My late biochemistry profe­ssor would often say, in his thick Irish accent, that breakfast items such as milk, toasted slices of bread and bananas are the best sources of potassium.

Nowadays, many nutritionists encourage their patients to consume more bananas to compensate for their potassium deficiency. One may even see sportspersons, especially tennis stars, consuming a couple of bananas between sets, to quickly replenish their depleting energy, in order to ensure that optimum potassium levels are maintained throughout the game.

Bananas are also usually recommended as part of a healthy diet for anyone dealing with heart-related problems, because they help patients increase their blood pressure and uric acid. Those suffering from constipation or heartburn also feel relieved after eating a banana or two.

The banana is one of Pakistan’s major fruit crops and is mostly grown in Sindh. It can be easily grown at home as well. The most commonly used and the easiest method to produce your own bananas is to grow the banana plant through pups of the mother plant. Pups are known to many as suckers or baby plants which grow around the mother plant. These are usually purchased from a plant nursery or can also be acquired from a friend or family member who is already growing bananas at their home.

Given the variety of health-related benefits bananas have to offer, here’s a quick guide to how you can grow your very own potassium-rich fruit plant at home

There are usually three to five pups growing around the mother plant. If the number of pups exceeds this, then the extra baby plants need to be removed. This will ensure continued and better energy supply to the mother plant.

It is recommended to leave only two to three pups around the mother plant if you wish to continue to grow bananas across generations of the plant. Otherwise, all the pups should be removed. Since the banana plant provides for only one harvest in its entire life-cycle, it needs to be removed just after its yield is harvested. Otherwise, it becomes a burden on the garden.

The pup can be grown as a separate plant after the harvest from the mother plant is made and once the pup reaches a height of at least two feet. The plant should be grown in the ground and not in a container. This is because the roots of a banana plant are likely to spread horizontally rather than vertically.

There should be ground space of around 15 to 20 feet available for better growth. While planting a banana pup, position it in a place which has ample exposure to direct sunlight, from morning till evening. The fruit plant requires plenty of sunlight, even during the winters. Reduced sunlight exposure will result in diminished growth of the plant and a decreased harvest.

The banana plant also requires excessive, regular watering. The watering should be enough to keep the soil moist throughout the day. This requirement can be a hindrance for many, in which case, certain arrangements can be made to ensure water retention for longer periods. Applying mulch or adding wood shavings around the plant on the soil surface is one of the easiest ways to achieve this. Growing other plants and trees, which provide shade to the banana plant, also helps reduce the speed of the soil drying up.

Like every plant, the leaves of the banana plant will also eventually turn brownish-yellow in colour. These leaves should be separated from the plant as they can sap the plant of its energy. These leaves usually make their way into the compost bin, but I prefer to spread them over the soil around the banana plant. This not only helps to retain water by acting as mulch, but also provides the soil with some nourishing, natural nutrients.

A generous amount of balanced fertiliser is required frequently to augment the growth of the plant. Any organic fertiliser may suffice, but many adhere to the usage of decomposed cow and chicken manure. It takes around one year for the harvest to grow after the pup is planted, depending upon the banana variety.

However, this barely scratches the surface. We will be covering this fruit in even greater detail in our upcoming articles, especially with regards to the harvesting protocols and ripening procedures of the banana.

Please send your queries and emails to doctree101@hotmail.com. The writer is a physician and a host for the YouTube channel ‘DocTree Gardening’ promoting organic kitchen gardening

Published in Dawn, EOS, March 26th, 2023