gregsmith
10-22-2006, 09:45 PM
Have just started putting bananas to rest outdoors in Pa. I have eight musa basjoos with between twelve and thirty pseudostems each, two orinicos with
one pseudostem each and one dwarf brazillian with three pseudostems.
The dwarf brazillian is currently with fruit (has been since August). one of the musa basjoo has one large bud, we'll see how it makes it over the winter.
This will be the third winter outdoors for the musa basjoos and the second
winter for the orinocos and dwarf brazillian.
I cutoff the pseudostems at six feet in heigth and form a cage out of 2x4
wire mesh fencing, cover that with polyethelene and fill the cage with leaves and whatever vegetation I can find.
Three of the musa basjoos I cut off at one foot above ground and take a large black plastic tub and fill it with leaves and invert the tub over the plants and place a large rock on the tub so that the high winds won't blow it away.
I haven't noticed any difference in the end of season plant size by doing either of the two methods.
My best musabasjoo reached sixteen feet to the leaf ends. It was planted at the north side of the house where it gets no sun and faces the cold north winds all winter. It has eighteen pseudostems with a diameter of six feet.
No flowers as of yet, but I am expecting some in the summer.
This summer I had four flowers on the musa basjoo but they withered away and did not produce fruit.
My dwarf brazillian and velutina have both produced fruit and am hoping to eat the dwarf brazillian fuit sometime at the end of November.
Indoors, I have fourteen varieties (twenty plants total), nothing over four feet. I have fourteen additional varieties planted as seeds.
My goal is to have a least ten varieties winter over outdoors with protection.
So far this has been easier then what I have been told it would be. I know that we have had mild winters in the past few years. One of my biggest problems has been the invasiveness of the bananas.
My wife is starting to make comments about my going bananas to everyone we meet!
The neighbors have made remarks about the mini-silos I have in my front yard! So far I have ignored them!
More random thoughts later,
Greg Smith
one pseudostem each and one dwarf brazillian with three pseudostems.
The dwarf brazillian is currently with fruit (has been since August). one of the musa basjoo has one large bud, we'll see how it makes it over the winter.
This will be the third winter outdoors for the musa basjoos and the second
winter for the orinocos and dwarf brazillian.
I cutoff the pseudostems at six feet in heigth and form a cage out of 2x4
wire mesh fencing, cover that with polyethelene and fill the cage with leaves and whatever vegetation I can find.
Three of the musa basjoos I cut off at one foot above ground and take a large black plastic tub and fill it with leaves and invert the tub over the plants and place a large rock on the tub so that the high winds won't blow it away.
I haven't noticed any difference in the end of season plant size by doing either of the two methods.
My best musabasjoo reached sixteen feet to the leaf ends. It was planted at the north side of the house where it gets no sun and faces the cold north winds all winter. It has eighteen pseudostems with a diameter of six feet.
No flowers as of yet, but I am expecting some in the summer.
This summer I had four flowers on the musa basjoo but they withered away and did not produce fruit.
My dwarf brazillian and velutina have both produced fruit and am hoping to eat the dwarf brazillian fuit sometime at the end of November.
Indoors, I have fourteen varieties (twenty plants total), nothing over four feet. I have fourteen additional varieties planted as seeds.
My goal is to have a least ten varieties winter over outdoors with protection.
So far this has been easier then what I have been told it would be. I know that we have had mild winters in the past few years. One of my biggest problems has been the invasiveness of the bananas.
My wife is starting to make comments about my going bananas to everyone we meet!
The neighbors have made remarks about the mini-silos I have in my front yard! So far I have ignored them!
More random thoughts later,
Greg Smith