Bananas.org - View Single Post - Permanent banana shelter for winter and spring

Olafhenny · 04-25-2013, 10:09 PM

I got tired of collecting loads of leaves each fall and trying to get rid of them in spring. I have
therefore decided to “construct” permanent shelters for my bananas, to be used next winter,
but also for the last few frosty nights this spring. It is entirely made of 1 inch Styrofoam.
The two layers are separated with the help of 3” spacers and the gaps will be filled in fall with
glass fibre batting.

Three 4x8 sheets of the stuff got me two shelters 24 inches high for single pseudo stems and
one 36 inches high for my pad of 4 (plus some pups). I will still have to do some leaf mulching
around the bottom, to keep the cold from intruding at the bottom of the shelter, but I won't
have the mulching piled up to 3 feet high and to worry about settling. The concept behind the
‘truncated pyramid’ design is that the ground, when protected from frost will deliver some warmth
though the wide bottom opening, to keep the then truncated PS passively heated from below
and “cozy”.

This picture shows the basic structure of the single PS unit. No fibre glass stuffing yet,
that will come in the fall and is for the light spring frost unnecessary

This photo shows the lid from its underside. The little square, glued in the centre, fits
into the inner housing. The lid extends an inch beyond the outside walls and is grooved to
have rain and melt water drip off rather than travel along the bottom of the lid into the
shelter. I will also devise a washer, either from thin foam or from felt.

This last photo show the finished job before painting. I have reinforced the joints of this
extremely light contraption with high quality duct tape. Four bamboo sticks and some weight
on top will secure it from being blown away and make it easy to take the thing off during
warm spring days and stick it back on, when late frost threatens.

If there is sufficient interest, I can draw up the lay out plans on the 4x8 sheets again, the
ones I have been using are pretty mangled and give detailed “how to” instructions.
But that would be quite a bit of work.

Best,
Olaf

04-25-2013, 10:09 PM	#1 (permalink)
Olafhenny Olafhenny's Photo Gallery Location: Penticton, BC, Okanagan Valley, Canada Find me on the map! Zone: Hardiness Zone 6 Name: Olaf Join Date: Apr 2010 Posts: 1,705 BananaBucks : 274,112 Feedback: 0 / 0% Said "Thanks" 2,050 Times Was Thanked 2,012 Times in 876 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 77 Times	Permanent banana shelter for winter and spring I got tired of collecting loads of leaves each fall and trying to get rid of them in spring. I have therefore decided to “construct” permanent shelters for my bananas, to be used next winter, but also for the last few frosty nights this spring. It is entirely made of 1 inch Styrofoam. The two layers are separated with the help of 3” spacers and the gaps will be filled in fall with glass fibre batting. Three 4x8 sheets of the stuff got me two shelters 24 inches high for single pseudo stems and one 36 inches high for my pad of 4 (plus some pups). I will still have to do some leaf mulching around the bottom, to keep the cold from intruding at the bottom of the shelter, but I won't have the mulching piled up to 3 feet high and to worry about settling. The concept behind the ‘truncated pyramid’ design is that the ground, when protected from frost will deliver some warmth though the wide bottom opening, to keep the then truncated PS passively heated from below and “cozy”. This picture shows the basic structure of the single PS unit. No fibre glass stuffing yet, that will come in the fall and is for the light spring frost unnecessary This photo shows the lid from its underside. The little square, glued in the centre, fits into the inner housing. The lid extends an inch beyond the outside walls and is grooved to have rain and melt water drip off rather than travel along the bottom of the lid into the shelter. I will also devise a washer, either from thin foam or from felt. This last photo show the finished job before painting. I have reinforced the joints of this extremely light contraption with high quality duct tape. Four bamboo sticks and some weight on top will secure it from being blown away and make it easy to take the thing off during warm spring days and stick it back on, when late frost threatens. If there is sufficient interest, I can draw up the lay out plans on the 4x8 sheets again, the ones I have been using are pretty mangled and give detailed “how to” instructions. But that would be quite a bit of work. Best, Olaf __________________ The reason I joined this forum was to share experiences, my own and those of others and to learn from them.