While planting roses may seem intimidating for the beginning gardener, in fact, the process is very easy. First of all, it is very important to choose an area of your garden that gets at least 4 to 5 hours of sun light. It is advisable not to crowd your rose plant with other trees and plants. Some rose plants such as climbers and shrubs don’t mind company but most rose plant like to mix with other roses or other non-invasive plants. If you’re replacing an older rose bush, it is important to remove about 22 cubic inch area of soil and replace it with fresh soil. A newly planted rose doesn’t like to grow in the same soil that an older rose bush has been in.

Step 1: Dig a hole in your garden which is slightly larger than the pot size or root system of your rose bush

Step 2: Put 1/3 cup of Saosis Organic and Saosis Neem [You can buy it here] with the soils in the bottom of the planting holes This gives their root systems some great nourishment to help them get well established. NEVER fertilize a new rose bush with anything other than organic product. If Saosis products are not available use Bone meal, is a slow acting source of Phosphorus and promotes healthy root growth.

Step 3: Remove the rose from the pot. Carefully place in the hole and shovel the extra soil around the new plant. As we place the rose bush into its planting hole we drape the roots carefully over the mound. Slowly add soils from the wheel barrow to the planting hole while supporting the rose bush with one hand. Tamp the soils lightly as the planting hole is filled to support the rose bush.

Idea planting depth of Rose plants:
Rose growers will argue until they’re blue in the face about the correct planting depth for roses, but it really depends on the climate you live in. If you live in a colder area, it is advisable to plant a bit deeper but do consult with the people growing roses in your area. If you’re buying own-root type roses, you should plant them about 1 inch deeper than their potted level. Again, this varies according to climate. The sun on the crown of ageing roses will help promote basal breaks from the bud union. Some of my roses produce wonderful basal breaks from well below the soil level, others do not. It seems to reflect more on the variety of the rose than anything else.

Among all the species there are basically 3 types of ants which are usually found in one’s backyard. These are the

Black Ant

black ants, fire ants and the red ants. Black ants are considered monogyn, their colonies have a single queen.

Fire Ant

They nest underground and are commonly found in rotten deadwood or under stones. This type of ant is a problem to most gardeners. Black garden ants

often explore their surroundings during the summer months to search for more food for their queen and their young.

There are many natural ways to get rid of ants and keep your garden free of the pests. One of the best way to get rid of ants in your garden is to use pipe tobacco. Soak the tobacco in water overnight to make tobacco tea. Discard the wet tobacco and carefully pour the tea over the ant hills. The tobacco tea will kill the ants. Remember to use gloves when handling tobacco tea.

Another method is to pour hot boiling water over ant hills. This method only gets rid of that individual ant mound and may need to be repeated several times to completely rid your garden of ants. This procedure does not kill all ants, it usually encourages the colony to move on.

Another home remedy is to poison the ants with sugar paste. To make the paste, use one tablespoon of boric acid with one cup of sugar and stir it well until it is completely dissolved. Drop small amount of the mixture near the ant hills. The worker ants will carry it along to the colony and help to spread the poison to other ants in the colony. The poison sugar paste will kill the entire ant colony.

Beside this there are many common spices and foods that can be used as a natural ant repellents. Sprinkling powdered red chili pepper, paprika, or dried peppermint along ant trails and around the outside of the yard is one way to naturally repel ants. Blending up citrus peels and water in the food processor and pouring the solution on the ant hill is another way to naturally repel the ants. Cutting up cloves of garlic and placing them around the yard is another way to keep ants away.

However, you can also avoid ants by not planting flowers and fruits that attract aphids, white flies, and mealy bugs. These insects excrete a sugary substance that attracts ants to the yard. The other method is to keep food waste well contained in dustbin. Do avoid standing water in your garden, this may draw ants to the garden looking for water.

Seaweed improve the water-holding characteristics of soil and help the formation of crumb structure. They do this because the alginic acid in the seaweed combines with metallic radicals in the soil to form a polymer with greatly increased molecular weight, of the type known as cross-linked. One might describe the process more simply, if less accurately, by saying that the salts formed by alginic acid with soil metals swell when wet and retain moisture tenaciously, so helping the soil to form a crumb structure.

The substances secreted by soil bacteria in the presence of seaweed include organic chemicals known as polyuronides. Polyuronides are chemically similar to the soil conditioner alginic acid, whose direct effect on the soil we have already noticed, and themselves have soil-stabilizing properties. This means that to the soil-conditioning agent which the soil derives from undecomposed seaweed — alginic acid — other conditioning agents are later added: the polyuronides, which result from the decomposition of seaweed.

Auxins in seaweed include indolyl-acetic acid, discovered in seaweed in 1933 for the first time. Two new auxins, as yet unidentified, but unlike any of the known indolyl-acetic acid types, were also discovered in 1958 in the Laminaria and Ascophyllum seaweeds used for processing into dried seaweed meal and liquid extract. These auxins have been found to encourage the growth of more cells — in which they differ from more familiar types of auxin which simply enlarge the cells without increasing their number. One of the auxins also stimulates growth in both stems and roots of plants, and in this differs from indolyl-acetic acid and its derivatives, which cause cells to elongate but not to divide. The balanced action of this seaweed auxin has not been found in any other auxin.

Seaweed contains all known trace elements but not all are available forms are exceptable to the plants. This problem can be overcome by chelating — that is, by combining the mineral atom with organic molecules. With liquid extract, this ability to chelate can be taken a stage further than happens naturally with seaweed and seaweed meal.

Plants treated with seaweed products develop a resistance to pests and diseases, not only to sap-seeking insects such as red spider mite and aphides, but also to scab, mildew and fungi. Such a possibility may seem novel, but it is in keeping with the results of research in related fields. The control of plant disease by compounds which reduce or nullify the effect of a pathogen after it has entered the plant is an accepted technique. It is in this way that streptomycin given as a foliar spray combats fireblight in apples and pears, and antimycin and malonic acid combat mosaic virus in tobacco.

Benefits of Seaweed when used in agriculture:

Seaweed fertilizers prove beneficial when doctored on the soil, delivering strength through vital nutrients. The seaweed fertilizers are best administered when sprayed. Thus, liquid seaweed fertilizers have their own set of benefits. Here are the advantages that liquid seaweed fertilizers would provide plants with:

• When the plant, from its neonatal stage, shifts to acquiring or developing buds, it is suggested that seaweed fertilizer be sprayed gently on those buds to promote a healthy growth.
• We all love flowers. Having the flowers cut freshly, from the garden sod and placing them in an ornate vase, makes the ambiance of the house extremely enchanting and serene. We also wish these flowers preserve the freshness for days together. However, we do find their shoulders drooping the very next day. Well, your lovely flowers could droop a day or two later if you spray seaweed fertilizer on them a day before you cut them and detach them from the plant.
• If seeds are treated with seaweed fertilizers before they are sowed, the seeds will germinate better, have an increased growth rate and their roots will possess strength.
• A ‘fighter’ plant could be acquired if the seaweed organic fertilizers are doctored on the plant. The plant will display a higher immunity against diseases and pests such as greenfly, whitefly and will have an ameliorated growth pattern.
• The seaweed will encourage vigor in the plant growth cycle as it consists more than 70 nutritional deporting minerals and enzymes.
• Seaweed consists of a sponge like porous component called the alginates, a type of algae. This component has a dominant role to play in the root system strengthening. The fertilizers when sprayed from the tip of the leaves to the roots of the plant, alginates holds the residue of the fertilizers near the roots giving them a comfortable access to moisture, without making them soggy and wet with mixture.
• Liquid seaweed fertilizers contain elements called hormones. They are Auxins, Cytokinins, Gibberellins and Betaines, required in minor proportions but they do contribute to the overall plant health. The auxins are a major hormonal component that regulates the speed at which the plant develops. Auxins, as hormones have a tendency to increase the growth or delay the growth rate of the plant. It also aids the flower buds to unfold at the right time.
• Cytokinins are another group of hormones in the organic seaweed fertilizers that judiciously distributes nutrients and minerals in the soil. The aging process in plants also known as the senescence, in plant taxonomy takes a backseat with the cytokinin content in the fertilizers.
• Liquid seaweed fertilizers has alginates that has a conditioning property when applied to plants. The soil has metal content with which the alginates react and form polymers that restore moisture in the soil when it gets wet.

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Across the world people are building their own small worm farms in their backyard. Worms are one of the best low maintenance pet available. They don’t need daily walks, don’t require expensive food or costly trip to the veterinary doctor.

To start your worm farm you will need a few items:
1) Worms: Finding a great breed stock is best in a city gardener’s basement supply as well as established breeders. It is often suggested that you use red worms in your worm farm. Night crawlers and earthworms are not good worm farm inhabitants. Knowing the number of worms to start your worm farm with will depend on various factors including your budget, the scale of the worm farm you plan, the available space for the worm farm, temperature or seasonable changes in your local area, etc. Another factor that could determine the number of worms you need is if you plan to ship the worms all over the country or you just want to sell locally.

2) Plastic or wood container: If you intend to keep your worm farm inside your home do make sure that your container has no leak. A dark color container is always recommended as worms like dark place. Never keep your worm farm close to vibration; worms hate vibration.

3) Food- Worms eat about half of their body weight each day. Their favorite foods are typically what you want to convert into compost such as fruit scraps, bread, pasta and other starch foods. Please do not offer foods with high acidic concentration. When feeding your worms try to stay away from items such as coffee grounds, lemon and orange peels. These types of food scraps will cause your worm farm to smell, therefore attracting insects. If you do choose to give these scraps to your worms, you can maintain a recommended Ph balance of 7 or 8, by also adding cooked eggshells to their home.

4) Bedding materials- Mix moist shredded newspaper (not colored ads), crushed eggshells and a few handfuls of garden soil. Keep the moisture moist, this will help your worms to breathe.

Your worm farming bin must have good access to oxygen, therefore keep the lid of your farm bin cracked to let in fresh air. You should move the bedding around occasionally by turning it with a garden tool. Your worms will appreciate it if you keep the temperature of the farm between 40 and 85 degrees Fahrenheit.

Your red worms will reproduce frequently. You will notice little oval cocoons within the farm, this will let you know that the worms are reproducing. These cocoons will take several weeks to hatch. You can help your worms to reproduce by adding poultry shells to their habitat; this will give them the calcium that they need.

Seaweed can include members of green, red or brown algae families, and there exist around 10,000 species within many marine habitats around the world. The root-like part of seaweed called the holdfast that anchors then to a surface and a blade which may be divided into fronds. Some of the larger seaweeds have a flexible stalk or stipe connecting the blade to the holdfast. Unlike plants, seaweeds do not have roots or internal tissues to conduct water. They absorb minerals and gases directly from sea water through the surface of their blades. Seaweed can grow in large quantities in various places from the poles to the equator. It is used by many other marine animals as a source of food as well as a location for mating.

Seaweeds are grouped into 3 types based on it’s color (which is usually green, red or brown). They all contain chlorophyll. Brown and red seaweeds have additional pigments that enable them to photosynthesise at depths where little light penetrates. These extra pigments mask the green colour of chlorophyll. Brown seaweeds can be yellow-brown to dark olive. Red seaweeds have the greatest range of tone – pink to purple, red, and brown to nearly black.

Among all the kinds of Seaweeds, Kelp is the largest that has large leaf-like protrusions known as fronds and can grow as long as 200 feet (61 M). Gulfweeds, or sargassum, are a type of brown algae that grow in warmer water and can float in large masses, particularly in an area known as the Sargasso Sea. Types of seaweed that are comprised of red algae are generally smaller and more delicate, and appear to have many branches.

Many seaweeds only live to grow old. Especially the large Kelp Seaweeds which grow year round and usually lives for many decades. Seaweeds have complex life cycles involving both sexual and asexual stages. Their appearance may change markedly between these stages. Red seaweeds have the most complicated life cycle. One edible species, karengo (Porphyra species), includes a phase that bores into the surface of shellfish and rocks.

Seaweeds being the first organisms in marine food chain plays a major role in marine ecosystem, they provide nutrients and energy for animals – either directly when fronds are eaten, or indirectly when decomposing parts break down into fine particles and are taken up by filter-feeding animals. The beds of Seaweeds provide shelter and habitat for many coastal animals for all or part of their lives. They are important nurseries for many commercial species such as the rock lobster, pāua (abalone) and green-lipped mussel.

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We at Saosis, manufacture liquid seaweed fertilizer. To buy online please visit our store http://www.saosis.com/gardening/online-shop/

We use a strong plastic container that is about 20 inches tall, 16 inches wide and 12 inches long. These measurements are not critical but we use this for our convenience. The container must be water tight and dark inside. The worms are happier when kept in the dark. If your container is transparent, wrap it with newspapers or store it in a dark place. Make use the place where you put your container is free of vibrations. Your worms might pack and move to other digs if they are to close to vibration.

Now get some composting worms, about a kilo. We recommend red worms over other type of worms. These red worms are also called as red wrigglers or manure worms. But do not use earthworms or night crawlers. They are no good for this job.

The bedding can contain some shredded newspapers, moistened and not wet. You can also use black and white pages. The classified ads are good, as are the stock market reports. Don’t use the colored ad pages, it just makes the worms want to go shopping and you want them to stay in your box and convert the vegetable scraps. Add a couple of handfuls of garden soil, not potting soil, and a couple of crushed egg shells. Keep the bedding damp but not sopping. The moisture helps them to breathe, but too much water will drown them. Within a period of two to three months, the worms and other micro-organisms will eat the
food waste and bedding and produce a rich soil conditioner.

You can feed your worms fruit and vegetable scraps and starchy scraps, like bread, oatmeal, and pasta. You can also feed them grits if they are southern worms, like ours. Please do not feed these worms too much acidic foods, like citric fruits, coffee ground and tea bags. These worms do best in an environment having a pH between 7 & 8. You can also use egg shells to balance the effects of coffee grounds, orange and lemon peels. Make sure that the eggshells are cooked before adding them to the worm farm. If they are not from boiled eggs, you can cook them by putting them in a cup of water in the microwave. Never feed your worms meat, poultry, dairy products, or salty food , like potato chips. These will create odors and attract insects. Your worms will eat about half their body weight each day. Take this into consideration when you are deciding how much food to add to the bin.

Worms functions very well at room temperature and when there is sufficient oxygen. To keep oxygen circulate keep the lid partially open. You should also turn the bedding with a trowel periodically to improve air circulation in the farm. Keep the farm temperature between +40 degrees F and +85 degrees F. Remember that heat will build up quickly in the farm if it is left in the sunlight.

Red worms reproduce often. Small, oval shaped cocoons in the bedding indicate that nature is taking its course. Cocoons may contain several baby worms and will take several weeks to hatch. Watch for tiny white worms. Poultry egg shells added to the bedding will provide calcium the worms need to reproduce. Don’t worry about red worms taking over the estate, their population is limited by the size of their environment.

Definition: pH is the negative logarithm of the hydrogen ion concentration: pH = log 1/[H+ = −log [H+]] .

A pH (potential of Hydrogen) measurement reveals if a solution is acidic or alkaline (also base or basic). If the solution has an equal amount of acidic and alkaline molecules, the pH is considered to be neutral. The pH scale is logarithmic and it is measured between 0.0 to 14.0. Solutions with a pH less than 7 are said to be acidic and solutions with a pH greater than 7 are basic or alkaline. Some extreme substances can score lower than 0 or greater than 14, but most fall within the scale.

The pH scale is logarithmic and as a result, each whole pH value below 7 is ten times more acidic than the next higher value. For example, pH 4 is ten times more acidic than pH 5 and 100 times (10 times 10) more acidic than pH 6. The same holds true for pH values above 7, each of which is ten times more alkaline (another way to say basic) than the next lower whole value. For example, pH 10 is ten times more alkaline than pH 9 and 100 times (10 times 10) more alkaline than pH 8.

Pure water is neutral (Pure water is said to be neutral, with a pH close to 7.0 at 25 °C (77 °F).). But when chemicals are mixed with water, the mixture can become either acidic or basic. Examples of acidic substances are vinegar and lemon juice. Lye, milk of magnesia, and ammonia are examples of basic substances.

1. Maximum light transmission compatible with heat loss, bearing in mind the main purpose. Whether double-glazed or not. eg. polycarbonate.
2. Freedom from maintenance, taking into account not only the structural materials, but also the glazing system.
3. Easy access to, and within, the greenhouse. Doors should be wide enough to permit entry of a barrow.
4. Reasonably easy and simple erection.
5. Cost. A relative matter. There is an excellent choice of structures to suit everyone’s pocket.
6. Adequate ventilation, a really important issue which will be referred to in detail later.
7. Adaptability for automation, ie for ventilation, watering, heating, thermal screens etc.

Span-roof greenhouses
The even-sided, free-standing, span-roof greenhouse is perhaps the most popular type for it allows the widest possible range of plants to be grown under the best possible conditions.

There are many types of Span roof greenhouses, out of which span roof greenhouses with glass to ground level are the most suitable for the average gardeners. Such structures are ideal for edible crops such as lettuces and tomatoes and for decorative plants like chrysanthemums and carnations which can be grown in beds on the floor of the house. Span-roof greenhouses of this kind are also just as satisfactory for growing pot-grown plants on an ash or gravel base. The great advantage of this type of house is that the plants gel the maximum amount oflight. It must be said, however, that the plants are less easily attended to when grown at floor level rather than on staging. Also, the heat loss from a completely glass greenhouse is greater than when the sides of the house consist of a low brick or wooden wall.

It shape with straight sides and a sloping roof, fairly standard heights for amateur houses being about 2.1-2.25m (7— 7-1/2ft) to the ridge and 1.65m (5ft 6in) to eaves. The length and breadth of the greenhouse varies from approximately 2.4m (8ft) long by 1.8m (6ft) wide, up to 3.6 x 2.4m (12 x 8ft).

The Dutch-light Greenhouse
One of the interesting type of greenhouse for the amateur is the single-span Dutch light greenhouse constructed of interlocking Dutch light frames. The interlocking principle involving male and female lights fitting snugly into each other gives rigidity and avoids drip. It also lends itself admirably to being mobilized by the fitting of pulley wheels to the bottom of the lights and running them on angle iron rails. If the ends of the greenhouse are hinged so that they can be raised clear of a crop the whole house can be moved en bloc and a system of crop rotation practiced. This type of greenhouse is less cosily to buy than others as it consists basically of standard Dutch-light panels which are fixed together to make a greenhouse. Such a structure is notable for the amount of light which is able to reach the plants through the large areas’ of unobstructed glass. Dutch-light greenhouses are ideal for those gardeners whose primary interest is growing tomatoes during the summer.

The Lean-to Greenhouse
The lean-to type of greenhouse makes use of an existing wall, thus forming one side of the structure and cutting down on the cost of materials. Lean-tos are useful where space is limited to a width of approximately seven to twelve feet, and they are the least expensive structures. The ridge of the lean-to is attached to a building using one side and an existing doorway, if available. Lean-tos are close to available electricity, water and heat. The disadvantages include some limitations on space, sunlight, ventilation, and temperature control. The height of the supporting wall limits the potential size of the lean-to. The wider the lean-to, the higher the supporting wall must be. Temperature control is more difficult because the wall that the greenhouse is built on may collect the sun’s heat while the translucent cover of the greenhouse may lose heat rapidly. The lean-to should face the best direction for adequate sun exposure.

Even-span Greenhouse
An even-span is a full-size structure that has one gable end attached to another building. It is usually the largest and most costly option, but it provides more usable space and can be lengthened. The even-span greenhouses has a better shape than a lean-to for air circulation to maintain uniform temperatures during the winter heating season. An even-span can accommodate two to three benches for growing crops.

Freestanding Greenhouse
Undoubtedly the most common hobby greenhouse is the freestanding greenhouse. Widely popular with backyard gardeners and plant enthusiasts, freestanding greenhouses offer as much space as you desire. There are several advantages of a freestanding hobby greenhouse. One of the more important advantages is space. There is sufficient room to maneuver in this style greenhouse even with several rows of greenhouse benches. Not being attached to another structure, you have a bit more discretion in where to locate your greenhouse. You can also locate it close to an electrical and water supply as that usually becomes a necessity should your greenhouse operation really start to grow. Freestanding greenhouses, usually being much larger than the attached even-span and lean-to greenhouse, have a greater air volume which means less fluctuations in air temperature inside the greenhouse. Free-standing greenhouses are likely the best greenhouse to consider building should you have plans to expand your growing operation in the future.

Plastic greenhouses
Plastic greenhouses made their enthusiastic debut in kit form in the early 1950s, and followed the basic design of a rigid tubular steel or wood structure of conventional shape over which the plastic was stretched. Various types of polythene greenhouses can be bought ready to erect and the more successful designs tension the polythene effectively. Recent recommendations indicate the need to orientate plastic greenhouses so that the prevailing wind can assist ventilation and the need to keep the polythene tightly tensioned. Aluminium “Grip Strip” is available to help in this direction. Disease incidence should be no greater than in a glass greenhouse if correct ventilation is achieved. A recent criticism of plastic greenhouses is that carbon dioxide starvation occurs due to lack of air change when ventilation is poor. Water requirements in a properly ventilated plastic structure will be basically the same as those in an ordinary well ventilated greenhouse. While the majority of polythene greenhouses are of simple curved roof design, they can also be obtained in more conventional multi-span form. In do-it-yourself designs, where wood is used for the structural members, it is essential to use a wrap-round system of securing the polythene so that it does not tear at local stress points which occur when nails are used

Almost all modern edible parthenocarpic bananas come from a number of species or hybrids in the genus Musa of the family Musaceae. Most edible-fruited bananas, usually seedless, belong to the species M. acuminata Colla (M. cavendishii Lamb. ex Paxt., M. chinensis Sweet, M. nana Auth. NOT Lour., M. zebrina Van Houtee ex Planch.), or to the hybrid M. X paradisiaca L. (M. X sapientum L.; M. acumianta X M. balbisiana Colla). The old scientific names Musa sapientum and Musa paradisiaca are no longer used.

The banana plant, often erroneously referred to as a “tree”, is a large herb, with succulent, very juicy stem (properly “pseudostem”) which is a cylinder of leaf-petiole sheaths, reaching a height of 20 to 25 ft (6-7.5 m) and arising from a fleshy rhizome or corm. Suckers spring up around the main plant forming a clump or “stool”, the eldest sucker replacing the main plant when it fruits and dies, and this process of succession continues indefinitely. Tender, smooth, oblong or elliptic, fleshy-stalked leaves, numbering 4 or 5 to 15, are arranged spirally. They unfurl, as the plant grows, at the rate of one per week in warm weather, and extend upward and outward, becoming as much as 9 ft (2.75 m) long and 2 ft (60 cm) wide. They may be entirely green, green with maroon splotches, or green on the upperside and red purple beneath. The inflorescence, a transformed growing point, is a terminal spike shooting out from the heart in the tip of the stem. At first, it is a large, long-oval, tapering, purple-clad bud. As it opens, it is seen that the slim, nectar-rich, tubular, toothed, white flowers are clustered in whorled double rows along the floral stalk, each cluster covered by a thick, waxy, hoodlike bract, purple outside, deep-red within. Normally, the bract will lift from the first hand in 3 to 10 days. If the plant is weak, opening may not occur until 10 or 15 days. Female flowers occupy the lower 5 to 15 rows; above them may be some rows of hermaphrodite or neuter flowers; male flowers are borne in the upper rows. In some types the inflorescence remains erect but generally, shortly after opening, it begins to bend downward. In about one day after the opening of the flower clusters, the male flowers and their bracts are shed, leaving most of the upper stalk naked except at the very tip where there usually remains an unopened bud containing the last-formed of the male flowers. However, there are some mutants such as ‘Dwarf Cavendish’ with persistent male flowers and bracts which wither and remain, filling the space between the fruits and the terminal bud.

As the young fruits develop from the female flowers, they look like slender green fingers. The bracts are soon shed and the fully grown fruits in each cluster become a “hand” of bananas, and the stalk droops with the weight until the bunch is upside down. The number of “hands” varies with the species and variety.

The fruit (technically a “berry”) turns from deep-green to yellow or red, or, in some forms, green-and white-striped, and may range from 2 1/2 to 12 in (6.4-30 cm) in length and 3/4 to 2 in (1.9-5 cm) in width, and from oblong, cylindrical and blunt to pronouncedly 3-angled, somewhat curved and hornlike. The flesh, ivory-white to yellow or salmon-yellow, may be firm, astringent, even gummy with latex, when unripe, turning tender and slippery, or soft and mellow or rather dry and mealy or starchy when ripe. The flavor may be mild and sweet or subacid with a distinct apple tone. Wild types may be nearly filled with black, hard, rounded or angled seeds 1/8 to 5/8 in (3-16 mm) wide and have scant flesh. The common cultivated types are generally seedless with just minute vestiges of ovules visible as brown specks in the slightly hollow or faintly pithy center, especially when the fruit is overripe. Occasionally, cross-pollination by wild types will result in a number of seeds in a normally seedless variety such as ‘Gros Michel’, but never in the Cavendish type.

DOMESTICATION:
The centre of origin of the wild banana stretches from India to Papua New Guinea and includes Malaysia and Indonesia.Within this area, some diploids, possibly hybrids, acquired the capacity to produce more pulp and became progressively seedless. Human intervention may have played a role in the generation of edible
bananas, as reports on banana cultivation in settlements close to forests in Papua New Guinea describe seedless diploids growing in the gardens of the settlements, wild diploids growing at the edge of the forests and semi-wild variants growing in areas between the two. Seedless edible bananas could only have
reached other parts of the world via the transplantation of suckers by human beings. Therefore, the history of banana varieties is closely linked to that of human populations in the tropics. History, archaeology and anthropology can all help to interpret the history of banana cultivation.

