often called the Japanese fiber banana or hardy banana, is the banana that makes the outdoor angle possible in cold climates. Despite the common name, it originated in subtropical China. Its leaves and pseudostem die back at frost like any banana, but the underground corm is unusually cold tolerant. Illinois Extension lists it as the most cold-tolerant banana, able to overwinter outdoors in zone 5 under a heavy mulch. NC State Extension rates its rhizomes hardy to about -10°F when pruned and mulched.

Two points that matter before buying:

• It will not give you edible bananas. NC State Extension describes its small fruits as having sparse pulp and numerous black seeds, and lists them as inedible. Grow it for the foliage.
• Height resets each year in cold zones. When frost kills the top, the plant regrows from ground level the next spring. Where pseudostems are cut back but survive under wraps and mulch, the plant starts the season taller.

UF/IFAS Extension's Banana Growing in the Florida Home Landscape lists more cultivars, with notes on cold tolerance and disease resistance, for gardeners in frost-free areas who want fruit.

How to plant a banana tree

Banana plants arrive as potted plants, tissue-culture starts, or suckers dug from an existing clump. The steps are the same either way.

1. Wait for warm soil. Plant after your last spring frost, once nights stay mild. Bananas sit and do nothing in cold soil. Check your average date with the frost date lookup.
2. Pick a sunny, sheltered spot. Full sun gives the fastest growth. Wind shreds the big leaves, so put the plant next to a building, fence, or hedge. In cold zones, a south- or west-facing wall also adds warmth.
3. Leave room for the clump. The mat widens every year as suckers emerge. Keep it away from foundations, septic lines, and paths you need to keep clear.
4. Prepare the soil. Bananas want moist, fertile, well-drained soil that is rich in organic matter. UF/IFAS notes they can grow in a range of soils, including sand, as long as they get water and nutrients. Mix compost into a hole that is wider than the root ball. Avoid low spots where water stands, because a cold, waterlogged corm rots.
5. Set the plant at the same depth it grew in the pot. For a sucker, UF/IFAS suggests a hole about 3 ft wide and 2 ft deep if possible.
6. Water deeply and mulch. Spread 2–6 inches of bark or wood-chip mulch outward from the base, as UF/IFAS recommends.

Banana tree care: water, fertilizer, and pruning

Light

Give bananas full sun for the strongest growth and best fruiting. They tolerate part shade but grow more slowly. In hot, dry climates, a little afternoon shade or wind shelter keeps the leaves from tattering.

Water

Each big leaf loses a lot of water, so bananas need steady moisture during the growing season. UF/IFAS puts the need at roughly 1 to 1.5 inches of water per week, especially in dry weather. Keep the root zone evenly moist but never waterlogged. Water less in cool weather, when growth slows, because wet, cold soil is when corms rot.

Fertilizer

Bananas are heavy feeders, especially of potassium, because they produce so much leaf tissue so quickly. UF/IFAS recommends a high-potassium fertilizer, around a 3-1-6 ratio. Split it into small, frequent applications through the warm season instead of one large dose. Spread it in a wide ring around the clump and water it in. Where winters are cold, stop feeding in late summer, since new growth is lost at frost anyway.

Pruning and managing the mat

• Remove dead and broken leaves close to the pseudostem. This keeps the clump tidy and reduces hiding places for pests.
• Limit suckers if you want fruit. UF/IFAS recommends keeping one fruiting stem, one half-grown stem, and one small sucker per mat, and removing the rest. A clump grown only for foliage can keep more stems.
• Cut down a stem after it fruits. Once the bunch is harvested, that pseudostem will not fruit again. Cut it to the ground and let a follower take over.
• Accept split leaves. Banana leaves tear along their veins in wind. This is normal and does not hurt the plant.

Banana fruit: how long it takes and how to harvest

Under good tropical conditions, UF/IFAS reports that a banana pseudostem flowers roughly 10–15 months after planting. Cool weather slows it down, and a freeze that kills the stem resets the count to zero. That is why gardens with any real winter rarely see fruit. The bunch then needs about 80 to 180 more days to fill out, depending on temperature and cultivar.

What you will see: a large, drooping flower stalk emerges from the top of the pseudostem. The first flowers to open are functionally female and, per UF/IFAS, develop into fruit without pollination, in clusters called hands. Male flowers follow at the end of the stalk, under purplish-to-greenish bracts.

When to harvest: cut the bunch while the fruit is still green but full, when the angular ridges on each finger have started to round out. UF/IFAS suggests harvesting 7 to 14 days before the fruit would ripen on the plant and hanging the bunch in a cool, shady place to ripen. Do not refrigerate unripe bananas. After harvest, cut that pseudostem down.

Propagation: why you can't grow one from a store banana

Supermarket bananas are seedless cultivars, so there is nothing inside a store-bought banana to plant. UF/IFAS notes that most cultivars set seedless fruit, and edible bananas are propagated vegetatively, from suckers, rhizome pieces, or tissue culture.

