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Old 09-19-2006, 04:36 PM   #2 (permalink)
bigdog
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Location: Gainesville, FL
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Name: Frank
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Default Re: How big do musas need to be for the under the house method?

Paul, it depends on the size of the corm, and what variety it is. I haven't had great luck with Ice Cream so far. The large pseudostem I stored under my house last winter was kind of mushy in the Spring. It did shoot back fairly quickly, and has grown like gangbusters this summer. I have stored orinoco pups with only a foot - 2 feet of pseudostem with some success, but orinoco seems to be the exception. Out of five musa itinerans stored with about 2 feet of pseudostem, one survived. Two large ones, with about 4 feet of p-stem did just fine. With only 25-30 cm of p-stem (about 10 inches), I wouldn't attempt it. All bananas will dessicate to some degree stored cool and dry, some more than others. Are your plants tissue culture plants or suckers from another plant? TC plants won't make it at all at that size, I can almost guarantee it. There needs to be a decent-sized corm for it to work. I'd leave them inside if I was you. Or you could try it with one or two, leave the rest inside, and let us know how it worked!
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