Log in

View Full Version : Uncovered basjoos in zone 6


lwabirds
04-05-2011, 06:05 PM
I uncovered some of my basjoos today. Planning on uncovering the rest tomorrow. Already have quite a bit of growth showing.

lwabirds
04-05-2011, 06:09 PM
<a href=http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=41497&ppuser=708><img src=http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=41497&size=1 border=0></a>

wilson1963
04-05-2011, 06:41 PM
SE Ohio uncovered 2 weeks ago, been keeping them in covered area...take a look:

Musa 2011 pictures by wilson1963 - Photobucket (http://s287.photobucket.com/albums/ll121/wilson1963/Musa%202011/)

Enjoy...Don

has a dream
04-05-2011, 08:14 PM
mine are coming up in st. louis

kaczercat
04-05-2011, 08:19 PM
lwabirds and wilson you both did an awesome job with overwintering them ! niceeee

stevelau1911
04-05-2011, 08:56 PM
I think as long as the corm is protected, they should be OK. Planting them well below the soil level should keep the corm alive even if there's no protection at all because I've dug up one of my corms that was in my unheated greenhouse, but buried 1ft deep, and despite the top part being completely wiped out, the corm was completely intact. Pretty much anything below soil lvl, by 2-3 inches is unharmed.

I think the 2 other ones which were very well protected on top of being planted deep should come back strong in June.

wilson1963
04-06-2011, 11:52 AM
My bamboo project last summer, any suggestions for a good fertalizer for running bamboo??

Bamboo Project pictures by wilson1963 - Photobucket (http://s287.photobucket.com/albums/ll121/wilson1963/Bamboo%20Project/)

stevelau1911
04-06-2011, 12:08 PM
Bamboos are generally heavy feeders, and I would not suggest buying grass or chemical fertilizers because all they do is promote foliage growth, cause them to sacrifice root growth for top growth, and it's a lot of money down the drain.

I would suggest going on craigslist or somewhere you can get truckloads of mulch, manure, or compost to lay over all the bamboos. It's better to create a nice ecosystem underneath the ground, and the health of the bamboos will follow naturally. Having a layer of mulch or organic matter can help retain moisture, and promote rhizome growth. Looks like you have regular yellow groove, or P aureosulcata alata which should be pretty easy to grow. Grass clippings, twigs, cardboard, or any other kinds of organic material can help too.

Here's my P Parvifolia last year after I added a layer of horse manure mixed with sawdust last year in order to feed the shoots for this year. I usually feed them right after they're done shooting because that's when they have the most root growth. This is about 150lbs of manure under here, and if I were to reach under there now there are thousands of worms crawling around which help improve the soil even more.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4098/4918258083_89c072b189_b.jpg

sandy0225
04-08-2011, 07:09 AM
Your running bamboo won't need fertilizer, in three years you're going to need a trencher and roundup! That's been my experience, anyway....lol...we had to dig some with my dad's backhoe, it was 25 feet from the original patch and poked a hole in my second fish pond.
Do you have yellow groove? That's what mine is.
If you want to fertilize it, horse or cow manure is good, even chicken manure doesn't seem to burn it though. One of my customers throws all his dog poop in his grove. Once you get it started, you won't kill it. I just hope your barrier works. Rubber roof material for that second pond didn't stop it. Have you considered digging a trench 8-12" deep around your area just for good measure? then when you see the runners trying to cross, snip them off with pruners about once every 2-3 months and pull out anything on the other side.

stevelau1911
04-08-2011, 08:42 AM
Even though I'm in z6, I'm in such a cool climate, that bamboos, even the most aggressive runners are limited around here as far as the amount they can spread. The growing season only lasts around 5 months here, and it takes them 3 of those to fully develop new shoots in preparation to spread rhizomes, and we don't really get that warm in the summer so rhizomes don't seem to grow that long, even on mature groves I've seen around here.

