Plantains are believed to have originated in Southeast Asia. Two groups of plantains are thought to have a common origin: the horn plantain and the French plantain. Both types grow in India, Africa, Egypt, and tropical America. The French plantains also occur in Indonesia and the islands of the Pacific.
What part of plantain is planted?
Suckers Plantains are vegetatively propagated, most often from suckers (shoots that grow from a bud at the base of the plant) or from corms (underground bulbs known as rhizomes). The use of whole corms is very laborious so it is more common to grow from small pieces of corm.
How are plantains planted?
Choose a sunny, warm area of your garden and dig a hole that is as deep as the root ball. Plant the plantain at the same level it was growing in the pot. Keep the plantain 4-6 feet (1-2 m.) from other plants to give it plenty of room to spread.
Do plantains grow from seeds?
Plantain seeds are best grown directly outside by sowing in early to mid-spring after the last frost has passed. Seeds should be scattered directly over prepared soil. Germination normally takes seven to fourteen days. Leaves can be harvested for use 30 days after the first plants sprout from the soil.
What part of plantain do you harvest?
Harvesting plantain
Plantain is easy to harvest — just pull leaves by their stems from the plant. If you capture the stem along with the leaf, it makes it easier to hang and dry. Otherwise, you can just pull off leaves. Don’t forget the seed heads, since they are also known to have medicinal value.
Can I grow a plantain tree from a plantain?
So if you know someone with a plantain tree, you can use it to get your own young plantain: Choose a sucker (a growth at the base of the mother plant) at least 30 cm (12 in) tall, and ideally 50 cm (20 in) tall and 15 cm (6 in) across. The ones with long, blade-like leaves are best for fruit.
How many months does a plantain mature?
Plantain takes about 8 months to start to yield and about 3 months to mature. That’s to say, it takes about a year to have the first harvest from the planting date.
Where do plantain leaves come from?
Plantain, also known as broadleaf plantain (Plantago major), is native to Europe and certain parts of Asia. This perennial plant produces greenish flowers and has large, oval-shaped leaves that can be eaten raw or cooked. Despite sharing its name, plantain weed is unrelated to plantain fruit, which is a type of banana.
How do you grow plantains from fruit?
Here’s how:
- Soak the seed for 24-48 hours.
- Plant each seed approximately 1-inch deep in permeable soil.
- Maintain soil temperature at 60-68°F.
- Keep soil moist.
- Be patient; germination can occur within 3-weeks, or up to 6-months, depending on the variety.
How long does a plantain tree take to grow?
This plant grows from an underground rhizome reaching 12 to 15 feet tall with huge leaves, which wrap around the trunk. To obtain fruit, this tree needs 10 to 15 months without freezing temperatures to produce flowers and another four to eight months to grow plantains, according to California Rare Fruit Growers.
How many times does plantain produce in a year?
Each grown up plant would produce a minimum of three suckers, and if he could harvest one sucker from each and could sell at N100, the farmer would make additional N150,000. The harvest cycles continue for a minimum of four to six years, or more, depending on land rejuvenation system and farm maintenance practices.
Where is the stem of the plantain tree?
Like banana trees, plantain trees have a food-storing underground stem called a corm. The corm grows upwards, emerging at the top of the plantain stalk about a year after planting. This stem produces a single cluster of flowers before it dies and a new stem begins to grow from the plantain tree’s root.
What can you do with plantain leaves?
The leaves are primarily used as medicine, but the seeds can also be utilized as a laxative. Plantain can be used to soothe bronchitis, burns, coughs, dermatitis, insect bites and stings, peptic ulcers, urinary tract infection and wound healing.
What part of the plantain plant is edible?
leaves
Plantain is a highly nutritious wild edible, that is high in calcium and vitamins A, C, and K. The young, tender leaves can be eaten raw, and the older, stringier leaves can be boiled in stews and eaten. The seeds are also edible.
What is the best month to plant plantain?
Plantains can be planted throughout the rainy season. However, they should grow vigorously and without water stress during the first 3 to 4 months after planting. Therefore they should not be planted during the last months of the rainy season.
How do you make plantains grow faster?
Suckers are planted immediately after field preparation. Plantains can be planted throughout the rainy season. However, they should grow vigorously and without water stress during the first 3 to 4 months after planting. Therefore they should not be planted during the last months of the rainy season.
Do plantain trees produce fruit more than once?
Once a banana tree flowers and its fruit has been harvested, you may cut it down to the ground to make room for new, productive trees to grow up from the creeping underground stem. Each individual tree will only flower and bear fruit once.
How do you multiply plantains?
- Parring of plantain suckers. This is done to remove outer tissues like root.
- NOTE: Overheating kill the sucker. Apply heat treatment to parred plantain suckers before planting Split parred suckers according to the size of the corm.
- Remove epical meristem from the setts. That is where the sprouting will take place.
How do plantain trees reproduce?
Banana trees mainly reproduce through suckers, also called pups. These pups appear to be separate, smaller trees growing next to the adult tree, but they are an offshoot from the roots of that tree. This means they are the same plant attached at the roots.
Which fertilizer is best for plantain?
Potassium Humate
It can also be applied to the leaves of crops. Potassium humate is purely organic and can be used by plantain farmers who practise organic farming. Potassium humate can improve the efficiency of fertilizers and can also positively impact the microbial life of the soil.
How many plantain can I plant per acre?
Answer: 500 – 1200 plantain trees can be planted on one acre of land depending on the crop spacing you use. Drip irrigated farmlands can take more plantain trees than those without drip irrigation system. Answer: the best time to plant plantain in Nigeria is the rainy season as there is abundance of water.