To start a new plant from an existing clump:

1. Choose a sword sucker. UF/IFAS distinguishes sword suckers, which have narrow, blade-like leaves and a deep connection to the parent corm, from water suckers, which have broad leaves early and a weak attachment. Sword suckers make stronger plants.
2. Wait until it is a good size. UF/IFAS prefers large sword suckers, dug when about 4 to 5 ft tall.
3. Cut it free with a sharp spade, driving straight down between the sucker and the parent and keeping as much corm and root with the sucker as possible.
4. Cut off the largest leaves, leaving only the youngest, as UF/IFAS advises, then replant at the same depth and keep it evenly moist while it roots.

Spring, after the soil warms, is the best time to divide in temperate gardens.

How to overwinter banana plants

In zones where frost arrives, pick one of three approaches based on the type of banana and how cold your winters get. The New York Botanical Garden's plant information service and University of Missouri Extension both describe saving tropical plants over winter by moving them indoors or storing them dormant, and both mention bananas by name.

The University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service reports that some hardy bananas survive in the ground in northwest Arkansas when cut back after frost and mulched thickly, but in-ground plants start over each spring and rarely fruit. The dig-and-store routine for bananas works like the one for cannas and elephant ears, covered step by step in how to overwinter tender perennials. For general advice on when winter mulch helps and when it harms, see winter protection for perennials.

Timing tip: do the in-ground mulching after the first frost has killed the foliage, not before. A dry cover over a still-active, wet plant encourages rot.

Growing a banana tree in a container

Containers are the only way to keep an edible banana going year after year where winters freeze. Choose a dwarf cultivar such as 'Dwarf Cavendish'. Use the largest pot you can move: bananas grow fast and dry out quickly in small containers. Use a well-drained potting mix, not garden soil, and a pot with drainage holes. Expect to water often in summer and to fertilize more regularly than an in-ground plant, since frequent watering flushes nutrients out of the pot. A pot on a wheeled caddy makes the fall move indoors much easier. For other big-pot ideas, see best plants for deck containers.

Common banana tree problems

When a banana wilts even though the soil is wet, check the corm for rot. The diagnosis guide on root rot in outdoor plants applies.

Common mistakes

Frequently asked

Is a banana tree a tree?

No. Botanically, a banana is a giant herbaceous perennial. The trunk is a pseudostem made of tightly wrapped leaf sheaths, with no wood, and it grows from an underground corm. That is why frost can kill the top while the base survives to resprout.

How long does it take for a banana tree to bear fruit?

In frost-free conditions, UF/IFAS reports that a banana stem usually flowers about 10–15 months after planting. The bunch then needs several more months to fill out, and takes longer in cool weather. Any freeze that kills the pseudostem restarts the clock, which is why fruit is rare outside zones 9b–11.

How many times does a banana tree bear fruit?

Each pseudostem fruits once and then is cut down. The clump keeps fruiting for years because suckers from the corm grow up to replace each spent stem. In frost-free climates, the follower stems produce the next crops.

Can you grow a banana tree from a banana?

Not from a grocery-store banana. Edible bananas are seedless cultivars, propagated from suckers or tissue culture. To grow one, buy a potted plant or dig a sword sucker from an existing clump.

How tall does a banana tree get?

It depends on the cultivar and the climate. Dwarf cultivars stay small enough for large containers, while standard cultivars grow well above head height in the tropics. In cold zones, hardy bananas usually die to the ground each winter; Illinois Extension notes they can still reach 6 to 10 ft in one summer.

How much sun does a banana tree need?

Full sun gives the fastest growth and the best chance of fruit. Bananas tolerate part shade but grow more slowly. In any exposure, shelter from wind keeps the large leaves from shredding.

Are banana plants toxic to cats or dogs?

The ASPCA lists the edible banana plant as non-toxic to dogs, cats, and horses. A pet that chews large amounts of any plant can still get an upset stomach. If you are unsure which plant you have, check the ASPCA plant database or call a veterinarian.

When should you prune a banana tree?

Remove dead or broken leaves any time during the growing season. Cut a pseudostem to the ground right after its bunch is harvested. In cold climates, cut back frost-killed growth in fall before mulching or digging, and remove extra suckers in spring and summer.

Sources

1. Banana Growing in the Florida Home Landscape (MG040), University of Florida IFAS Extension
2. Banana (fruit and nut fact sheet), Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, Aggie Horticulture
3. Banana, University of Illinois Extension
4. Musa basjoo, NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox
5. Banana (Reference Desk: Tropicals), University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service
6. Send your plants on a tropical vacation, University of Missouri Extension
7. Can I store tropical plants over winter?, New York Botanical Garden
8. Edible Banana, ASPCA Animal Poison Control

Read next