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Oblofusc · 01-31-2009, 10:45 PM

Report from Tallahassee--

So far this winter we had a near record early freeze in October, which fried about 80% of the leaves of all my plants, and it did not freeze hard until a couple of weeks ago (January), and then again just last night.

By the time the first hard freeze came all the leaves had been cut off and all stalks were chopped to about 4 to 5 feet. This makes it managable to cover/insulate the stocks well. I have been wrapping towels & sheets over the stalks and covering them with big plastic lawn waste bags. I make sure to remove it all in between freezes to avoid fungal rot.

I check the weather forecasts every day to see when I need to wrap the stalks. So far so good, they still look intact and good. The other bananas in my neighborhood that were not wrapped in any way are now brown moosh--dead to the ground.

Once the freezes are over I am hopeful my efforts will pay off in allowing my plants to get a good jump start in the season and MAYBE start to fruit BEFORE September. I also plan to be very aggressive in removing pups as they appear, which I did not do last year (not to kill, but to replant elsewhere). Some mats had many pups come up and grow like mad and I liked the abundant verdant look of it all and let them stay.

01-31-2009, 10:45 PM	#12 (permalink)
Oblofusc Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 29 BananaBucks : 61,896 Feedback: 0 / 0% Said "Thanks" 0 Times Was Thanked 30 Times in 5 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 0 Times	Re: Great Florida Freeze of '09 Report from Tallahassee-- So far this winter we had a near record early freeze in October, which fried about 80% of the leaves of all my plants, and it did not freeze hard until a couple of weeks ago (January), and then again just last night. By the time the first hard freeze came all the leaves had been cut off and all stalks were chopped to about 4 to 5 feet. This makes it managable to cover/insulate the stocks well. I have been wrapping towels & sheets over the stalks and covering them with big plastic lawn waste bags. I make sure to remove it all in between freezes to avoid fungal rot. I check the weather forecasts every day to see when I need to wrap the stalks. So far so good, they still look intact and good. The other bananas in my neighborhood that were not wrapped in any way are now brown moosh--dead to the ground. Once the freezes are over I am hopeful my efforts will pay off in allowing my plants to get a good jump start in the season and MAYBE start to fruit BEFORE September. I also plan to be very aggressive in removing pups as they appear, which I did not do last year (not to kill, but to replant elsewhere). Some mats had many pups come up and grow like mad and I liked the abundant verdant look of it all and let them stay.