The Hardy Fiber Banana, otherwise known as the Musa Basjoo or Japanese Banana, Japanese Fiber Banana, is a rather well known fruit plant by gardening enthusiasts around the world.
Best known for its average maintenance and fast growth, this fruit will likely liven up your house (or garden) with its green colored leaves. But, only if you learn how to take proper care of it for it to thrive.
Fortunately, this is exactly what we’ll cover in this Hardy Fiber Banana Care Guide. So let’s dive in.
The basic care guidelines you need to remember for your Hardy Fiber Banana are the following:
- Water: The Hardy Fiber Banana grows best with regular watering to keep the soil moist during the dry season. Reduce watering once the plant is established.
- Light: Keep your Musa Basjoo in an environment where it can receive full sun on a daily basis.
- Soil: Make sure to keep the Hardy Fiber Banana in soil with well-draining properties, so ideally, one that is made of sand, chalk, and loam.
And that’s practically it! If you keep these three factors in check, your Hardy Fiber Banana will likely have all it needs for it to survive and even thrive.
Scientific / Botanical Aspects
In botanical terms, the Hardy Fiber Banana belongs to the Musaceae family, the genus Musa and the species Basjoo, hence its scientific (or botanical) name Musa Basjoo (MEW-suh BAS-joo).
As with other Musa’s, the Hardy Fiber Banana is an evergreen plant, which means it will be present year round in your garden.
Growing Region
The Hardy Fiber Banana is a plant native to the Africa and Asia.
Knowing your plant’s native region is very useful, as it can give you tips on which environment is best for your Hardy Fiber Banana. If you keep it in mind, you can try to replicate these conditions at home, and you’ll likely end with a healthier plant.
With this in mind, the Musa Basjoo will be most used to the heat zones in the 8 – 11 region, as the plant hardiness level falls between 6a, 6b, 7b, 7a, 8a, 8b, 9a, 9b, 10b, 10a and the ideal climate zone is between 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, H1, H2.
Growth and Size
Growth
In terms of size and growth, the Hardy Fiber Banana is a relatively fast grower, which makes things tricky for any plant enthusiast.
Size
But, how big does the Hardy Fiber Banana actually get? What should you expect in terms of size? Let’s dive right in…
The Musa Basjoo can grow up to 10′ – 15′ (3m – 4.5m) in 10′ – 15′ (3m – 4.5m) and 6′ – 8′ (180cm – 240cm) in 6′ – 8′ (180cm – 240cm).
These dimensions make the Hardy Fiber Banana a relatively large fruit compared to others, so it’s best to keep this fact in mind since it will affect where you want to keep yours at home.
This is why experts recommend keeping an area of approximately 72″ – 96″ (180cm – 240cm) free so the Hardy Fiber Banana can spread to its best extent.
Water
In terms of watering, the Hardy Fiber Banana is a fairly complicated plant to take care of.
This is mostly because it has a not so straightforward watering schedule and somewhat regular watering needs.
Specifically, most experts agree that the Musa Basjoo grows best with regular watering to keep the soil moist during the dry season. Reduce watering once the plant is established.
Which is why it is considered a plant with relatively average needs in terms of water.
Watering
As a rule of thumb, you should remember to keep your Hardy Fiber Banana in soil with well-draining characteristics, as these will guarantee the right conditions for your plant to grow and thrive.
When you consider this, this is why you should aim to choose soil that has good drainage, and moist properties to keep the right moisture levels at all times.
But, if you want a ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution to watering your Hardy Fiber Banana then you should consider the famous ‘finger’ test. To perform this test, you just need to put your finger in your plant’s soil and determine if it’s moist or not. If it is, then don’t water; if it isn’t, then please do. In any case, this test will allow you to know if your Hardy Fiber Banana needs or does not need water, every time.
Soil Mix
As mentioned earlier, the Hardy Fiber Banana prefers to have soil with good drainage, and moist properties at all times, reason why you need to make the soil mix out of sand, chalk, and loam.
This is why most experts agree that the Hardy Fiber Banana requires soil with high organic matter, which will give you the right conditions it needs.
In addition to this, expert gardeners recommend having preferably alkaline, acid or neutral soil.
Light and Exposure
In terms of light & exposure, the Hardy Fiber Banana requires full sun in order for it to thrive under the right conditions.
Most experts agree that this fruit will do well as long as you keep it in full sun, and it will be able to grow properly.
Specifically, we recommend that you place your Musa Basjoo in full and direct sun (more than 6 hours of direct sunlight per day).
Season
Being an evergreen plant, the Hardy Fiber Banana will be present year round in your garden.
But, you can expect it to have its ‘prime-time’ during the spring (early, mid, late), the summer (early, mid, late), the fall, and during the winter.
Flowers
You can expect your Hardy Fiber Banana to flower around the summer months from July to September (summer).
In particular, this fruit is well known for its showy flowers around the plant enthusiast community.
The Hardy Fiber Banana produces some beautiful yellow, or orange, gold/yellow and purple/lavender flowers around this time of year.
Foliage
The leaves from the Hardy Fiber Banana have a beautiful green color during most of the year.
In particular, they have a simple arrangement in its leaves.
You can expect the leaves from your Musa Basjoo to be around (> 6 inches) in size.
Garden
Now, let’s talk garden and how your Hardy Fiber Banana will look best in it.
Most Musa Basjoo owners agree that this fruit will look great in most tropical gardens of all types.
Other owners consider that they complement well most gardens of mediterranean garden styles.
In particular, the Hardy Fiber Banana’s best location within your garden is in patio and containers, beds and borders, and in wall-side borders, others use it for landscaping in a poolside, border, container, or a specimen.
Companion Plants
Hardy Fiber Banana’s do well with some other plants beside it. One good companion plant is the Hakonechola, which will pair up nicely with your leafy friend.
Others consider that a nice Campsis will work well too, so choose whichever you find works best for you!
Conclusion
So that’s it! These are the main plant care requirements that you need to keep in mind in order to have a healthy Hardy Fiber Banana in your garden or home.
