Fruit goes bananas due to our long hot summer
PINEAPPLES and bananas have been flourishing in Guernsey this year thanks to the long, warm summer.
In 2015 Dave Lanoe planted the crown of a pineapple he bought from a shop in a pot of soil.
Almost three years later, it began to flower and soon he will be able to eat the two pineapples which have grown from it.
‘I just planted the top and over the last few years I re-potted it and re-potted it because it kept growing,’ he said.
From bloom to maturity is about six months. Mr Lanoe still has a month or so before he can try his home-grown fruits.
Although the plant was quite low maintenance, only requiring watering once a week, he questioned: ‘How come they’re so cheap to buy but take so long to grow? You can get them in the supermarket for about a quid.
‘They take so long to grow I probably won’t have time to grow another one,’ the 82-year-old joked.
Mr Lanoe grows all sorts of fruit and veg in his greenhouse like figs, grapes and asparagus.
Another avid grower is Doctor Stephen Sweet who has grown a pineapple plant, a coffee plant and a banana plant in his conservatory.
‘I grow lots of fruit in the greenhouse; grapes, grapefruit, lemons, limes, tangerine oranges which can get up to a pound in weight,’ he said.
For four years he has grown pineapples and estimates this one to be around 6lbs in weight.
Doctor Sweet has been growing bananas for 30 years and this year is expecting around 130 to ripen around Christmas.
‘We’ll be having bananas for breakfast, lunch and dinner, I suppose.’
He said looking after so much produce is a daily commitment but worth it as the family is self-sufficient most of the year.
