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Bananas

 
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Anywhere bananas can grow is a place where they should grow. Bananas are more useful than one might think. Green bananas are a great stape food with a texture and taste much like potatoes or yams (dioscoraea). The stalks of the banana plant are mostly water and they make a great mulch that slow releases water to the soil. The leaves are worth more than the fruit in some places. They are used to wrap tamales and other dishes. Here they are worth 20 pesos per leaf. The vein of the leaf can also be made into string. There is probably much more to add about uses for banana but I'll leave it to the rest.
     One little tip for growing bananas is, never plant brassicas near them because they will increase the amount of nematodes in the soil. Instead you can grow grasses like sorghum, this helps to reduce nematodes. Marigolds are also good companions for them. Tree tomato also has root nematodes and should be planted at a distance.
 
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Location: Big Island, Hawaii (2300' elevation, 60" avg. annual rainfall, temp range 55-80 degrees F)
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I feed the chopped up trunks to our pigs. And the leaves. So when it comes to pigs, the entire plant is usable as feed.
 
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