I lived in Nicaragua and had a few hundred banana plants for about 5 years. What I learned from the locals regarding pups. You only ever want to have 4 stalks at any one time, and in fact most of the time you only want 3, and you want them to be staggered in size. You don't want any two of your stalks to be the same size. So for example, you will have your tallest stalk with developing bananas, your 2nd stalk, and then your 3rd stalk. Keep eliminating your 4th stalk until such a time that your 3rd stalk is pretty big ( I waited for 6 feet). So then when the 3rd stalk hits 6', you let a new stalk come up, but shortly after that you will be harvesting your bananas from the tallest stalk, and then immediately cut down that stalk and go back to having only 3 stalks. If you do it that way, your 2nd stalk will be flowering while the 1st stalk is finishing off the bananas. You can be harvesting about 2.5 times per year. All of those extra small stalks are just stealing energy from your 2nd stalk and preventing it from flowering. Just keep chop/dropping that 4th stalk until the 3rd stalk gets big. There should be a mess of dead stalks under your plant, and once you harvest the bananas, cut that stalk also and let is decay under the plant. This creates a lot of mulch and the stalks are almost entirely water. The other thing is to learn to recognize the difference between stalks, and hijos(children). If you think of indeterminate tomatoes... a stalk will be like a branch, but a hijo is a sucker. The way you can tell the difference is at the very base of the plant. A stalk will develop out of the same base as your other stalks, but an hijo will develop it's own base. So if it is all stalks, the top view of the base will look more like an 0 (an ellipse), but if it is a hijo, it will look more like a number 8. Hijos should always be removed. You can take a shovel and basically split between the number 8 and create a separate plant if you want to give it away, or you can just dig it up and drop it to die. I never really counted, but I would guess that about 50% of the time something comes up, it will be an hijo, and 50% a stalk. Hijos can get really out of hand if you don't dig up the base of it, and they just take so much energy/space away from your main plant. For instance, we had areas that had thousands of wild banana plants, but the hijos developed so close and so often to the parent, that you never see wild bananas develop, just the plant. I think banana plants want to propagate using hijos, and producing actual fruit is a secondary means to reproduce. Kinda like if you don't trellis and prune indeterminate tomatoes, you may never get fruit as the suckers will just develop roots and grow and compete with the original plant.

I've been hesitant to farm in Canada, for a variety of reasons, but a greenhouse like this seems like a dream come true. Congrats brother.

As a canadian im so proud you have shown to the world where there is a will there is a way❤❤❤❤

..." it warmed up abit, its only -22°C ... 😂...ohhhhhh caaaanada🎶🎵

Please show us the ins and outs of how you built your passive solar greenhouse. What considerations you made, how you figured out how to angle it from the sun, what you use for solar mass, what you built out of and all of it please!

This is how tropical fruit in Canada should be grown! It is crazy to ship fruit 1000's or tens of 1000's of KM! No brainer for improving food security and reducing travel costs/ logistics/ pollution.

I'm old enough to be your mother, but we are kindred spirits. When you talked about wrapping your Tilapia in a banana leaf with herbs, your face and passion of what you are doing resounded with my soul. So glad your generation get to enhance this science with the know how you have acquired with your talent and trade. Well done you.

Truly amazing 👏. We should be doing this across Canada especially in the far remote communities up north

This is awesome! With the amount of land we have here in Saskatchewan there's no reason we can't have more of these and stop relying of goods coming out of country.

Hmmmmmm! 💡 I imagine all the closet mad-scientist passions re-awakening in the hearts of guerrilla gardeners of the North with their impossible dreams and fresh possibilities that your videos have inspired! Thanks for sharing… Blessings from Manitoba 🦬

Imagine! You could make the most expensive tropical crops... in the least tropical place? TAKE THAT SHIPPING AND HANDLING 😂🎉

What a beautiful greenhouse! You must be so beyond proud you not only built it, but are creating food for your family, and you know exactly where it came from, what sprays if any are on it. What a dream setup. Just lovely.

Damn! I am so impressed and this has given me “food for though” for building a better greenhouse for growing in Canada. Well done!!!

Awesome, finally Canadians can have fresh food year round ❤👍🕯

Once again proud of you Dean. Your passive solar Greenhouse is exceptional, and your tropical garden frickin amazing 👍 leaves the Piggies don't eat, can be used finely ground up for a compost for the kekis (Kay key) baby in Hawaiian. Like most plants bananas feed bananas. So you could also use the peels finely chopped up for compost. Try take the kekis away from stalk before 2 ft tall. For mealy bug..mix a pour of rubbing alcohol, a squeeze of dish soap in a medium hand sprayer spray bottle, fill with water. You can spray the crotches of the leaves in the banana plants where they may be hiding. Wow man great job loving your videos. I want to come camp in the jungle and sit by the wood stove and have a smoothie. 🤣🌴🤠

Incredible.. Great accomplishment.. Greetings from Alberta...

This is my dream. As someone who graduated in horticulture and love tropical fruit. I have always wanted to move to an affordable province and set up shop.

