When bananas frost over, they die. Or at least the fruit die – depending on how cold it gets, your banana trees will often live through a frost… but their fruit won’t.

As I posted recently… bananas are tropical plants. That means they have no idea what to do in the cold (much like myself).

Bananas frost over and die quickly at just below 32 degrees.

This poor banana decided to fruit… at a totally inappropriate time of year. Chances are, these bananas will not reach maturity. I took this shot before we got our last few frosts… the fruits are already looking a bit burned. If it doesn’t pull through to the spring, I’ll have to cut down the stem and wait a year or more for one of the pups to try again… and just pray it doesn’t do so in winter. These trees are simply too tall to protect.

Growing bananas in north Florida isn’t that hard, but sometimes it’s heartbreaking to wait for fruit and then see it succumb to the frost. Planting a banana circle right by your wall is a good way to cut down some of the damage… but anything below freezing is usually going to knock out your hard-won bananas.

Speaking of growing bananas in Florida, check out my book Push The Zone. Its all about growing plants in zones they aren’t supposed to grow in.