Quote:
Originally Posted by PR-Giants
Your idea works great when in the direct path of a major hurricane and I've only had 3 direct hits from major hurricanes over the past 60 years but there are much easier solutions to extreme high winds. After Hurricane Maria President Trump's helicopter circled my farm many times because they had to be shocked that there was nearly no damage to any of the banana plants on our farm while the neighboring farms were leveled.
The reason it works well for major hurricanes is that hurricanes normally pass in less than 24 hours and the plants can be stood back up quickly before any 'Growing Point' changes become permanent.
Pseudostem means fake stem and is not where the new growth is produced.
Once it's understood that it's the 'Growing Point' that grows away from gravity it's easier to understand what happens when a banana plant is laid parallel to the ground for a prolonged period of time. If the plant is small the 'Growing Point' can move forward quickly enough for it and the pseudostem to curve upwards. If the plant is large the 'Growing Point' will still curve upward but because the pseudostem is too large and will resist being curved the 'Growing Point' will eventually produce enough pressure to split the pseudostem and the 'Growing Point' will pop out the side of the pseudostem.
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Wow, this is awesome info, Thanks! So it looks like the horizontal growth won't work, but I'm thinking this could still be an extremely usefully method when the plant is in dormancy to not disturb the roots while overwintering.
As long as the plant is growing keep it upright, but when winter arrives and after the leaves die back, then roll it down into the horizontal position and cover with insulation in a box so that the geothermal ground heat keeps it between 40 and 50 deg. Without any Sunlight and the colder storage temps the grow point won't shift I'd imagine?
Could still also be useful for keeping your banana rack growing into the winter if it hasnt ripened yet...once the flower has emerged, and the Bananas formed, I imagine the growth point no longer grows so from then on the Banana could be in the Horizontal position to finish the fruit to harvest. But then all the new pups would start to grow in the new upright orientation.....