Heavenly Muses It is the scientific name that the banana plant receives, although it is also known by other common names such as banana, cambur, ripe, plantain, mole and banana.
All these names refer to the herbaceous plant belonging to the genus known as MusaEither hybrids that are obtained in horticulture starting from species of wild origin, as well as the crops of said species that are genetically pure.
Features Heavenly Muses
Therefore, is a set of vegetables that make up the fruit and that most is consumed in the world. It is like a kind of false berry, which has an elongated or also falcate appearance, which grows in clusters where up to 400 units can be formed, each branch can weigh about 50 Kg.
It has a yellow color when it is found, the fruit is quite fleshy and with a sweet tasteIt is an excellent source of fiber, potassium, tryptophan, carbohydrates, vitamin A and C, which also has a completely natural antacid that is very useful to combat heartburn; but apart from this it is a food that does not contain much sodium and not much fat.
Unlike the rest of the fruits that exist, it has more caloriessince it has a large amount of starch. The banana plant is more of a megaphorbia and not a tree, which is a kind of perennial herb with a huge size. In the same way that it happens with the rest of the species Musa, it does not have a true trunk.
Instead of this, it has filiary sheaths, whose development forms structures that are called pseudostems, which are very similar to vertical shafts with a measure of up to about 30 centimeters in basal diameterThey are not woody at all and reach a measure of up to 7 meters high.
The leaves of the banana are part of the largest in the kingdom of vegetables. Its texture is smoothwith an oblong shape, they are tender, they have an apex that is thin as well as a base with a round shape or in certain cases a little cordiform, they are green in the upper part and their color is much lighter although generally glaucous towards the underside, with margins that are smooth and pinnate veins, green or also yellowish.
They are arranged in a spiral shape, When deployed, they can be about 3 meters long by 90 centimeters wide. and with a petiole that can measure a maximum of 60 centimeters. The leaves usually break easily due to the winds, so the plant in certain cases has a somewhat disheveled appearance.
Banana flowers
After about 10 to 15 months after the pseudostem is born, by the time the plant has already produced about 26 or 32 leavesStarting from the rhizome, inflorescences emerge from the central part of the vertically arranged pseudostem; It is very similar to a large cocoon with a purple color, which has a glabrous peduncle and rachis.
When it opens, it has a structure very similar to that of a spike, where rows of many flowers are arranged on the axial stem, which are grouped in bunches of up to about 20 flowersbeing totally protected by some very fleshy and thick bracts that also have a purple color.
Between the 5 and the first 15 rows of flowers are female, containing a large amount of nectar; where the tepal is 5 centimeters long and 1,2 centimeters wide; has a white color and in certain cases it is purplish on the inside. The upper part has a yellow color, with teeth that measure 5 mm and with a pair of appendages that are less than 2mm.
The free tepal is almost half the size of the previous one, with a white or in some cases pinkish color, with an obtuse shape, with an apicule that is short and mucronate. The rest of the rows of flowers are made up of some that are neutral or also hermaphrodites and by flowers that are male.
The banana produces a fruit that can take up to 180 to complete its development. Up to 20 coats can even be generated for each spikebut the normal thing is that it is partially truncated in order to avoid an imperfect development in the fruit as well as to avoid that the energy of the plant is consumed by the terminal cocoon.
As already mentioned, the fruit is a kind of false berry that can be up to 30 centimeters long and about 5 centimeters in diameter, which has a fairly compact cluster formation. When immature it is covered by a kind of leathery pericarp green in color, but when ripe it can be yellow, white, red and with a green band.
Care
Banana is a plant that comes from Indonesia and has been cultivated since ancient times, however the largest producer in the world is India. So that a better quality fruit can be obtained, it is necessary to put certain cares into practice.
Weather
It is a plant that requires a warm enough climate and with continuous humidity. When the intensity of light is reduced in development, the vegetative cycle will be greatly extended. On the other hand, if the water is reduced, the quality as well as the quantity in the production of the fruit will be affected.
Land
It requires a soil that is sandy and also clayey, very fertile, deep and permeable enough. It must also be sufficiently drained and rich in organic matter.
Irrigation
It needs a lot of water for an excellent development and for the production of the fruit. This plant does not tolerate droughts and this is due to the fact that its flowering stage is greatly affected in development, which causes its fruits to be of good quality. It is recommended that irrigation be carried out by dripper system or also by a sprinkler system, in this way the plant will always have the adequate amount of water.
Pruning
For this task you must perform certain steps. In the first place, a defendant is carried out, where the number of children is controlled by selecting only the best. Then proceed with the leaf removalwhere the dry leaves that do not allow a good passage of light are eliminated.
The propping, in which the plant must be held to prevent the bunch with the fruits from falling, the sheathing, which is a procedure to offer the best protection for the fruits, and finally those leaves that do not complete their development are eliminated preventing the growth of the others.
