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Cuba Dave
12-12-2014, 03:27 PM
Helloo..My wife is getting mad about,how many potted bananas I have in the house over the winter.There by a window and take up a lot of space.Is there a easier way to winterize them,instead of potting them.Im in zone 6a.
Thxs.

JP
12-12-2014, 04:10 PM
Check older posts. It has been discussed many times and some even detailed it very weel and added pics. I never did it so I can't help you there... Ever thought of overwinterizing the wife? Lol! Just kidding!

Cuba Dave
12-12-2014, 04:40 PM
Lol..I tried that already..I'll go back and look..Trois -Rivieres nice place.Was there last march.

JP
12-12-2014, 05:36 PM
Are you kidding! I can't wait to be back in montreal. Too bad I wasn't on this forum then, you could have come for coffee and banana cake... Why did you come here?
My wife doesn't say anything about my plants. Oh wait; I'm divorced! Lol! I'm sure yours is nice though.

Olafhenny
12-12-2014, 06:35 PM
Too late for this year, but next year leave anything with a PS taller than 18" in the ground.
Your wife won't get anywhere nearly as upset, if you bring in some of the little ones.

Women have a weakness for "little ones". :)

Actually anything smaller than 18" should be left part of the pad until spring anyway.

Indeed I stick my http://www.bananas.org/f2/permanent-banana-shelter-winter-spring-17855.html right over the pad :)

Better luck and domestic peace next year! :ha:

Olaf

JP
12-12-2014, 06:52 PM
Women have a weakness for "little ones". :)

Olaf

[/QUOTE]


Not always! Lol!

So far, it's an all-canadian thread...


Thanks for your experience but is it gonna be hot enough? I think he lives in Ontario.

siege2050
12-12-2014, 07:43 PM
Ha ha, I gotta whole room full of bananas, I dunno what I was thinking. Let them grow bigger overwinter I said.........ha!!

Olafhenny
12-12-2014, 09:46 PM
Thanks for your experience but is it gonna be hot enough? I think he lives in Ontario.

Sorry, if I am daft, but is what hot enough?

JP
12-13-2014, 04:58 AM
What I meant is : are you sure it will survive winter? It is a lot colder in Ontario during winter.

Olafhenny
12-13-2014, 11:14 AM
If properly protected, it will survive in northern Saskatchewan. There the summers
are just a bit shy in duration to foster much growth. :)

Dave lives in essentially the same HZ as I (HZ6). So what works here will work
there too.

Cuba Dave
12-13-2014, 11:17 AM
It was really cold last winter here.I will upload some pics of my back yard,as soon i figure out how to do it.

Cuba Dave
12-13-2014, 11:18 AM
Wife? Or my bananas and palms,mmmm

Cuba Dave
12-13-2014, 11:20 AM
Can I pull the bananas out,get the dirt off the roots and put them in the basement with no pots?

Olafhenny
12-13-2014, 11:53 AM
Can I pull the bananas out,get the dirt off the roots and put them in the basement with no pots?

I have no experience with bare root wintering of my own, but I know, that you cannot
let the plants get into direct contact with the concrete floor, or they will rot. Place some
plastic over the concrete and cardboard sheeting on top of it, before you store the
bananas on top of that.

Just a thought: Where do you propose to clean the dirt off the roots? In the freezing
cold outside or in the living room? Your wife will like the latter even less than a
banana plantation there. :ha:

Max363
12-13-2014, 03:27 PM
Can I pull the bananas out,get the dirt off the roots and put them in the basement with no pots?

Why remove them from the pots? In 8-9 yrs of overwintering I found it best to leave them in the pots (and I even pot the in ground ones for winter storage) put them on something like wooden crates or shelves to keep them off the concrete ( not always needed - but it's good insurance in the coldest winters). I water once a month or so - leaving them not too soggy esp. if the cellar is very cold. I have also grown some upstairs all winter esp. ensetes and the finicky red leafed varieties. They grew beautifully all winter and then on a warm Spring day I took them outside - where the winds shredded all those carefully nurtured leaves in about ten minutes!! ... so except for small special plants - all the tropicals are stored and do just fine in the basement or integral garage. In fact each evening this week I've been hanging out in the garage just to enjoy the intoxicating fragrance of the brugs which have 20 some blooms between them!! I like my leafless blooming brugs even more in the winter when they only need watered every 10 days rather than once or twice a day in the summer heat! ... Good luck!

