If you've ever sliced open a banana from a grocery store, you may see little black dots that appear to be seeds. These "banana seeds" are immature, infertile, and can't be planted and grown.
Most bananas sold in stores are of the Cavendish variety, which are commercial bananas that typically produce no seeds. That's because, instead of two sets of genes, they've been modified to have three sets of genes, called a "triploid," to create a seedless variety.
Wild bananas grown from seed taste different depending on the variety. Most of them are creamy and sweet with a hint of a typical banana taste.
Do Bananas Have Seeds?
If presented with the opportunity to venture out into the wilderness and open a naturally grown wild banana, you would probably find seeds inside. Some varieties have seeds that are so big, they make up a lot of the fruit and make the flesh difficult to chew.
In wild bananas, the seeds are hard and black. They are usually less than a 1/2 inch in diameter. You can find wild banana seeds by peeling the banana and removing the flesh to expose the inner seeds.
Can You Grow Bananas from Seeds?
Yes, you can purchase and grow wild bananas from seeds. Among the many types of banana cultivars with seeds, Musa acuminata and Musa balbisiana are two worth trying. They are parents of certain cultivated types.
Musa acuminate is closer to the Cavendish banana, but it is typically grown more for its ornamental value than its fruit. Musa balbisiana is more of a wild banana. Some people even prefer the flavor of wild bananas to those in grocery stores.
Growing wild bananas from seed can be difficult, because they need precise tropical conditions. Depending on the variety, you will need to wait between three weeks to six months for a seed to germinate and a year or more to fruit.
How to Grow Bananas From Seeds
Encourage your banana seeds to grow by soaking them in water, sowing them in sandy and loamy soil, watering consistently, and maintaining proper temperatures. Here are six steps to follow when growing bananas at home from seed:
-
Soak the Seed First
Give the seeds a headstart by softening and warming them up. Put the seeds in a bowl and cover them with warm water, changing the water when it cools down.
Leave the seeds to soak for 48 hours to help the embryo sprout.
-
Prepare You Seed-Starting Tray
Put seeds in a seed tray indoors.
Use potting soil with lots of organic compost and more than half sandy/airy loam. This will provide the seeds with the necessary nutrients.
-
Sow the Seeds
Sow seeds 1/4 inch deep in the tray. Sowing seeds outdoors in a bed is not possible unless the soil temperature remains above 68 degrees.
-
Water Gently
Water the tray so that the soil becomes moist, but not soggy. Do not drown the seed. Only maintain conditions that are damp as the seed settles in and begins to germinate. Soil that is too wet can cause the seed to rot.
-
Pay Attention to Temperature
Use a heat mat on a timer to maintain an indoor soil temperature of at least 60 degrees.
Depending on the variety of the banana, it may need as much as 19 hours of cool temperatures and only five hours of warm, but research your seed to maintain the correct ratio.
-
Give it Time
You can't rush banana seed germination. Depending on your variety, seeds could germinate in two to three weeks or it could happen in two or more months or longer.
How to Plant Banana Seedlings
When seeds have germinated, start adding more light, continue to keep the soil evenly moist, and begin feeding to promote growth.
Planting Outdoors
To plant outdoors, bananas need soil temperatures consistently above 68 degrees before seeds or seedlings can be sown in the ground. Seedlings should have at least two true leaves before planting in the ground.
- Prepare seedlings by hardening them off two weeks before planting outside.
- Once the plants are acclimated, they can be planted in a spot with loamy, well-draining soil that gets six hours of sun daily.
- Water banana plants to keep the soil evenly moist and feed with a balanced fertilizer throughout the growing season.
- For healthy growth, amend the soil every spring with compost.
- To thrive, bananas need nighttime temperatures of 67 degrees and daytime temperatures between 75 and 95 degrees, with a humidity level of 50 percent or higher.
Growing in Pots
To grow bananas in pots, they will need a 15-gallon pot that's about 15 to 20 inches in diameter. You can start by planting a banana seedling in a pot that’s six to eight inches wide in the first year while the plant gets established. Consider these tips:
- Plant the banana seedling in a pot with drainage holes filled with a loose, organically rich potting mix, and place it in full sun.
- Bananas grown in pots will go through water and fertilizer faster than when planted in the ground.
- Bananas are grown in pots for their foliage as they might not bear fruit.
- Use a moisture meter to help you determine when the soil is dry.
How Bananas Produce Fruit
The flowering stalk of a banana is called the "banana inflorescence." Emerging from the middle of the "pseudostem" 10 to 15 months after the seed has been sown, it will likely be surrounded by 26 to 32 leaves by then.
The banana flowering process is characterized by flowers appearing in spirals on the axis of the stalk in groups of 10 to 20. Fleshy bracts, purplish-to-greenish in color, eventually shed and give way to the first flowers that are functionally female.
Edible cultivars like the ones listed above have fast-growing ovaries that develop without pollination into clusters of fruits, some of which can produce seeds. The last flowers, functionally male, come next.
When you plant rhizomes, the time from shooting to fruiting is typically 180 days depending on the cultivar, temperature, and the moisture of the soil. When grown from seeds, expect to wait 14 months or more.
-
What does a banana seed look like?
Wild banana seeds are typically hard, black, and less than a 1/2 inch in diameter. To find the seeds, you first peel the banana and remove the flesh to expose the inner seeds.
-
When did bananas stop having seeds?
It is believed that seedless bananas were being developed as long as 1,000 years ago in Africa 650 AD. However, the sterile, seedless Gros Michel banana (now nearly extinct) was developed well over a century ago, to be replaced by the Cavendish around the 1950s.
-
Are banana seeds rare?
Banana seeds from wild banana varieties are not very rare. If you want to know how to get banana seeds, simply research your options from seed sellers that specialize in banana seeds.