This bamboo in particular is phyllostachys parvifolia, a runner and you can already kind of tell how little it has run after 2 growing seasons. I've sold bamboo to people in warmer climates that have more spread than me already, so I can see why some people are concerned about the aggressive aspect, but that's definitely the least of my concerns. I'm actually hoping to get some more rhizomes so I can get more divisions. I've also done a couple years of research on these plants, and even in a warm enough climate, it should be pretty easy to control these guys without ditches or barriers. Lets say it suddenly got warm one summer and my bamboos finally spread out a few feet, I could still easily locate the rhizomes, turn them back, or turn them into a whip shoot to make a division.

I have 11 running bamboos in the ground, and the only one that shows any sign of invasive-ness is bissetii which kind of makes sense because it's a screening bamboo.

wilson1963
04-08-2011, 04:54 PM
<a href="http://s287.photobucket.com/albums/ll121/wilson1963/Musa%202011/?action=view&amp;current=DSCF3809.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i287.photobucket.com/albums/ll121/wilson1963/Musa%202011/DSCF3809.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

wilson1963
04-08-2011, 05:10 PM
5 new pics:

Musa 2011 pictures by wilson1963 - Photobucket (http://s287.photobucket.com/albums/ll121/wilson1963/Musa%202011/)

stevelau1911
04-08-2011, 07:58 PM
How deep did you plant your bananas? Mine are only 1ft deep, and I'm very glad bacause it looks like everything underground has been untouched, and even the top part still looks fresh.

I think having the corms 2ft deep might provide even more insurance given that each time they make pups, those pups will usually be a couple of inches less deep given that they are supposed to gravitate toward's their natural depth.

wilson1963
04-08-2011, 08:26 PM
planted in 07 in warm weather, can't really remember how deep, probably 10" or so.

stevelau1911
04-08-2011, 10:04 PM
From now on, all my banana plantings will be at least 2ft deep. I pretty much built a fortress around my basjoos which kept them looking exactly the same as before I covered them, but if I get them even deeper, I might not have to go through as much trouble of protecting them. Perhaps, I could just put 1 leaf bag filled halfway with leaves over the whole thing, and hope it protects the main stem.

This was the protection I did last fall, which may have been a little bit of over-kill, but it was probably necessary given it fell to -9F this winter. When I took a peek, I was a bit surprised to find the whole stem green.
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=38100&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=38100&ppuser=6098)

http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=38103&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=38103&ppuser=6098)

http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=38102&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=38102&ppuser=6098)

http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=38104&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=38104&ppuser=6098)

sunfish
04-08-2011, 10:11 PM
Good job.Yours look better than a few of mine

stevelau1911
04-08-2011, 10:56 PM
These are actually before pictures of when I covered them up back in November, but I've checked and it doesn't look much different as the stem is still very firm, with the pups still completely undamaged.

Even though there's no freezing temperatures in the 15 day forecast, I'm planning on leaving the protection on for another 2 months, or at least until they try pushing leaves through their protective covers which will make sure they don't get set back from a late frost.

lwabirds
04-09-2011, 07:26 AM
basjoo flowering
I've had 5 flower in one season!
<a href=http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=21391&ppuser=708><img src=http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=21391&size=1 border=0></a>

wilson1963
04-12-2011, 12:27 PM
<a href="http://s287.photobucket.com/albums/ll121/wilson1963/Musa%202011/?action=view&amp;current=DSCF3506.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i287.photobucket.com/albums/ll121/wilson1963/Musa%202011/DSCF3506.jpg" border="0" alt="2010 end of summer"></a>

jimhardy
04-15-2011, 10:05 AM
Mine have come back again here in southeast Iowa z5.

jimhardy
04-15-2011, 10:09 AM
Mine have overwintered here in southeast Iowa z5

nanner
04-16-2011, 09:26 PM
Sorry I didn't photograph my project this year, but for the first time I completely wrapped one whole mat of Basjoo, Nashville TN zone 6B. Each
plant had leaves cut a couple of inches from pseudostem, wrapped in two layers of cardboard and wired in place, potting buckets (2-3 gallon) over each plant top and over the cardboard too, then a whole roll of 4 mil plastic over the whole mat and weighted with rocks. The tallest plant was around six feet. They survived nine degrees F and maybe lower, just fine like nothing had ever happened. Whee! I'll see if I can get a photo of them as they are now, 16 April.:woohoonaner:

wilson1963
04-21-2011, 05:33 PM
my newbies from last year are coming back!!

