Banana plant growth. 1. Gross morphology

Abstract

Bananas plants (CV. Williams) at Alstonville, New South Wales, were sampled every two weeks from planting in November 1967 until early post emergence of the fruit in Map 1969. Records were kept of sucker, root, and inflorescence growth. On morphological grounds, the life of one apex was divided into five stages. The end points of these stages were : corm formation, commencement of lateral bud growth, floral initiation, bunch emergence, and harvest. Lateral buds, or suckers, commenced to grow after twelve foliate leaves were produced. Lateral bud development on the parent decreased as it commenced on the ratoon 1 crop. A total of 25 lateral buds showed some swelling but only 13 grew above ground level. All but one of these were removed when the plants were desuckered. After 19 months of growth, half of the live roots arose from gouged sucker remains. No decrease in root numbers was observed on the parent after bunch emergence. The first desuckering, nine months after planting, reduced the total number of roots on the plant by about 50 per cent. The young fruit underwent a sigmoid growth curve during the pre-emergence and early post-emergence phases of development. The most rapid growth of the fruit in terms of fresh weight increase occurred during the five to six weeks before emergence of the bunch.