View Full Version : Must Separate Pups?
Dave in Minnesota
09-09-2013, 12:45 PM
Hi, This is my first try at bananas and I have a 3-month old Musa Basjoo with 3 pups of between 3-8 inches tall. It is now 9/9 and our first frost is probably a few weeks away or so. Do I have to separate the pups or am I fine to let them go thru the winter? Any help is greatly appreciated! Thanks, Dave in Minneapolis, MN
Duckfood
09-09-2013, 06:22 PM
This time of year, I would just leave them with the mother until Spring... Especially in Minnesota, they will not have enough time to really stabilize on their own...
Olafhenny
09-09-2013, 07:44 PM
No.
Hi Dave,
considering your HZ, you won’t have any chance to harvest fruit unless you have a heated greenhouse.
Therefore you will probably raise your bananas for their foliage and exotic impact in your area, like
I do here.
You may accordingly consider not to divide the pups off at all to achieve a cluster effect as shown in
these pictures:
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=54488 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=54488&ppuser=7269)
This picture was taken today showing the street view of a pad of 4 larger Basjoos with a
few pups attached
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=53591 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=53591&ppuser=7269)
This photo, shot from a different direction earlier this year, shows the Basjoos to the right
and an almost full-sized Ornata in the top tier of a hidden pot pyramid.
Abnshrek
09-09-2013, 08:18 PM
Hello & Welcome.. :^)
Dave in Minnesota
09-11-2013, 09:33 AM
Thank you all! I definitely don't plan on harvesting fruit--it is just an ornamental thing and no one I know has a banana plant(I am also doing needle and dwarf palmetto palms), so it's fun to try something different. So, that said, do any of you have any advice for winterizing? I've read lots of different things but my concerns are allowing the plant to breath while keeping it relatively warm and dry. Any help is much appreciated, thanks!
Dave
Olafhenny
09-11-2013, 10:40 AM
Hi Dave,
there are various ways of bringing your bananas through the winter in frigid regions:
• You can leave them in the pot and keep them growing inside for the winter, either by a bright window,
or under growing lights.
• You can uproot them and store them lying on there side in basement or garage.
• Or you can, like I do, leave them outside and protect them by mulching heavily with leaves or such.
• Some people in a more farm like setting stash hay or straw bales around them.
I have now devised, what I believe to be a much better and in the long run easier solution: double
walled Styrofoam “hoods” filled with fibreglass stuffing, which can be taken off early in spring and stuck back
over quickly and easily, when frost threatens again. The polystyrene hoods cost me for three, one to cover
a whole pad and two for single stems well under $60.-for materials. The fibreglass stuffing costs another
$22.- or so per roll, but is only enough for two covers. I had enough for the third one still laying around.
You can find out about the details here: http://www.bananas.org/f2/permanent-banana-shelter-winter-spring-17855.html.
In previous years I just waited until frost nicked the leaves, sliced them off and the pseudo-stem to a
manageable size built a 18” to two feet fence around the pad and filled that up with leaves. That has the
disadvantage, that it is more or less an “all or nothing” thing to uncover it in spring. You have to wait longer
to be sure and lose valuable growing time.
I am sure you have more questions, so fire away!
Best,
Olaf
Dave in Minnesota
09-13-2013, 10:07 PM
Thanks Olaf! Have you ever had issues with allowing to breath or is that not a problem?
Olafhenny
09-13-2013, 11:21 PM
Sorry, Dave, I don't know what you mean by that
JERICO
09-16-2013, 11:53 AM
Hey Dave, and welcome to Bananas! :waving:
This is a rather enjoyable bunch, and they are
quick to jump in to help!
You already seem to feel this already...:03:
Dave in Minnesota
09-16-2013, 09:21 PM
Olaf, I mean: do they need air at all? I just want to make sure they dont suffocate if they're completely covered all winter.
Olafhenny
09-16-2013, 10:42 PM
Olaf, I mean: do they need air at all? I just want to make sure they dont suffocate if they're completely covered all winter.
I am not really sure, since I have in the past used small plastic tubs with the bottom cut out, flower pots
or a combination thereof around the PSs, before I piled on the leaves, mostly to provide a separation
between the sure to be soggy leaves and the PSs. So yeah, they did have a minimum of air space, but
my main motivation was to prevent rotting. I my permanent shelter they will be much more dry, and will
also have more air space around them. You also gave me an idea of another advantage,, I had not
thought of before: On one of the warmer days during the winter, it only takes seconds to remove rock
and lid to air them out a bit, spray some Serenade or such, if there are any signs of mildew and place
it all back together. :)
From reading the posts here, I gather, that most here do provide at least some minimal separation
between the stems and the insulation material, except for those who wrap the stems in burlap.
Dave in Minnesota
09-18-2013, 09:17 AM
great, thanks Olaf!
vBulletin® v3.6.8, Copyright ©2000-2020, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.