View Full Version : basjoo
rlussenden
05-31-2013, 06:22 PM
I live in South West lower Michigan zone 6a. I bought a musa basjoo last june which was potted and grown in a green house. I brought home and planted in the ground. That fall after a frost I cut to 2ft above the ground and covered with 2 straw bails and covered with a tarp. This spring I uncovered and found the stem had turned to mush. I cut the stem to the ground and was hoping for new growth from the corm. It is now May 31 and still no growth, what did I do wrong. I also sprayed the stem with fungicide before covering. I thought what I did for over wintering would be sufficient.
Any info would be appreciated.
Thanks
sunfish
05-31-2013, 08:40 PM
http://www.bananas.org/f15/planting-basjoo-foot-deeper-9113.html?highlight=foot
pmurphy
06-01-2013, 11:15 AM
I live in South West lower Michigan zone 6a. I bought a musa basjoo last june which was potted and grown in a green house. I brought home and planted in the ground. That fall after a frost I cut to 2ft above the ground and covered with 2 straw bails and covered with a tarp. This spring I uncovered and found the stem had turned to mush. I cut the stem to the ground and was hoping for new growth from the corm. It is now May 31 and still no growth, what did I do wrong. I also sprayed the stem with fungicide before covering. I thought what I did for over wintering would be sufficient.
Any info would be appreciated.
Thanks
I have had the same issue with mine in the past, with both my basjoo and my musella lasiocarpa.
I found when I covered mine with poly - or in your case a tarp - it not only keeps in the warmth it also keeps in any moisture which then rots everything. I used to wrap everything tightly with poly in the fall but found in the spring either a pile of mush or a plant that has died back to the ground.
Now what I do is fold over the mature leaves to protect any new growth and then build a cage around it - I no longer cut back. I then fill the cage with leaves/straw (LOTS of straw) and wrap the whole thing in landscape fleece * to allow them to breath. Only then do I wrap in poly but I leave slits or openings to let air in (usually in a fold so that moisture can not enter). I find it also depends upon when you wrap/unwrap; do not wrap it too soon or leave it wrapped too long as rising outside temps will cause it to sweat inside the tarp/poly. I also no longer watch the outside temps as an indicator as to when to wrap/unwrap and just go by what I "feel is right".....how has the weather been trending?, what are the other plants doing?, and even which birds have left/returned?
So far this method seems to be working about 90% of the time. You do tend to lose the leaves that protected the new growth but it seems to work.....this year I actually started with a 5ft basjoo in my mat after unwrapping this spring - but building an 4ft x 4ft x 7ft tall cage is not the easiest thing to do :)
You are colder then me but this still might give you some helpful hints or suggestions.
* FYI, landscape fleece is different then landscape fabric, which is a weed barrier. The fleece is designed to keep warmth in the ground and similar in texture to thin felt.
JuniPerez
06-03-2013, 08:46 AM
Don't declare it dead yet… I'm in zone 6 in Rochester NY and mine typically start resprouting around labor day. The ones I protect grow from the main stem - the ones which I don't protect (just some 3-4 inches of mulch) usually grow pups instead. If anything, you might see pups soon.
One thing that for me helps when protecting the stems (I only save a foot or two of it), is that I don't wrap them until I see nightly lows are hitting the low twenties. This actually give the stems time to dry out instead of wrapping in all the sappy fluids. Don't know if it's necessary to wait that long or just let the stems dry out a few days, but the way I see it, zones 8-9 don't need to protect basjoos at all and they hit 20's so it should be fine until then.
pmurphy
06-03-2013, 09:15 AM
......but the way I see it, zones 8-9 don't need to protect basjoos at all and they hit 20's so it should be fine until then.
We here in zone 8 wrap ours not to protect from the cold but from the damp which is notorious for rotting plants during the winter months. Vancouver is located in a temperate rainforest and is Canada's third most rainy city, with over 161 rainy days per year - most of which falls between October and March. On average Vancouver receives about 1,155 mm of rain per year....that's about 46 inches; our plants don't get a chance to dry out.
.....which is why we refer to ourselves as living on the "wet coast" :)
JuniPerez
06-03-2013, 10:21 AM
We here in zone 8 wrap ours not to protect from the cold but from the damp which is notorious for rotting plants during the winter months.
You've got a point there with the wetness... but you guys are like Northern Amazon or something... lol... many places along the eastern coast have unprotected basjoos that keep their stalks all winter even as far north as Cape May, NJ... what I have lost due to moisture is Sikkimensis...
I think if they let the stalks dry out a little before covering it can help reduce moisture buildup.
pmurphy
06-03-2013, 11:16 AM
When you live in Vancouver you do living in a rainforest.....it is just not warm, but if you want to see lush and green, just visit here in early summer :)
The biggest difference between the east coast and west coast is that the east coast gets cold in the winter - sometimes bitterly cold - but there is usually very little moisture so it is a dry cold. Cape May, NJ gets almost the same amount of rainfall annually that we do but they get an average of 3-4 inches per month, every month. We get double that for about 5 months straight....we just don't get the chance to dry out. :2730:
FYI, I would much rather be back east (or up country) in -20C (-4F) then on the coast at -2C (28F).....the damp just eats into you and you feel like you will never be warm again
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