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Originally Posted by buzzybee
Hey MagicKiwi.....HELLO from a fellow Michigander! I'm from Niles. Where are you? I am just a few days new to this site and just read your post about overwintering Musa Basjoo. People about a mile down the road have been raising their own little banana forest for the last 4 years and it looks pretty nice. The basjoos will grow here and very nicely I might add! I purchased my first in June on clearance and it is growing beautifully. I am SO excited! I did not know there was such thing as a cold hardy banana. I LOVE plants and gardening and tropical stuff. My pink plastic flamingos will prove that! They are guardians of my banana tree! Too much fun!
The people down the street said they mulch theirs with a thick layer of straw and then cover it to keep it dry. I am trying the straw but I am going to fill trash bags with leaves (about 4-5) and place them around the trunk after cutting it down a bit and weigh them down with bricks then fill in the space around the truck with more leaves then cover with a tarp. I found this info from someone who lives in Indy but sounds like it should work here. I hope so. I want to see my basjoo green and growing come spring.  |
Kalamazoo here. Glad to find someone else in the area who is growing bananas. I knew of a gal up in the Gun Lake area who has lots of bananas but I can no longer find her! She has many varieties but I believe she brings them in for the winter and cold-stores them.
Com fall it will be interesting eh? Lowes here in Kzoo has quite a few Musa Basjoo left and I need to get over there - they are over three feet tall and in flower pots. Last I checked they were around $12 but I am hoping to offer half of that and that they will take it just to get them off their hands! Meijers also has "tropical" pots - some with bananas in the middle and others with an Elephant Ear in the middle. They are pretty cagey about dropping their prices and just about let them totally die before dropping prices. I can't find the manager of their garden department - it is a phantom I guess - but I will keep trying. Have fun down there in Niles.