You can most certainly grow banana's hydroponically. Just make sure you buy the dwarf varieties. No, you can't bonsai a banana plant. It is an herbaceous perennial and not a real tree.

I suspect if you heat them up they will be usuable a s hydroponic medium.. Maybe if they are ground up they will have some absorption capability which will make it better. Still, as a new product it will have to be tested vs. other media such as coir, rice hull, etc. to see how it performs...

this is untrue- a plant needs 17 minerals to grow. these minerals come from soil or from fertilizer applied to the soil when growing in a soil-based medium. when growing hydroponically you must account for these nutirents by adding them in chemical form instead of allowing the plant roots to "find" them in the dirt. the plant needs in the most quantity C H & O, it obtains these through air and water H20 and CO2. next is N P K- your average dirt fertalizer will add these. next in order of importance are Calcium, Magnesium, & Sulfur. then there are Fe, Zn, Cu, B, Mn, Ni, Mo, & Cl. the plant takes these nutirents up in the same way as it would in soil only they are more readily available because the hydroponic "system" delivers them to the roots instead of the roots having to search for them. since the plant is absorbing the same nutrients in the same way as with dirt, there should be no harmful chemicals, or anyhting else for that matter. i remeber a post from a while back claiming that hydroponics caused vegetables with high levels of radioactivity. people often want to believe that hydroponics somehow manipulates how the plant grows but in truth it just is a different way of providing what a perfect soil would provide. air, water, support, and food. hope this answered your question. hydroponics accually grows vegetables with a higher nutritional value because of the optimum growing conditions. ~Ryan

Kudos for your efforts, OhioJay. I too, am an experimenter. I tried the fruit with no luck, due to irradiation. Research, is the key to success for me. My primary sources of info are from the places that grow mangosteens commercially. My 'personal profile' for mangosteens, is based on my determination that steens, prefer the same environment that people prefer (i.e. temps above 40 degrees F, and below 100). I also concluded that steens prefer to be grown in a controlled environment (i.e. primarily inside, with and around people). Preferred locations: greenhouse, bathroom & kitchen spaces for their increased humidity. My specialty, is hydroponics. So, my preference is to propagate the steens using hydroponic technologies, to achieve absolute control of the output product. I design my own hydroponic growing vehicles. The vehicles should be portable enough to allow the plants to be moved into, and out of the sun, for brief exposures (shading is essential for mangosteens in the direct sun). Notwithstanding air temperature, plant surface temperature, is the controlling factor for steens. While air temps may be only in the upper 80's, plant surface temperatures can climb to over 100 degrees F, very quickly. A laser-guided temperature gun is most-preferred, and will save your plants from death due to sun stroke. My rule of thumb is, if its too uncomfortable for me, its too uncomfortable for mangosteens. The sun is very beneficial, but only when properly shaded. I had my mangosteen seedlings in a shaded area and turned my back for about 10 or 12 minutes, and the sun moved to a position where my plants were no longer in the shade. One the seedlings showed heavy stress. I moved them back inside and misted all of them with pH balanced water. Due to the short duration, recovery was very fast. After my irradiation nightmare, I discovered a place where they sell seeds from non-irradiated fruit. The germination rate for me was 65 percent and they advise that it has been as high as 100 percent. They recommend using PayPal, which I rejected. I sent U.S. currency via Registered Mail. No problems what so ever. The place, is: Montoso Gardens, in Puerto Rico: Att: David Brunner Montoso Gardens Hwy 120, Km 18.9 Box 692 Maricao, Puerto Rico 00606 USA The seeds are $1.50 each, w/ free shipping when you buy at least 10. Bryan and David Brunner are very good people, and I do plan to visit them personally. Keep in mind, that the seeds lose their viability after 5 days. So, regardless when your money arrives, schedule your seed mailing from PR on a Monday, in a week with no holidays. I got my seeds in 3 days. I soaked them over-night in filtered, pH balanced water and planted them the very next day. I got 20 seeds and treated half with a growth hormone, and half without. TROY S. McNEILL at: cygnusx1547@yahoo.com Hydroponic Configuration Systems