Tropical Fruits: My Ice Cream banana tree, 1 by kmhughes

kmhughes wrote:
I have a Raja Puri. Does anyone have any hints on how to get bananas to ripen faster? Mine have been green since end of August. It is starting to get into the 40s at night. In another few weeks it might freeze, and then I will lose the tree and the fruit. I am hoping to pick them before a heavy frost.

Winter tips: I have mine planted close to the house. It needs 19 months or so to get to where it fruits (then it dies back and starts over). The first winter in the cycle, I attach heavy clear greenhouse poly cover to the eaves of the house over the plant, and make a mini-greenhouse for it. It is next to my bathroom window, so the window is inside the cover and I leave the window open on cold nights to heat the "greenhouse" a bit. On really cold nights, I also fill a painter's 10 gallon bucket with hot water and set it under the plastic. In my northern California winter, just a few degrees can make the difference between freezing and not freezing.

By the second winter, it should have already made bananas, and it is too big to cover anyway. So it dies back because it fruited, or dies back because it gets too cold.

Any advice on getting green bananas to ripen is greatly appreciated!!