How to grow banana plants from seed at home 🌱🍌

Banana plants are fantastic fast growing, fruit bearing plants that are fun to grow from seed. Growing bananas from seed is very rewarding and can be fairly easy if you follow the tips and tricks shared in this ‘how to’ video. We’ll show you every step, from a banana seed, to a banana seedling and all the way to a mature banana plant.

Wherever you may be in the world, there will be a species of banana plant that you can grow from seed either as a houseplant or as a banana plant you can enjoy growing outdoors. Banana plants are sometimes referred to as banana palms or banana trees, but they are not trees at all. In fact, they are just giant herbs! This is because they don't turn woody, and the whole plant is actually just made up of soft herbaceous cells.

So how do we start these gigantic herbs from seed?

For such a soft herbaceous plant, banana seeds are surprisingly tough! The commercially grown bananas for the food industry have been bred to have almost no seeds, varieties closer to wild species are packed full of these little cannon balls.

My first tip for growing bananas from seed is to source the freshest seeds you can and buy from a reputable supplier. Though the entire purpose of a seed is to survive long periods of dormancy, their viability often decreases over time. Increase your chances of success by using good quality banana seeds.

Banana seeds have a very tough seed coat, we need to soften this to allow the seed to imbibe water and begin germination. My preferred method is probably the easiest. I soak the seeds in warm water for a couple of days. To keep the water warm sit the soaking banana seeds on top of a radiator. Spring is a good time of year to sow them, and at that time of year we have the heating on in our home. You could also use a heated propagator to maintain the temperature at this stage.

Heat is a catalyst in so many reactions, and in horticulture it is often an important trigger to a dormant seed that the season has come for it to burst into life. As many banana plants have tropical origins the addition of heat will emulate the environment that they are adapted to.

Some people choose to scarify their seeds to break away some of this tough seed coat. Usually this is done by rubbing an area of the tough seed coat with sandpaper. Be careful not to cause damage to the seeds internal structure, when scarifying you are just breaking down a patch of the tough outer seed coat to allow water in. One theory for doing this is that it emulates the process by which the seed coat is dissolved and broken down in the process of digestion when an animal has eaten the banana fruit. Following this idea, some people also soak banana seeds in orange juice because the acidity will break down the seed just as the acids in a stomach would.

For me, soaking the seed in warm water has worked well for the species I grow.

Bananas are fast growing and hungry plants so rich compost and good sized pots will help you grow healthy banana plants. To pot on your seedling into their individual pots plant them at the same height that they were growing at originally. Gently firm the compost around the plant's roots and give the new pot a generous amount of water.

Your newly potted banana plants will grow quickly if kept somewhere bright and warm. Ensure the soil is kept moist and after about 4 weeks begin feeding your banana plants with a high nitrogen feed. Liquid seaweed or chicken manure pellets are good organic fertilisers.

If the weather allows you can move your plants outdoors and allow them to happily grow on. Don't forget, if your plants are tender and you are growing somewhere with cold winters you will need to provide protection to help your plants survive winter.

Happy growing,
Craig

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IN THIS VIDEO

00:00 Introduction
00:30 Why grow bananas from seed?
01:00 Banana seeds appearance
01:50 Prepping banana seeds for sowing
02:00 Soaking banana seeds in water
03:00 Scarify banana seeds
03:34 Soaking banana seeds in orange juice
04:15 Species of banana plants to grow
05:00 What to sow banana seeds into
06:00 Sowing banana seeds
06:25 Maintaining humidity
06:45 Banana seed germination time
07:35 Hot/cold cycles
08:00 Banana seeds germination success
09:00 Pricking out banana seedlings
09:50 Potting up with enriched compost
11:05 Banana pups and division
11:50 Summary and links

[Handles_AreStupid]

For anyone curious, scarification of banana seeds doesn't actually increase your germination rate. The inner coat of the banana seed is water proof and the outer coat is not, by damaging the outer coat, you decrease its absorbant mass and do not increase net water flow. Penetrating the inner coat does increase the germination rate but can lead to stunting if it is not done with precision. The best thing to do is to just soak them in lukewarm water for 48-72 hours as the seeds actually take their water in through the "plug" of the seed.

[tashdog]

Done it many ways and nothing has ever germinated and used about 20 seads. So given up now.

[tinawindham]

First, I love love the color of your walls. It works great with plants, like a hot sun👍🏻I have a pink velutuna that has about 4” bananas, the seeds are small and hard. I’ve got them planted up. Did it bf I found you ! I have some more seeds coming in from across the pond😁and they weren’t cheap so I’ll definitely follow this tutorial. Thank you.USA

[zindrato]

Comment imaginer que de telles graines existent dans une banane. Beaucoup de gens ne savent pas que les graines de banane sont minuscules. La raison en est la modification génétique des bananes vendues sur le marché, de sorte qu’il n’y a pas de graines. Pour cette raison, les gens ne savent pas que normalement les graines de la banane se trouvent effectivement dans la banane.

[mdevorah]

What is the hard black thing at the end of a banana? It has a weird shape. Almost like a spear or something

[wildberrygarden]

Fantastic tutorial, thank you! I havn't grown a banana before but I think I will give them a try now.

[dianasmith]

Would this also apply for dwarf banana seeds?

[bblkaushik]

Voice and accent is not clear to understand as what he explains.

[skajdius]

Love the video, where can i buy Musa basjoo seeds from in the uk please? thanks :)

[Apollo_Blaze]

Thank you for this wonderful video...you are a great teacher....I am going to be trying some musa seeds very soon.

[wesleyhackney]

Great stuff. I only grown new bananas from my existing plants pups but would like to try from seeds. Can you please share links of where to purchase banana seeds like you showed in this video. Thanks

[abdullakutty]

Can you show how can we collect these seeds

[venom]

Really dumb question but bananas from a seed grown plant have seeds?

[bloggalot]

I grew my Musa Hookeri many years ago by sowing in damp soilless compost in a plastic bag placed in a warm airing cupboard.

[SuperDice]

do you know how to plant Banana Seeds Red Dwarf Tree Bonsai Fruit

[bblkaushik]

Thank s for this wonderful information

[danieljheelan]

I eat banana daily but in my whole lire I have never seed so big seeds.

[tabitharobinson]

When starting from seed, do they sprout out of the soft spot on the seed or is that where the roots start?

[davemcgillian]

When will you get more colocasia pink china in the shop?

[vijyagorasia]

Brilliant informative video, just have my musa ensete soaking, thanks to you I’ll now pop on the radiator. Can’t wait for end results if any 😅