View Full Version : Bad Timing Stored dormant...Blooming
mbfirey
02-28-2011, 05:33 PM
I have an Orinoco in the Garage, that had 12 feet of P-Stem and I trimmed it down to about 10 ft. As with all the other bananas it continued to slowly push out from where it had been cut flat.
It has just now hit the roof of the garage and I was going to cut it back down a little when I noticed that it wasn't shaped the same as before- It looks like a Bloom! I don't know for sure but I'll know soon enough.
My question or concern is:
will there be bananas if I plant it outside?...I'm near Charlotte NC and I had planned on waiting another month before planting. I'm assuming I'll get no more leaves...
If I won't get fruit... will it still send up Pups if I plant it?
Should I plant it now and pray that it stays warm...?
Christian Rieger
03-02-2011, 04:44 AM
Dear Bad Timing,
Sometimes I think people are bananas for trying to raise an Orinoco up north. But putting that aside, the odds are that that great plant of yours, which makes the best tostones, will freeze outside. :gif_esqui
What I would do if I were in your situation is keep it in the container it is in now and have someone help help you lie it down. Do this so it is off the floor and at least parallel to the floor, preferably slanting up, therefore rest it on some old chairs or saw horses. You want to have the planetary energy run up the plant.
If it is in a plastic container, you will probably have to put some holes in the side to water the plant. If I were you I would try to make the plant happy in this cold weather while it is trying to have bananas by feeding it water mixed with rock dust. ♫
You probably already know this, all plants l-o-v-e music, the classics—Wagner, Chopin, Mozart. You may like rock and roll, but plants do not and their growth slows considerably and they are more likely to get sick.
DOCR
Kostas
03-02-2011, 05:03 AM
I would keep it potted if there is a freeze danger as planting it outside wont help at this stage. You want it as less disturbed and you should aim to keep everything it currently has,alive by taking care not to expose it to too cold or too sunny conditions that may damage its foliage or developing bananas.
What i would do is keep it in high light conditions,but only as high light as it can stand without burning since there will be no more leafs to replace burned ones. When the time comes to water it again,you could fertilize it a little as well. If it will produce bananas or not depends on the conditions it was growing about 6months ago,when the flower bud formed at the meristem. If it was in good growing conditions and strong,you will see bananas. But if it will be able to mature them,depends on how strong it is now and you want to help it produce the most energy possible by providing strong light and appropriate fertilizer but not too strong as its potted and too many salts can damage it easily and burn roots.
As for suckers,it will produce them in due time whether its potted or ground planted as long as soil conditions are good(it may be forming them and they may be rotting in bad soil conditions).
mbfirey
03-02-2011, 07:08 AM
To Clarify-
Right now the plant is in the garage- no light-no heat-no soil-no leaves, no roots, no water. It's standing upright.
My current plan was to put it in the ground will all the others about a month from now (if there's not cold weather in the forecast.)
I figured that I won't get decent bananas because of the lack of any more leaves (no energy source)- am I wrong to assume that.?
Kostas
03-02-2011, 08:23 AM
Well,in this condition,hopes cant be too high for successfully maturing bananas but since i have never tried it,i cant know for sure. You can leave it as it is and plant it with the others when weather permits. In this condition,waiting a month more wont make much difference to it.
If you decide to cut the bloom after planting,it may pup faster and produce more vigorous pups than if trying to mature bananas with no leafs. In any case,pups should be produced soon!
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