Banana 'Kokopo' (Musa acuminata)

Level up your sustainable lifestyle when you grow Kokopo banana (Musa acuminata). This is a fantastic, short-season banana plant that grows quickly. Bloom to harvest time is 5 to 6 weeks, which makes it perfect for that last-minute tropical harvest. If planted in the spring, it will produce fruit by the summer. In addition, it makes a great indoor banana plant, growing fairly thin and lightweight compared to other Musa varieties. This cultivar originates in Papua New Guinea, where almost half of the population is self-sustained. That’s a good testament to the hardiness, success, and versatility of the Kokopo banana. 

The Kokopo banana fruit is unusual in that it holds orange pulp, which is a sign of high vitamin A and beta carotene content. It can be eaten ripe, but is also a popular cooking ingredient.  The banana plant is an evergreen perennial herb, not a tree. The large ‘trunk’ is actually a pseudostem, which is made of bulky, leafy layers that emerge and wither over time. Banana plants are fast-growing, and prone to reproducing new plants through mini clones known as suckers. In well-drained soil, bananas can almost never get enough water, sunlight, and nutrients.