A banana leaf plant is an alluring tropical houseplant to keep in your home. From its smooth-edged leaves to wavy edges, banana leaf plants are a memorable addition to one’s décor or garden. Unless you buy a faux banana leaf plant though, you will have to jump on board with responsibilities on how to care for the real thing. This is how you can keep a banana leaf plant happy.
Have the Right Temperature
A banana leaf plant is tropical. It requires warm conditions. Ensure they aren’t ever put in temperatures under 15 degrees Celsius. This will stress the plant and unnecessarily so.
Do Not Place in Direct Sunlight
Like other plants, a banana plant can dry out and even burn from too much direct sunlight exposure. They need indirect sunlight and plenty of it. Ideally, a bright room or some place relatively sun-filled but without being directly underneath the sun’s rays is best.
Banana Plant Leaves Tear Easily
Banana plant leaves are thin and fragile. They must be sleeved to minimize damage from temperature and contact. For this reason, find a decent-sized planter in which your banana plant’s safe to sit.
How Much to Water A Banana Plant
How to take care of a banana plant involves nothing when it’s a faux plant. When it’s real, moisture and watering are a concern. The soil should be moist but not too much. Soil that’s soaked disrupts the plant’s growth through root rot. Be careful not to let your banana plant sit in water.
Your Banana Plant is At Risk of Bugs
Pests and diseases. They can kill your banana leaf plant in days before you grasp what’s happening. Watch out for them. Aphids and scale insects are most common. Dry conditions will breed red spider mites as well.
When to Feed A Banana Leaf Plant
Try to feed your banana leaf plant once every two weeks. This will keep it strong and looking vibrant. If you can’t do this, you run a greater chance of it not surviving in non-tropical conditions.
Cut it When It Gets Too Big
Faux tropical plants capture a plant at its best look before it gets too big. A real banana leaf plant’s going to grow and grow. When it gets overly large, remove some of the lower stems. This will bring forward some fresh growth and keep your plant producing new leaves.
When Will it Produce Fruit
We’ve got some bad news for you if you’re expecting a banana leaf plant to produce fruit. It won’t, as a houseplant. The conditions aren’t quite right. That said, some species can. For a banana plant to flower, it needs lots of light, high temperatures, and takes 3-4 years of these conditions to get to the point where it’s producing fruit.
How Do I Introduce A Banana Plant to My Garden?
In spring, give your banana plant some time to acclimatize to springtime conditions and the sunlight after keeping it indoors through winter. Be careful also not to scorch the leaves which is unfortunately common when moving banana leaf plants indoors to outdoors.
If all this sounds unnecessarily difficult, you can find lots of faux tropical plants, artificial banana trees, fake banana leaf plants, and more at Artiplanto today. The same look. The same charm. Responsibility-free.
