View Full Version : really rootbound
saturn
09-02-2013, 02:58 PM
Just picked up a mekong giant in a 1gal pot. First time I have ever had to cut a pot to remove & repot a plant!
This thing is pretty much solid roots. The ones that had grown out the bottom and were black, I trimmed all those off.
Problem is, I cannot loosen the root ball at all, don't know if I should score (cut) the root ball, or what.
Also there is a mass of small roots running in a circle around the top of the root ball. Again, could not tease them out or loosen at all, and don't know if I should cut them.
Finally, not sure what I will be doing for overwintering. Again, this is will be a 2gal size pot. I tend to keep new plants inside, with the rest of my jungle. The basjoos seem happier in the garage, but most of the other naners do well in the house.
venturabananas
09-02-2013, 05:44 PM
Don't touch the roots. Let it sort itself out. It won't strangle itself like some plants with woody roots.
Olafhenny
09-02-2013, 08:57 PM
I second, what Mark has said. Stick the plant into a bigger pot with room to expand and the roots
will find their way into the new soil.
Having said that, you are not clear, if you winter all bananas indoors. I live in HZ6 and leave all
Basjoos with a PS higher than 18 inches outside. I find, that they can take the freezing back better,
than the disruption of two trans-plantings, or worse yet, the dry root storage in basement or
garage. This year I fully intent to leave my young E. Maurelii outside.
Best.
Olaf
saturn
09-03-2013, 09:31 AM
Ah, I'm glad I asked, I would have been messing with the roots. On most plants I am pretty careful with the roots but I thought naner roots were pretty expendable. Hopefully it is good to trim off the dead roots, right?
Yeah, I am a mess figuring out where to put all my naners for winter, lol. (zone 7b ish, btw)
Seems like when we talk about hardiness it means for a large, well established inground plant.
I get kinda lost when factoring in having a small-ish pstem (although I feel it's corm size that really matters) and being in a pot, deciding how low they can go. If I had enough expendable plants, I would just do my own experimenting to know what a safe low temp is. I guess I will plan to bring the sikkii and mekong in the house until I have more pups to work with.
I have E.maurelii as well, you really can go that low with them?? Wow, I really baby my naners ;) I did score a new pop-up 5' greenhouse (plastic sheeting) this year, but I have no idea how much temp protection it will provide.
venturabananas
09-03-2013, 10:52 AM
Trimming off the dead roots is fine. You could cut off all the live roots and it would probably eventually be fine, too, but it'll be better if you don't mess with all the live ones.
Olafhenny
09-03-2013, 11:05 AM
Well, I have a “secret weapon” for next winter, my cheap http://www.bananas.org/f2/permanent-banana-shelter-winter-spring-17855.html,
assembled out of Styrofoam (polystyrene) and fibreglass insulation, which costs only less than $60 for 3,
which is open to the warm ground, will be re-useable for years to come as well as easily re-applied in
spring, when a late frost threatens. I hope, that I have a lot more to report about that, when I know
more about the result of my experiment on non-destructive propagation of the E. Maurelii.
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