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Snarkie
12-30-2014, 01:34 PM
Hi there-

I just ordered two specimens of Musa basjoo, and I have a couple of quick questions.

It's still winter here. When should I put them in the ground? Should they be potted in the meantime? If I find a donor of a clump that's died back for the winter, how can I get some and can they go directly into the ground?

Any and all info appreciated.

drobbins
12-30-2014, 03:44 PM
Hi Snarkie,

I'm up in Raleigh, so similar conditions.
You don't want to put live plants outside this time of year, you'll need to pot them up and wait till spring.
What did you buy? I got mine as 4" tall plants off ebay
easy and cheap
Pot em up and give em as much light as you can to try to keep them going through spring. They need to get established next summer before they'll be able to tolerate the winter but after that they do very well

Dave

cincinnana
12-30-2014, 07:58 PM
Hi there-

I just ordered two specimens of Musa basjoo, and I have a couple of quick questions.

It's still winter here. When should I put them in the ground? Should they be potted in the meantime? If I find a donor of a clump that's died back for the winter, how can I get some and can they go directly into the ground?

Any and all info appreciated.

Donor clumps can go from their yard to you yard no problem this time of year.:)

All plants while they are dormant can be the best time to transplant them....there is generally NO shock.
I transplant /divide many ferns and hosta in the cool winter months.

But... get as many VIABLE roots as you can and the biggest root ball possible for a better result.
Hold your new plants inside for the winter and grow them out as much as you can.
Plant them out in the spring after last frost date....

Then try this.....http://www.bananas.org/f10/hibernating-basjoo-19512.html#post244613,
And read all the posts for next years endeavors.
Great choice on the basjoo.....great foliage and a long lived performer..

Snarkie
12-31-2014, 05:25 PM
Thank you both, for your replies. I am new to bananas and will take any advice I can get!

I bought two basjoos from FL that are on the way, but I also know of many yards with huge clumps of them as well. This was why I asked about transplanting them. A little door knocking can't hurt, right?

it's really weird asking for advice, as I'm used to giving it on dawn redwoods, so now I know how it feels!!!:woohoonaner:

blownz281
12-31-2014, 05:51 PM
Funny you bring up door knocking. I have wanted to get a Musa Boderlon but never find them around here just Rojo which I have. Me and the Fam were driving through a neighborhood in October an saw a large mat in someone's yard. Figured what the heck. Knocked on the door an explained I saw there banana plants. Told the man I had 25 types. Could I have a small pup an would trade one of mine. Said his wife does the plants and she had no interest in talking too me. I gave him my info and he said he saw no problem sharing the wealth and would talk to her. Never heard anything. :(

Snarkie
01-02-2015, 10:31 AM
Looks like his wife wore the gardening gloves in that household, LOL! :goteam:

I do a lot of trading, but of unrelated plants. Maybe that's the key. I'm working on a barter with a local nursery right now for all the palms I need for my front yard. He likes exotic things and I have a couple different species of just that. Between the two of us, we'll both get what we want and everyone comes out a winner.

My approach is to knock on the door with a couple pots of Flying Dragon in the car; offer to trade a couple of burglar-resistant plants for a few corms.

jbyrd88888
01-02-2015, 07:33 PM
Hey from High Point, and good luck... Did the specimens ship this late in the season? :eek: Tissue cultures???

blownz281
01-02-2015, 09:37 PM
Some people aren't friendly or think advent plant people are strange and it's just a plant.

Snarkie
01-03-2015, 09:45 AM
Hey from High Point, and good luck... Did the specimens ship this late in the season? :eek: Tissue cultures???Thanks.

Yes, they shipped via Priority Mail on Tuesday and got here yesterday, despite New News. IDK if they are tissue cultures or not, but they look great! I can't wait to get them in the ground. I'll have to settle for potting them for now though :(

They're nice and bright green and came with plant food sticks in the package as well. Will they begin dividing the first year, or do they need a season first? Will the fact that I am potting them at two feet and getting this extra growing time help?

Snarkie
01-03-2015, 09:48 AM
... or think advent plant people are strange ...Yeah, a lot of people thought I was strange when I started the only wild dawn redwood forest outside of China too, but now it's the only project of its kind in the world and people have stopped referring to me as a "wingnut" on discussion boards, LOL! :woohoonaner:

jbyrd88888
01-03-2015, 12:40 PM
Sounds cool I'm quite an oddball too, I stand out everywhere. Just wanted to say:careful not to give too much aqua... Wet feet can quickly kill down naners in less than tropical climates. Check my grow log, shows my eager first year attempt? Basjoo is the best starter IMO.
60° being the lowest I'd guess you'd have a good chance? How big did they come? Less than 12" I'd think probably tissue culture?

Snarkie
01-03-2015, 03:00 PM
Stems are 14". With leaves they're around 30." I got them on sale for $10.95 each, plus shipping from Greenearth Co. in Melbourne, FL. I'm thinking maybe they were getting too big and they wanted to unload them? I wish I could have afforded more.

blownz281
01-04-2015, 05:26 PM
Pics!

Snarkie
01-05-2015, 04:38 PM
Okay, here they are, I hope. I've never posted on a forum where you couldn't upload directly, so let's see if I can figure this out...

