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View Full Version : Brazilian made it thru zone 6 winter!


gregsmith
04-13-2006, 08:29 PM
Our winter in Pa. was fairly mild, a low of 0 degrees for a day or three. It was very cold in November and December with a rather warm Jan. and March! I packed all of my banana plants in straw in a galvanized steel fence and covered the frame with shipping bubble wrap! My Brazilian and ElEl I left outside in full west wind (very breezy but with full afternoon sun) I used a
thermostat controlled heating cable on these plants. My musa Basjoo (12) and Orinoco (4) are in there third year with no losses and no heating cable!
The mats on these are ever expanding with diameters of up to six feet!
The ElEl, I don't know about yet! I cut the stems back to four feet on each plant, by May 15th. the plants should reach six feet in height! I would like to hear from cold weather banana growers about their successes (and failures)!
Thanks, Greg Smith

BobbyinNY
04-13-2006, 09:19 PM
That's incredible, Greg....... I live in zone 7 (Long Island, NY) I'm not as brave as you. I went out and bought a portable greenhouse, put a space heater in it and kept everything growing throughout the winter. Everything did fantastic except for the occasional problem with bugs - they love the greenhouse.

momoese
04-13-2006, 09:59 PM
Greg, I'm curious as to what is EIEI ? Are you talking about AE AE or Eli Eli or is this another Banana that have not heard of?

gregsmith
04-14-2006, 07:30 AM
That was a typo on my part. It should have been Ele Ele! I wonder if anyone has any plants for sale? I don't have anything rare to trade (yet)!
Greg Smith