moochops
02-11-2015, 10:25 AM
About 4 weeks ago I brought my potted basjoo and sikkimensis daj giant indoors. We had been forecast a period of freezing weather and the aim was to avoid losing the pseudostems to the cold weather.
Here is a picture a few weeks after we brought them inside:
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=57456&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=57456&ppuser=1622)
It was no mean feat for the wife and I to bring them in as I have a broken foot and the pots are pretty big!
As you can see the plants have responded to the warmth indoors and have started growing. Here they are a week or so later:
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=57485&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=57485&ppuser=1622)
Now the conundrum - our last frost here could be anytime up until the middle of May although recent years has tended to be mid-April. So, should I put the plants back outside? The forecast for the next week looks frost free but still pretty chilly. If the leaves get toasted by frost again in the next few months will the corms still have the energy to push out new leaves when it warms up in spring? Would it be better to chop back the new growth and wait for warmer weather?
The plants were purchased in the spring of 2013 as 6 inch pups. Last winter i left them outside in a sheltered spot. We had an unusually mild winter with only a handful of very light frosts and they actually kept all their leaves. They were much smaller then and was prepared to bring them in all winter if intense cold had been forecast. This winter has been generally colder and the plants are much bigger. Both plants have a few good size pups too.
I need to do something as if I let them carry on growing I won't be able to get them back out through the door! Also, as bananimal pointed out in my gallery - the ceiling is going to be a mess.
Any other suggestions welcome. Thanks for looking. :08:
Here is a picture a few weeks after we brought them inside:
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=57456&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=57456&ppuser=1622)
It was no mean feat for the wife and I to bring them in as I have a broken foot and the pots are pretty big!
As you can see the plants have responded to the warmth indoors and have started growing. Here they are a week or so later:
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=57485&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=57485&ppuser=1622)
Now the conundrum - our last frost here could be anytime up until the middle of May although recent years has tended to be mid-April. So, should I put the plants back outside? The forecast for the next week looks frost free but still pretty chilly. If the leaves get toasted by frost again in the next few months will the corms still have the energy to push out new leaves when it warms up in spring? Would it be better to chop back the new growth and wait for warmer weather?
The plants were purchased in the spring of 2013 as 6 inch pups. Last winter i left them outside in a sheltered spot. We had an unusually mild winter with only a handful of very light frosts and they actually kept all their leaves. They were much smaller then and was prepared to bring them in all winter if intense cold had been forecast. This winter has been generally colder and the plants are much bigger. Both plants have a few good size pups too.
I need to do something as if I let them carry on growing I won't be able to get them back out through the door! Also, as bananimal pointed out in my gallery - the ceiling is going to be a mess.
Any other suggestions welcome. Thanks for looking. :08: