THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 23, 1994 TAG: 9410210077
SECTION: HOME PAGE: G2 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: GARDENING
SOURCE: ROBERT STIFFLER
LENGTH: Short : 49 lines
I am interested in receiving the two tomato bulletins mentioned in The Virginian-Pilot/Ledger-Star on Aug. 7. A stamped, addressed envelope is enclosed. Also enclosed is information on root rot in shrubs and trees that may interest you. I find your Home & Garden section very informative and interesting.
Thomas M. Campbell, horticultural agent, Pasquotank County, Elizabeth City, N.C.
Thanks for the kind words. The tomato bulletins are in the mail. Because many readers have root-rot problems with dogwoods, camellias, azaleas, boxwood and especially rhododendrons and Helleri holly, I am copying your information and offering it to readers free if they'll send a stamped, addressed envelope to this column.
Recently a man called me with questions regarding banana plants. He told me about his neighbor who had stored his banana plant for winter under his house. He cut off all the leaves and shook the dirts off the roots, just like he was supposed to do. In the middle of winter, he went under his house to check on water pipes and was amazed to see his banana plant had bananas on it. I thought it was amazing that this bare-rooted, bare-leaved plant, lying on the ground in the dark all winter, would bear fruit.
This has been a great year for banana plants. The unusually wet month of July made them grow by leaps and bounds. They must have thought they were in Puerto Rico, Guam or Hawaii.
Last fall, we sold our tallest plants and started out with plants under 3 feet. They grew to 12 feet in height this summer. Suprisingly, two of them have bananas on them. In your article some years ago, someone said you have to wait seven years to pick your first bananas. That is not always the case. My plants that started out as 3-foot plants were 2 years old and have bananas on them now.
Remind readers to dig and store their banana plants before frost. We usually dig ours at the end of October. If anyone needs some, I will have them for sale again, and they are still $5 per foot. Call 486-3217.
Esty Vollrath, Virginia Beach
For you banana growers, Esty is ``the banana lady'' of Virginia Beach and knows more about them than anyone I know. by CNB