Beautiful!! We've been off grid for 6 years, our house is designed to be warmed much like your greenhouse with passive solar heating. Looking forward to making my greenhouse of wonder now, too!

perhaps build another greenhouse that is designated strictly for the tropical plants - a enclosed orchard of citrus and tropical plants - When i had my freeze dryer i would purposely buy a ton of bananas to freeze dry. I love the chunks of freeze dried bananas, such a great snack. I met a fellow years back, about 2007 who had built a earthship in Bancroft ON, he had avocados growing in it.

We need a million more of you, in Canada! :)

Sooooo proud of you and your Canadian bananas Arkopia!!! Amazing work!! 😍😍😍

You’ve done so much more than build the greenhouse but that was the hook for me. This feels the awesome major milestone. I’m celebrating this grand thing that you guys are doing. It is so hopeful for fellow Canadians.

Yes you should be very proud!!! I had a smile on my face through the whole video😅

I don't eat bananas but I grow them and give them to friends. It's good to know that when I move from south Florida I could take my banana plant collection with me and grow them inside a greenhouse.

WOW! CONGRATULATIONS BEAUTIFULLY DONE.. ❤️ 👏 ❤️

You could legitimately perform agriculture on Mars with your setup, it's a very well designed system.

This greenhouse looks amazing.

Fantastic! What an inspiration to promote self sustainable healthy living, & environmentally friendly, so no comebacks. Keep up the great work & sharing.

Awesome and Very Impressive! Good on You!! I'm in BC and wish you continued success with your labour of love!

Plant a moringa plant. This is a magnificent plant to have. Very versatile & healthy. God bless 😊

Fantastic accomplishments! Thanks for sharing! My daughter & her partner bought a property with huge greenhouses; now to get them to the passive solar! We’re in central Alberta so we had the same bone chilling temperatures! Enjoy those bananas🤗

Such a wonderful job you’re doing. When I discovered the passive solar greenhouse, I’ve always said this is the answer to greenhouse growing in Canada

All I can say is WoW

You are the real big man. Big up yourself. What an achievement!🎉

You're living my dream. I am about to do this in the Dakotas in zone 3-5, I will be watching the rest of your videos for some insight. Thanks for the great content.

You are absolutely nuts. You really have gone Bananas. My absolute respect coming all the way from BC.

You’re my greenhouse hero! I hope to build my own greenhouse one day here in northern Ontario

Without adding high intensity light that is an amazing accomplishment. Well done guys. Very well done indeed👏

Definitely something to be proud of. Just starting to warm up in ND. Having a greenhouse such as yours would be a dream come true. Congratulations Dean! You deserve all the rewards of your hard labor.

RED bananas are my FAVORITE!!!! :)

So amazing!!

Absolutely AWESOME !

So impressive!! I have been following you since the beginning of building your greenhouse. This is my dream to live such a paradise like this!!

Well done!!!!❤❤❤

That’s super cool!!!😎

just incredible!!!

Blessings to you and your family. I just love your videos ❤

You are truly amazing!

Absolutely incredible 👏👏👏

Awesome!

That is amazing. Well done!

You are a champion 😊

Truly inspirational! Well done!

Beautiful, well done!!!

Amazing!

Awesome.

Amazing!!❤

Wow, congratulations, that is so cool!

You sir are an inspiration!

This is incredible! Congratulations!

I do believe the time is coming where we will be growing fruit and veggies inside large warehouses or buildings. If you can control the environment, anything is possible. Hats off to you for thinking out of the box.

Fantastic! It’s a dream came true!

Very much enjoying your videos. Thank you for posting

This is so amazing. Good job.

Nicely done Dean!

How cool is that! Great to see you doing well and having success in your insane greenhouse!

I loved it!

Impressive greenhouse. 💪💪💪💪

Great to see you enjoy this wonderful project

This is amazing!!!!

Great job

That is awesome!

Fantastic work brother.

Impressive build and results! Thanks for sharing.

Hey Dean! Congrats for the bananas!! Hard work pays off 👌 really nice !!

Amazing job!

Awesome

Wow! I am impressed and amazed at what you have built!

Man so many question are running through my mind now...Great video

Good Job !

Impressive! You give a new meaning to no excuses..

Nice!!! Good luck!!!

I'm astonished!

Thank you for sharing the knowledge. I’ve learned a lot and applied it to my greenhouse.

Beautiful and yes it was freaking cold last week in Saskabush!

Man, I am so impressed with your greenhouse results! (With your greenhouse too.)

That is incredible, you doing a great job

Amazing!!! You are living the dream! ❤

Thank you for sharing. This is my life goal.

I like your smile!! Really proud of the fruits you’ve grown.

I really always wanted to do this. Thank you for sharing

Amazing.

I watch your videos since you building the greenhouse with all the double-double things and smart methods. Great to see the bananas finaly!

Awesome! Just Awesome!

Dude 🤯 I’m shocked well done

Awesome, wow🎉 very motivating. Thanks for sharing.

You're living the dream, man. I've been meaning to make myself a tropical greenhouse ever since I saw a guy one town over from me in Nebraska growing oranges this way, except he doesn't even need to heat it, a heat pump is all it takes.

You rock. Been watching you from the start. You’re an inspiration 😊

Impressive. Love it. Good job man.

love thes - so amazing. keep it up!