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johninbideford
04-09-2015, 03:52 PM
Hello, I'm new to Bananas.org - but not to bananas!

I live in Bideford, N Devon, in the UK - on the Bristol Channel coast.

I am currently growing M basjoo, M sikkimensis, M balbisiana, M itinerans (Mekong Giant) Ensete glaucum and E maurellii. I have also grown Musa (Musella) lasiocarpa which perished in the 2010/2011 winter, together with a M basjoo with four "trunks." It was not so much the intensity of the cold as its duration and the strength of the wind which, together, served to provide an unusually penetrating frost which, I believe, froze deep into the plants, and deep into the ground.

So there you have it. I'm looking forward to reading posts and, possibly, making one or two of my own.

kubali
04-09-2015, 04:37 PM
Welcome aboard,
pull up a chair and have some fun learning.

cincinnana
04-12-2015, 05:08 PM
Welcome to the Jungle...:woohoonaner:

johninbideford
04-13-2015, 02:15 AM
Thanks, Cicinnana, for your welcome. I guess your summer climate is much better suited to outdoor bananas than ours here in S W England, where day temperatures tend to stay in the 60s or low 70s, and we get a lot of strong leaf shredding winds. However, winter temperatures don't get all that low: perhaps -5, and this means M basjoo, M sikkimensis, M lasiocarpa have done quite well left in flower beds outdoors, unprotected.

I overwinter Ensete maurelii in an unheated conservatory, and that works quite well. Also, M balbisiana - with difficulty. I got a M itinerans (var: Mekong Giant) and put it out as a small plant a year ago. It was still a small plant when I brought it into the house in the Autumn (fall), but, in the warmth of the house, it grew to about 2ft tall on the window ledge, and is now outside in the flower bed again. I suspect this plant needs higher temperatures than we can provide outdoors here.

I also got a very small E glaucum which grew a bit (2ft) in the flower bed over the summer, and I left it out over the winter, heavily protected by bark chippings enclosed in a wire netting basket. It's not looking too healthy at the moment - no new leaves showing yet, but time will tell.

Many thanks for your welcome.

Snarkie
04-21-2015, 07:59 PM
Welcome to the forums, John.