Musa 2011 :: 2 sikkimensis pups starting to come... picture by wilson1963 - Photobucket (http://s287.photobucket.com/albums/ll121/wilson1963/Musa%202011/?action=view&current=DSCF3872.jpg)

stevelau1911
04-22-2011, 09:25 PM
As shown in these pictures, my musa basjoo did survive in zone 6. One of them still has the stem which was untouched by the cold however the other one rotted away, leaving just one of its pups emerging to take its place. Since the corm should already be a good size, I'll assume that pup will grow at an accelerated pace. I know there are probably freezes ahead still, but I'll give them some fresh air after half a year in dormancy.

Survived
http://i832.photobucket.com/albums/zz246/stevelau1911/DSC04316.jpg?t=1303525337

Top-killed, but a pup coming back.
http://i832.photobucket.com/albums/zz246/stevelau1911/DSC04317.jpg?t=1303525591

stevelau1911
04-25-2011, 04:59 PM
Here's the same basjoo after being un-covered for 3 days. It literally grew a few inches as shown in this picture, and as we get some warmer days ahead, I expect both of them to come back strong. The other one that died back to ground lvl is also elongation, just not by this much.
http://i832.photobucket.com/albums/zz246/stevelau1911/DSC04372.jpg?t=1303768491

Vickie H.
04-27-2011, 08:40 PM
I am zone 6 and I have not uncovered mine. We are still having nights too cold and rain rain rain.

stevelau1911
04-30-2011, 08:22 PM
As long as there are no frosts in the forecast, it should be safe to uncover the basjoo. After about a week of uncovering mine, the main stem almost has a leaf unrolled already.
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-E8Vy0paDIL4/TbyjbDnxFjI/AAAAAAAAARw/-WVYL5J1YLk/s1600/DSC04466.JPG

The other one that died back to the ground seems like it's putting more energy towards the pups while the main stem struggles to emerge, so there will probably be several equal sized plants coming up on this one.
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=42339&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=42339&ppuser=6098)

wilson1963
05-13-2011, 09:02 PM
New photos taken 5/13/11.

Musa 2011 pictures by wilson1963 - Photobucket (http://s287.photobucket.com/albums/ll121/wilson1963/Musa%202011/)

JuniPerez
05-20-2011, 01:12 PM
I experimented a little this winter. I overwintered 1 Musa basjoo, 1 Musa sikkimensis (Darjeeling), and 1 Musa sikkimenis manipur without any protection other than about 4-5 inches of mulch in a zone 6a planted at normal level (I will try the "one foot deeper" method next season).

The Darjeeling dried completely out, but it was because the gutter on the roof apparently is clogged and over it and dumped overflow, which dug into the ground and left the roots exposed (I'm assuming the corm would've rotted if it hadn't dug the soil anyways). I will retry this winter.

The manipur still shows no sign of life.

The basjoo started showing signs of regrowth this week via a pebble-sized white "zit" growing out of one side (see attachment).

http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=42887 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=26053)

jimhardy
05-20-2011, 03:47 PM
I dumped about a half a g-bag full of leaves on a corm of
Basjoo that I really wasn't to concerned about....
it came back.one of the pups is maybe a foot away from the corm .

These can be pretty darn hardy .....if they want to:bananas_b








BTW
I noticed it(pile of leaves) had come off half way through winter or so,
I kicked it back over so,not much protection really.....
Minimum temp was -8F this past winter.

nanner
05-20-2011, 10:08 PM
As of May 17, my 2nd tallest overwintered Musa Basjoo is sending out a flower pod (Wha.....?) Zone 6B Nashville, TN. It is around six feet tall, I had the whole mat wrapped well enough. Can't seem to figure out how to post photos, would love y'all to see this phenomena. One Basjoo on the windy side decided to form pups instead of resuming growth, but I don't blame the 9 degree F winter for this, because this plant was taller than the one that is to flower, and I gather that if they grow too tall that they may not resume, something about the new root portion rising up too far. :0517: