Save your boxes and paper!

What part of Orlando? What days are you home? I'll trade you a sugar cane cutting for a home visitor bearing gifts!

Dianne

My neighbors had sugar cane growing on the property line as a loose hedge. They did nothing other than water it and trim it. It did not stand up straight all the time and looked messy for their formal setting so they removed it. It is very hard to enjoy the sugar from cane but is a nice unique plant you should be able to grow with minimal care.

Go water those bananas! If you put a thick layer of mulch around them and give them a good drink a couple times a week I bet they come back. Bananas like lots of food and water, the more you give them the more fruit they will give you.

Congrats on your new house. I'd love to see a picture of what the sugar cane looks like. Haven't tried growing it though - so no advice on that. But for your bananas, if there are any roots left that aren't mush, it will come back. If not, I have offsets pretty often if you want more.

LOL Dianne- I haven't see you so anxious in a long time!

As for the sugar cane, if it is green and growing it is healthy. It is either growing or dead for the most part. It should look quite a bit like bamboo. if the stalks are brown it may already be older and ready for harvest. Post a picture if you have a chance. There are not a ton of pests that mess with it. It is perfectly suited for Florida and grows wild (well, from previous plantings) here and there, people just have no clue what it looks like.
As for enjoying the sugar from the cane, I think the best way to enjoy it is to cutt he canes, slice them into thin strips and chew. (not swallow the fibers are not digestable) otherwise getting the juice out of the canes is not that easy lest you manage to have a donkey and a rum press. LOL.
(Appleton rum in Jamaica)

THANKS, everyone, for the input. You're great!

ibarbidahl, I'm afraid most of mine is brown at the bottoms, then green towards the top sections. Sounds like this is not a good thing?? I'll try to get some pictures up. My grandfather grew sugar cane when I was a kid. Lots of memories of chewing the juices from the cane and spitting the fibers out. :) My kids have never had the pleasure; that's my goal.

I'll also try to get some pictures of the banana plants so you all can help me have a better understanding of whether or not they're healthy.

Dianne, if you wouldn't mind me keeping you for hours asking question after question, then you're welcome to visit! You seem to be a wealth of gardening knowledge. I actually work from home, so except for when I pick up the kiddos from school, I'm practically always home during the week. But I can schedule as I want, so... anytime! Email me at Jennifer@SimpleObedience.org if you're serious. (BTW--most of the boxes and paper will be saved.)

Be careful with the sugarcane. It has little stickers that will get you.

There are 2 common types of sugar cane grown in FL gardens, the green ones & the 'red' ones (actually closer to burgundy). I have the 'red' ones & they were hit bad by the many frosty days of last winter & rainless days of this summer. In our front yard, we are trying to build hedge of sugarcane-bamboo-sugarcane-bamboo.
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I scatter some Blackcow around them now & then & handwater when there's little rain. I also cut up their dried leaves & mulch them with it.

The leaves have jagged edges so be careful if you have children & always use gloves when handling. Grandma use to tie gunny(hemp) strings around them in groups, then move the string upwards to hold all the leaves high up, over the children's head level.

In tropical parts of Asia, we can get the juice freshly squeezed, chilled with ice. It is so refreshing & nice (& cheap!). I am looking for a small, manual cane roller-crusher but haven't had much luck. I know they make them in Brazil but they cost $$$.

wealth of gardening knowledge

looks around ....

I sent you an e-mail Jen.

~dianne

Do you have any pictures of your new plants or bananas etc? You could email to me I'm very familiar with bananas and sugarcane and I'm close to you so would love to help with some advice!

In Miami, its fairly common to see sugarcane juice for sale at the small cuban grocery stores. Unfortunately the juicers are fairly expensive to purchase for the home.

If you ever make it down to Miami, you should bring some of your sugarcane and kindly request that a store press your own sugar cane.

Recently I bought some sugar cane juice, and blended it with ginger, strawberries and cucumber. Delicious

hi clean all the weeds out,,,,,mabe loosen up the ground around it& apply a light plant food ( you need to chech ur ph-balance -around 6.5) & when it `s not raining,, watter it ,,,dont keep the ground to wet,,,,it will rott on you if there young....whatch the leaves for red spores ,,that a root rott,, it will wipe it all out,,,i lost 80% of my crop this year ....ya can even place mulch around it for weed control...good luck