View Full Version : Fall is here, time to get digging.
Longwoods Tropicals
10-05-2014, 08:06 PM
With temps in the fourties overnight, it's time to start digging up my most tender bananas.
First up the SDCs, this one doubled in size and produced 4 pups.
http://i1357.photobucket.com/albums/q750/LongwoodsTropicals/20140929_153853_zpsbc7d01fd.jpg
Here I am straining to hold them.
http://i1357.photobucket.com/albums/q750/LongwoodsTropicals/20140929_1556200_zps225e433a.jpg
Next up some plain old dwarf Cavendish, and our dog Bear.
http://i1357.photobucket.com/albums/q750/LongwoodsTropicals/20141002_164653_zps445cc3e3.jpg
And last but not least, LOL, my smaller ensete glaucum, just before the machette fell.
http://i1357.photobucket.com/albums/q750/LongwoodsTropicals/20141004_181937_zps309ec92b.jpg
Just after the extraction, sorry for the blurry pic.
http://i1357.photobucket.com/albums/q750/LongwoodsTropicals/20141004_185743_zpse2826acb.jpg
This was taken this morning an inch of new growth.
http://i1357.photobucket.com/albums/q750/LongwoodsTropicals/20141005_080636_LLS_zps8da462ed.jpg
There is still more to go but this is a good start.
Regards Harold
Longwoods Tropicals
10-05-2014, 08:21 PM
Here's my other Glaucum and the big Maurelli.
http://i1357.photobucket.com/albums/q750/LongwoodsTropicals/20141002_161625_LLS_zps22aaea72.jpg
http://i1357.photobucket.com/albums/q750/LongwoodsTropicals/DSCN0933_zps15462eb3.jpg
I don't think I have the space to pot these out so I am going to experiment with division. I've seen multiple examples of people dividing Maurellis, so I figure why not try it on the Glaucum as well. Wish me luck.
crazy banana
10-05-2014, 09:28 PM
Very nice looking plants, dog and kitty.
Good luck with overwintering. I feel lucky to live in SoCal, but do have to protect some of my plants against early morning hour frost.
Nate74
10-07-2014, 04:40 PM
Good luck with the division, I just potted mine up and got the into the garage I think I will need a new plan for next year.
designshark
10-08-2014, 02:40 PM
Longwoods - Do you just plant the bare root stumps in pots and keep inside for winter then re-plant in the spring?
And - do they do well that way?
I'm curious and thinking of my very near future.
Thanks!
Longwoods Tropicals
10-08-2014, 05:46 PM
The Maurellis were bought last year and grown in the ground all summer before going into giant 24 inch pots.
Here they are last winter, the ventricosum can be seen in the background.
http://i1357.photobucket.com/albums/q750/LongwoodsTropicals/DSCN0328_zps00186b43.jpg
The ensete Glaucums were purchased as small 2 inch seedlings and grown in progressively larger pots until the finally resided in 10 inchers for the winter. They seem a little more sensitive to cooler temps and low light and will shut down or die back at the tip before rebounding in the spring. Those Snow Bananas went out in mid May as two footers and the bigger one is nearly about eleven feet as I type this. They are by far the most amazing thing I have ever seen they make Basjoos look skinny.
The Maurellis fared well indoors in lowish light, the leaves will bounce off the ceiling but as long as they are emerging freely and not bunching up too much don't sweat it. The main concern indoors is almost always spider mites, you must mist, dust and spray with insecticidal soap regularly.
This year I will only grow out one large maurelli, well sort of large as I put it out early May and it got nipped by frost, as a result it is a more manageable size and resides in a smaller 14inch pot. My big one has an eighteen inch base on it and seven foot long, two and a half foot leaves on her, the very definition of un-manageable, so as much as it kills me to do it she and the other monster Snow Banana are going to be science projects.
I hope some of that helps, feel free to ask any specifics.
Regards Harold
scashaggy
10-08-2014, 07:10 PM
Interesting to see. Before I came to this site I didn't know such a thing was done.
BTW it is a crisp 83 degrees at 8PM here in Miami.
cincinnana
10-08-2014, 09:12 PM
Awesome pics...
Those ensetes are robust and look so massive in the pics.
cincinnana
10-08-2014, 09:17 PM
Interesting to see. Before I came to this site I didn't know such a thing was done.
BTW it is a crisp 83 degrees at 8PM here in Miami.
Up north we call it zone pushing......
Down south they call it "what the hell Y'all doing up there"
Nate74
10-08-2014, 09:22 PM
Up north we call it zone pushing......
Down south they call it "what the hell are they doing up there"
We need a "like" button.
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