Library Kid's introduction
Happy Wednesday everyone!
I live in Beltsville, Maryland which is an increasingly more mild part of Zone 7. I have kept a collection of tropical plants for over 20 years and harvested my first container-grown pineapple this summer. I thought that was the end of it, but now the plant is producing two daughter plants, so it looks like I am in the pineapple producing business for some time to come. In the winter, the tropicals live in a garage/shop room under fluorescent lights where palms continue to grow and Clivias bloom. For years, I have had a Dwarf Cavandish plant which has really taken off and doubled in size this summer with 5 pups in the pot. Two or three years ago, I bought a poor, lonely looking Musa basjoo at the end of season clearance at our excellent garden center Behnke's. I cover it with bags of leaves during the winter and last year, I saved about 4 feet of the tallest pseudostem. It is now a towering 10 ft. high clump of about 7 plants. After resisting temptation all summer, I gave in and bought a small Mekong Giant plant which I hope to carry thorugh the winter inside under lights. It has a good 6-10 weeks of growing weather outside so maybe it will develop a good set of roots between now and next spring.
I have enjoyed reading your postings about bananas and thank you for the information shared here.
Tom
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