Cuba Dave
12-13-2014, 07:30 PM
Thanks max..I will try it next year

Goingbananas2009
12-15-2014, 03:30 AM
Hi, I'm from belgium, zone 7a
what I do is leave the basjoo's in the ground.
I put a wouden beam streat into the groun next to the group of basjoo's, 2m high
the I use iron fence (chickenwire) to cirkel around the basjoo's and and attach it to the beam, you can do that up to 2m high were the beam stops.
next chop down all the leaves of the basjoo's en put them upside donw as insulation in the fence, I collect leaves/grass and put is all in the cirkel you created with the fence for insulation. Then I use bubblefoil to cirkel 2 times around the fence and attach it to the wooden beam, on top I also bubblefoil. I close I all with a large plastic bag I put over the top. 2 winters a go we had -18C° and the basjoo's were fine. If you need a picture let me know.

regards Robi:nanadrink:

cteq1
12-15-2014, 08:53 PM
Hi, I'm from belgium, zone 7a
what I do is leave the basjoo's in the ground.
I put a wouden beam streat into the groun next to the group of basjoo's, 2m high
the I use iron fence (chickenwire) to cirkel around the basjoo's and and attach it to the beam, you can do that up to 2m high were the beam stops.
next chop down all the leaves of the basjoo's en put them upside donw as insulation in the fence, I collect leaves/grass and put is all in the cirkel you created with the fence for insulation. Then I use bubblefoil to cirkel 2 times around the fence and attach it to the wooden beam, on top I also bubblefoil. I close I all with a large plastic bag I put over the top. 2 winters a go we had -18C° and the basjoo's were fine. If you need a picture let me know.

regards Robi:nanadrink:

Yes please send pics, it will be useful for next year if my seeds germinate

lmswayne
12-15-2014, 09:08 PM
Hi, I'm from belgium, zone 7a
what I do is leave the basjoo's in the ground.
I put a wouden beam streat into the groun next to the group of basjoo's, 2m high
the I use iron fence (chickenwire) to cirkel around the basjoo's and and attach it to the beam, you can do that up to 2m high were the beam stops.
next chop down all the leaves of the basjoo's en put them upside donw as insulation in the fence, I collect leaves/grass and put is all in the cirkel you created with the fence for insulation. Then I use bubblefoil to cirkel 2 times around the fence and attach it to the wooden beam, on top I also bubblefoil. I close I all with a large plastic bag I put over the top. 2 winters a go we had -18C° and the basjoo's were fine. If you need a picture let me know.

regards Robi:nanadrink:

I would love to see pic's my frost house has failed again this year with fast freezes in November Seattle is suppose to be wet and 45o or so not 22o so once again I well be starting over if I get any pups.so your nana house sounds much more promising.

cincinnana
12-15-2014, 10:46 PM
Fellas check out this thread..
Please read all the post and look at the pics.
This will help you out...
I have a few forum members as well as myself and many local gardeners in a few states using this method for many years now....It is proven,inexpensive, and it works.
This is an alternate way to overwinter them.

Give it try next year

.
http://www.bananas.org/f10/hibernating-basjoo-19512.html#post235281#1
.
.http://www.bananas.org/244613-post6.html#2

SixtySix
12-19-2014, 08:35 AM
Not far from my house there is a backyard that have a couple fifteen foot basjoos. Last week I drove by and saw them wrapped in bubble wrap. Does this help get a larger plant sooner?

Olafhenny
12-19-2014, 11:07 AM
Not far from my house there is a backyard that have a couple fifteen foot basjoos. Last week I drove by and saw them wrapped in bubble wrap. Does this help get a larger plant sooner?

No, I do not think so. Some people may use bubble wrap, because they think, that the
air bubbles provide some insulation against cold. At least that is why I tried it a couple
of years ago in spring. I did not get any obvious benefit out of it, so I discontinued.
But then, you are in HZ8 and I am in HZ6. Maybe there that small advantage is helpful.

drobbins
12-19-2014, 08:18 PM
Hi SixtySix,

I'm in central NC, about the same zone as you
I'm just in my 3rd year with basjoo but been watching them in other folks yards a bit longer, but from what I see they can take the winter just fine,
the trick to BIG is water, fertilizer, and good soil
put your efforts there

Dave

lmswayne
12-20-2014, 08:24 PM
I am in Seattle and we have had some really harsh fall weather the last couple of years and mine have made it. I try to protect them as much as I can with compost and frost cloth. Some times I am starting over from the ground up but they have always come back. I have been growing them for 10 years.

cincinnana
12-21-2014, 06:59 PM
Not far from my house there is a backyard that have a couple fifteen foot basjoos. Last week I drove by and saw them wrapped in bubble wrap. Does this help get a larger plant sooner?

Yes....but

Bubble wrap in your zone is an insurance policy.:08:
I would do it also.

A plant in that zone that is wrapped is less likely to succumb ( total stem loss) to SHORT spells of very cold weather. The wrap does have excellent insulating properties.
The advantage of no stem loss is the plant does not have to start over( grow to 15 feet) each spring and the homeowner can enjoy a full size plant many weeks earlier.

Time/growth savings is at least 60 days......just a guess .

Locally zone 5/6 this method is not an option...our soil freezes to a depth of 4-8 inches.
Thats why we make sure we/I plant our corms below the freeze/kill zone.


Plant size is determined by a large healthy corm.....the bigger the corm the bigger the plant.

A musa Basjoo will only grow so tall...which is not much....6-15 stem height in our zone....guess.

cincinnana
03-19-2015, 07:54 PM
So what is going on so far......

Me......nothing yet out of the ground,,,,,,,but 8 inches below grade,,,:08:

nothing..... still alittle cool