Nah, I can't figure this out. I have it in my gallery but I can't see any way to access it or add it to the post, sorry.

jbyrd88888
01-05-2015, 05:30 PM
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=57348&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=57348)
copy/paste first line of text under image (in your gallery) .
NICE
Almost fairly certain people will call these TC but IDK really.

Snarkie
01-05-2015, 06:00 PM
Thanks. I'll see if I remember that the next time I need to do it, LOL.

I would have liked to have gotten more for that price, as the shipping was the same for up to several of them. At least this gets me started!

:woohoonaner:

Lau
01-05-2015, 06:19 PM
Congratulations the plants look great. :goteam:

drobbins
01-05-2015, 06:50 PM
Nice looking plants
I bet they were a welcome sight to have show up this time of year :08:
just give em all the light you can and a sip of water every now and then
you're kinda putting them in a holding pattern till spring
got any pics of your redwoods, they sound interesting
I have 2 acres of woods, might need to start something "unusual"

Dave

Snarkie
01-05-2015, 07:32 PM
got any pics of your redwoods, they sound interesting
I have 2 acres of woods, might need to start something "unusual"

DaveCrescent Ridge Dawn Redwoods Preserve - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crescent_Ridge_Dawn_Redwoods_Preserve)

Info on the project itself can be found at Home (http://www.dawnredwood.org) The gallery has lots of cool pics of mature trees.

Snarkie
01-07-2015, 10:29 AM
Both of them have new leaves coming out to the tune of at least 1/2" a day. Should I try and grow them over the winter (as opposed to simply hibernating them), as I have them in a heated location with lots of glass? It's a back porch that I glassed in and added a heat/AC duct into. It won't be toasty, but it won't get below 60 either. I don't have a location in the house to actually bring them totally inside.

blownz281
01-07-2015, 03:57 PM
They will do fine there, just back off on watering.

SixtySix
01-09-2015, 12:31 PM
Wishing you as much success with your bananas as you seem to have with the dawn redwoods!

Snarkie
01-09-2015, 02:24 PM
Thanks, SixtySix!
:nanadrink:

Snarkie
01-28-2015, 11:27 AM
Since I have a 5 hour sunny and fairly warm location for these two, I decided to grow them over the winter, as opposed to "managing" them. Each has put out a new leaf since this thread started, and the bigger one is already pushing a second leaf up the center of the leaf that unfurled last week at a half inch per day. Does this sound like a good rate of growth for a winter pot?

drobbins
01-29-2015, 08:56 PM
Sounds like they're doing great to me.
Prepare a good spot for em in the spring and I bet the do great

Snarkie
02-23-2015, 08:26 PM
I do a lot of trading, but of unrelated plants. Maybe that's the key. I'm working on a barter with a local nursery right now for all the palms I need for my front yard. He likes exotic things and I have a couple different species of just that. Between the two of us, we'll both get what we want and everyone comes out a winner.I finally caught up with him over the weekend. I traded three dawn redwoods for two windmill palms and a needle palm (needle palm will be in next week). One of the windmills was a dual, so I soaked it to bare root and separated the two plants. So in reality, I got four palms for three redwoods. I'd say I did okay. :santananer:

Snarkie
02-26-2015, 03:49 PM
I just found the company online again, as I want to order more, and they ARE tissue cultures.
Buy - Banana Trees - Banana Plants - Sale (http://www.greenhousebusiness.com/bananaplants.html)

drobbins
02-28-2015, 07:10 PM
when I first got bananas 2 years ago I looked at the site you posted but ended up getting mine here

Buy Banana tree plants (http://www.floridahillnursery.com/banana-tree-plants-c-3?zenid=e64nmchmamit268hup1m8af8a0)

the ones I got were a little cheaper but I think they were also smaller, mine were just 4-5 inches tall, but they did well and got large in a year

anyway, it's nice to have options

I'm about tired of winter, went out and covered my basjoo with a tarp 2 weeks ago to keep them dry in this nasty weather. I think getting wet and rotting is a bigger danger than the temps

Dave

Snarkie
03-01-2015, 10:01 AM
Thanks for the link, Dave. This time of year they might be on the larger end, since they've had the winter months (when no one is typically buying them) to grow.

drobbins
03-01-2015, 02:18 PM
I'd be afraid to mail order them this time of year because of the weather.
when you started this thread I was surprised you had ordered yours when you did but it seems it worked out fine

another day of sleet and freezing rain here
I have a couple of ensete glaucom overwintering in dormancy in my basement
Started giving em a little water 2 weeks ago and they're starting to push out leaves so at least I have something green to look at:nanadrink:

Snarkie
03-01-2015, 05:05 PM
Yeah, I seem to have a green thumb when it comes to potting stuff up, LOL. I'm keeping them indoors and tricking them into thinking they're still in sunny Florida.

Snarkie
03-10-2015, 10:21 AM
I left my basjoos outside last night for the first time. They've been out for a couple days now. Gotta pull them in, in a couple of nights, as it will drop into the upper 40's, but for now they're loving it.

I got a little concerned the first couple of times I put them out on sunny days, as they drooped a little, but I realized it was sun shock. If all goes well, they should go in the first weekend of April. :08: