Growing Bananas & Plantains in South Florida
A Practical Guide to Traditional, Organic, Conventional & Low-Input Growing
Learn how to grow healthier, more productive bananas and plantains in the unique climate of South Florida with a practical guide written specifically for the backyard grower.
Pepe's Fruit Trees
30+ Years of South Florida Growing Experience
Practical South Florida growing information in an easy-to-read digital guide
Growing Bananas in South Florida Is Different
Bananas love our long growing season, heat and summer rainfall, but South Florida also presents challenges. Sandy soils, heavy summer rains, wind, nutrient loss, occasional cold weather and poor drainage can all affect the health and productivity of a banana mat.
This guide was written to help South Florida growers understand the banana plant first—and then choose a growing method that works for their own backyard.
There is more than one way to grow a great bunch of bananas.
What You'll Learn
Learn how the corm, roots, pseudostem and suckers work together.
Understand the Mother–Daughter–Granddaughter system and sucker selection.
Compare traditional, organic, conventional and hybrid approaches.
Learn how to manage South Florida's wet summers and dry periods.
Learn what yellow leaves, leaf spots, weak growth and root problems may be telling you.
Explore bananas and cooking types suited to South Florida conditions.
Choose the Growing Style That Works for You
This isn't a book that tells you there is only one correct way to grow bananas. Instead, it explains what the plant needs and shows different ways to provide it.
Feed the soil where you can. Feed the plant where you must.
Old Knowledge Meets Modern Growing
Part of this book begins long before Pepe's Fruit Trees. Jason's uncle Felipe was a Cuban guajiro who grew tobacco, cacao, plantains and much of what his family needed from the land during the 1950s.
They didn't call it organic farming or permaculture. It was simply how they farmed.
That traditional understanding of soil, recycling plant material and observing the crop is combined in this guide with Jason Pepe's decades of South Florida growing experience and modern horticultural information.
Old knowledge and new knowledge don't have to compete. We can use both.
Inside the Guide
The e-book takes you from understanding the banana plant all the way through harvest and recycling the old pseudostem back into the garden.
PART ONE — Know the Plant Before You Grow It
PART TWO — Feed the Soil, Feed the Plant
PART THREE — Build & Manage a Productive Banana Mat
PART FOUR — Work With Nature, Not Against It
PART FIVE — From the Backyard to the Table — and Back to the Soil
Written for South Florida Growers
Jason Pepe has more than 30 years of experience growing tropical and subtropical fruit trees in South Florida. This guide was created for growers dealing with the same heat, rain, sandy soils, storms and backyard conditions that we experience here.
Healthy soil. Healthy plants. Great fruit.Ready to Grow Better Bananas?
Get Growing Bananas & Plantains in South Florida and keep Jason Pepe's practical South Florida growing guide available whenever you need it.
Grow Something Delicious!
Pepe's Fruit Trees • Davie, Florida
pepesplants.com
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this guide specifically for South Florida?
Yes. The guide focuses on growing bananas and plantains under South Florida conditions, including heat, rainfall, sandy soils, drainage, wind and seasonal changes.
Does the book cover organic banana growing?
Yes. The guide discusses organic, traditional low-input, conventional and hybrid approaches so growers can choose a system that works for them.
Is this book useful for beginners?
Yes. It starts with how the banana plant grows and progresses through planting, nutrition, mat management, troubleshooting, harvest and recycling plant material.
Who wrote the guide?
The guide was written by Jason Pepe of Pepe's Fruit Trees in Davie, Florida, drawing on more than 30 years of South Florida fruit-growing experience.
