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Vickie H.
01-09-2010, 08:09 PM
We have had 13 inches of snow on the ground. And it has got down to minus 13*F, with a wind chill of minus 27* F. My Musa Basjoo's have 2 ft of cyprus mulch plus the snow. I know snow insulates. But this is going to be our "Winter From Hell". So in late May or early June when I uncover them we will see if they are alive. I sure hope they make it.

aash09
01-09-2010, 08:12 PM
Good luck to you. It's very cold here too.

willy1der
01-10-2010, 01:01 AM
I checked on my basjoos today and their fine,I checked the base of the peusdo,s and the soil was not frozen.Bags of leaves and a tarp against south wall for protection.Foot and a half of snow and its -17c as I write.Im zone 5b.It is nerve racken.Hope they make it Vickie,what zone are you in????

Vickie H.
01-10-2010, 01:51 PM
I am in zone 6. They use to say zone 5. But now people are saying zone 6. My Basjoo's have a cage around them and the cage is wrapped. I have 2 bags of cyprus mulch in each cage.They are not against the house or a wall they are out in the yard. Last year they were done the same way, but it was not near as cold. And my one that has been there for 3 years died all the way to the ground. I thought I had lost it but it came back. I cannot uncover mine untill May. And if it is still too cold it will be late May.

saltydad
01-10-2010, 03:36 PM
Basjoos are tough, real tough. While extreme cold &/or wetness can cause p=stems to die back, the corm will put up new shoots. (Unless your in Alaska.)

sandy0225
01-27-2010, 01:41 PM
If your bananas don't make it this year--try again.
I would suggest that if they don't make it, then next fall try mulching your new plants as follows: cover your plants with large lawn sized bags of leaves-- pile them up real good all around the plant, and over the top too. I usually leave a little "hollow" area around the stem(about 6" or so) and then loosely pile in dry leaves in that section too. Make sure you put a bag or so over the top of the pstem that you cut off to the height of the bags of leaves. Then secure a plastic tarp over the top to keep out the excess moisture.The brown tarps look best, they look more natural in the landscape than the tacky blue ones.
Everyone that I sold bananas to that piled wood mulch on them last year, they all died. It seemed to not be enough protection and it stayed too wet (my guess). Of course we're in zone 5, and in east central indiana where we live it's more like 4b than just a regular 5. The ones that mulched like I said above, they had good results. I have not lost one in years now. I didn't have any customer complaints from anyone who followed those mulching instructions, either.
I take that back--I did lose one a couple of years ago though when a mouse or something got in there and ate the whole thing. But that would have happened anyway I guess.

Vickie H.
01-27-2010, 07:04 PM
Thanks. I have mulched them this way for about 3 years. So far they have survived. But I did not have minus 13*F and 13 inches of snow. I have a cage around them and the 2 ft of cyprus mulch with a tarp around the cage, I guess we will fine out the end of May.