How to Grow a Plantain Tree

The two types of plantains, French and Horn, are both banana hybrids, but they aren't sweet or soft. High in starch, plantains are hard and have a chalky consistency if you try to eat them raw. On the other hand, they're delicious when cooked. Like the banana, this tropical plant is native to Southeast Asia, but they also grow in other warm areas throughout the world. Raising plantain trees takes the same care as cultivating bananas does.

Container (optional)

Organic matter

Shovel

Water

8-10-8 fertilizer

Shears

Machete

Raise plantains in year-round warm conditions, as they require temperatures in the low to mid-80s Fahrenheit to grow and to set fruit. Plant them in containers in cool areas so you can move them indoors when summer is over or if it gets too hot. Protect the plants from temperatures in the high 90s, as their leaves might burn and growth may stop.

Set your plantain tree in ground that's naturally rich in humus or that you've amended with compost, manure or other organic matter. Build a 3-foot-high bed if the soil drains slowly, as plantains die quickly when their roots stand in water. Place them in a hole that's three times as wide and as deep as the tree's root ball.

Select a site in full sun and sheltered from the wind to keep the plantain's foliage from tearing and drying.

Irrigate your plantain tree consistently, giving it 1 inch of water a week. Reduce the amount if it rains. Increase it if the leaves begin to fold, turn yellow or die.

Feed your plantain monthly during its growing season. Apply ? pound of an 8-10-8 fertilizing formula to young plants. Give mature trees 2 pounds of fertilizer once a month. Broadcast it around the base of the plant, up to 8 feet out. Don't let the feed come in contact with the trunk. Cut the amount of fertilizer in half for container-grown plants. Always irrigate your plantain tree after feeding it.

Prune all suckers, except for one stalk, which will bear the fruit. When the fruiting stem is about six months old, allow another sucker to begin to flourish. It will eventually replace the current fruiting stalk, which will die after harvest. Repeat this process every year so you always have one shoot to bear the plantain fruit.

Cut the fruiting stalk back to 30 inches after harvest. Wait a few weeks and separate its stub from the main plant and discard it. Use a machete to cut through the plant tissue.

Harvest plantains either by cutting the entire stalk off with a machete or by taking one bunch of plantains at a time. Take the whole stalk while the fruit are still a week or two away from becoming ripe. Place it in a shady area. Pick plantain bunches as they ripen on the tree.