ORIGIN:
Edible bananas originated in the Indo-Malaysian region reaching to northern Australia. They were known only by hearsay in the Mediterranean region in the 3rd Century B.C., and are believed to have been first carried to Europe in the 10th Century A.D. Early in the 16th Century, Portuguese mariners transported the plant from the West African coast to South America. The types found in cultivation in the Pacific have been traced to eastern Indonesia from where they spread to the Marquesas and by stages to Hawaii.

Bananas and plantains are today grown in every humid tropical region and constitute the 4th largest fruit crop of the world, following the grape, citrus fruits and the apple. World production is estimated to be 28 million tons—65% from Latin America, 27 % from Southeast Asia, and 7 % from Africa. One-fifth of the crop is exported to Europe, Canada, the United States and Japan as fresh fruit. India is the leading banana producer in Asia. The crop from 400,000 acres (161,878 ha) is entirely for domestic consumption. Indonesia produces over 2 million tons annually, the Philippines about 1/2 million tons, exporting mostly to Japan. Taiwan raises over 1/2 million tons for export. Tropical Africa (principally the Ivory Coast and Somalia) grows nearly 9 million tons of bananas each year and exports large quantities to Europe.

STORAGE:
Bananas must be transported over long distances from the tropics to world markets. To obtain maximum shelf life, harvest comes before the fruit is mature. The fruit requires careful handling, rapid transport to ports, cooling, and refrigerated shipping. The goal is to prevent the bananas from producing their natural ripening agent, ethylene. This technology allows storage and transport for 3–4 weeks at 13 °C (55 °F). On arrival, bananas are held at about 17 °C (63 °F) and treated with a low concentration of ethylene. After a few days, the fruit begins to ripen and is distributed for final sale. Unripe bananas can not be held in home refrigerators because they suffer from the cold.

VARIETIES:
Edible bananas are classified into several main groups and subgroups. Simmonds placed first the diploid M. acuminata group ‘Sucrier’, represented in Malaya, Indonesia, the Philippines, southern India, East Africa, Burma, Thailand, the West Indies, Colombia and Brazil. The sheaths are dark-brown, the leaves yellowish and nearly free of wax. The bunches are small and the fruits small, thin-skinned and sweet. Cultivars of this group are more important in New Guinea than elsewhere.

The Cavendish subgroup includes several important bananas:

a) The ‘Dwarf Cavendish’, Plate III, first known from China and widely cultivated, especially in the Canary Islands, East Africa and South Africa.

b) The ‘Giant Cavendish’, also known as ‘Mons Mari, ‘Williams’, ‘Williams Hybrid’, or ‘Grand Naine’, is of uncertain origin, closely resembles the ‘Gros Michel’, and has replaced the ‘Dwarf’ in Colombia, Australia, Martinique, in many Hawaiian plantations, and to some extent in Ecuador.

c) ‘Pisang masak hijau’, or ‘Bungulan’, the triploid Cavendish clone of the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaya, is erroneously called ‘Lacatan’ in Jamaica where it replaced ‘Gros Michel’ because of its immunity to Panama disease, though it is subject to Sigatoka (leaf spot).

d) ‘Robusta’, very similar to the so-called ‘Lacatan’, has largely replaced that cultivar in Jamaica and the Windward Islands and the ‘Gros Michel’ in Central America because it is shorter, thick-stemmed, less subject to wind.

e) ‘Valery’, also a triploid Cavendish clone, closely resembles ‘Robusta’ and some believe it may be the same.

CLIMATE:
The edible bananas are restricted to tropical or neartropical regions, roughly the area between latitudes 30°N and 30°S. Within this band, there are varied climates with different lengths of dry season and different degrees and patterns of precipitation. A suitable banana climate is a mean temperature of 80°F (26.67°C) and mean rainfall of 4 in (10 cm) per month. There should not be more than 3 months of dry season.

SOIL:
The banana plant will grow and fruit under very poor conditions but will not flourish and be economically productive without deep, well-drained soil—loam, rocky sand, marl, red laterite, volcanic ash, sandy clay, even heavy clay—but not fine sand which holds water.

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