Bananas.org - View Single Post - Has anybody tried heaping soil over the P-stem to help them winter over? (Kansas)

Terri · 01-21-2013, 11:00 PM

I have had a banana in my back yard for a few years, now, in Zone 6 (Kansas). Some years I heap leaves around it and some years I do not. It is noticeably larger and stronger if I cover it in leaves, and the P stem does not die to the ground: it is alive perhaps 4 inches above the ground.

I would like to see it bloom. I got to thinking: has anybody tried covering the P-stem with soil? The ground freezes here, but that does not seem to bother the roots any. *IF* I buried the P-stem I wonder if enough of it would stay alive for it to bloom????????

Or would I just smother the banana plant?

Has anybody here tried this before?

Terri

01-21-2013, 11:00 PM	#1 (permalink)
Terri Find me on the map! Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 45 BananaBucks : 33,285 Feedback: 0 / 0% Said "Thanks" 23 Times Was Thanked 36 Times in 17 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 4 Times	Has anybody tried heaping soil over the P-stem to help them winter over? (Kansas) I have had a banana in my back yard for a few years, now, in Zone 6 (Kansas). Some years I heap leaves around it and some years I do not. It is noticeably larger and stronger if I cover it in leaves, and the P stem does not die to the ground: it is alive perhaps 4 inches above the ground. I would like to see it bloom. I got to thinking: has anybody tried covering the P-stem with soil? The ground freezes here, but that does not seem to bother the roots any. IF I buried the P-stem I wonder if enough of it would stay alive for it to bloom???????? Or would I just smother the banana plant? Has anybody here tried this before? Terri