Yukon Soles runs a vegetable farm in Fort Nelson, 130 kilometers south of Yukon, mainly growing produce such as cucumbers, potatoes and cabbage. But when he spotted a couple of banana seedlings for sale at his local grocery store, he decided to give them a try. “I just potted them up … And the rest is history,” he told CBC Radio West host Sarah Penton. Soles moved the banana plants outside in August 2021 after they outgrew all of his pots. (Yukon Soles) When Soles first bought the bananas in February 2021, the two plants were in a six-inch pot. As they grew, he moved them to larger containers. Eventually, they grew big enough that he knew he would have to plant them in the ground. So, in the early summer of 2021, he took the plants outside and placed them in a greenhouse, giving them plenty of compost and chicken manure — but he didn’t expect them to bear fruit so soon, if at all. “Tropical plants don’t often have what they need in these places… I didn’t really have any expectations.”
Next papaya and pineapples?
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, most of the world’s bananas come from warm-weather countries in Central and South America, as well as the Philippines in Southeast Asia. The plants benefit from high humidity and long hours of sunlight and stable temperatures of at least 22 C during the night and 26 C during the day. Soles says he hasn’t given his bananas such hot conditions to grow, with the greenhouse averaging around 18C with heat provided by an outside wood boiler. However, it was enough to protect them from the sometimes brutal cold they experience in Fort Nelson, where summer highs average around 22C and the winter months are characterized by temperatures down to -20C. Soles grows bananas in a greenhouse attached to the side of his house. (Yukon Soles) Soles wasn’t sure the plants survived the first winter in the greenhouse until April of this year, when they started flowering and then producing fruit. He picked his first bunch of bananas on September 6th, after they became so heavy that they immediately broke off the tree. In total, Soles says about 180 bananas are currently being grown. The first bunch hangs in his living room where he waits for them to ripen, a process that can take days even in factory conditions. Soles says he’s not sure how they taste, so he doesn’t plan to sell them at this point, but he’s enjoyed sharing his growing experience with his friends and community on social media. He is already making plans for papayas and pineapples, as well as building a larger structure for his bananas to grow in the coming years – they are already cramming towards the roof of his current greenhouse, which is about nine meters high. Through these experiments, he says, he wants to change perceptions of what is possible to grow in far northern B.C. and in other climates across Canada. “Don’t let your expectations be too limiting,” she says. “Just try things.” Radio West9:45 Banana Farming in Fort Nelson, BC Yukon Soles grows an unusual crop for northeastern BC: Nearly 200 bananas. He shares how they grow in an unusual climate
