norteno
07-28-2008, 12:49 AM
This may not end up to be the most popular thread on the forum, but you guys are such a wealth of knowledge I have to take selfish advantage. I live in zone 8b Portland Oregon. We have relatively mild winter temps but lots of rain. I had some basjoos that I overwintered last year with mulch and a frost cloth wrap on the pseudostem (which was probably optional) and they are doing just great. This year however, I now also have a musa sikkimensis, sikimensis red tiger, and musa orinoco in the ground. From what I have read on the forum, I gather that with various wrap and mulch methods I will most likely be able to overwinter these nanas in the ground, but sometimes they dont make it. I read most of the flagship thread on "putting the nanas to sleep for the winter" and digging them up to put in my basement bare root and them planting out in the late spring.
Mind you I am a lay person, but here is my dilema: Why would people bother to overwinter in the ground in any climate that is not lightly beyond the bananas ability to cope vs. just dig up and take into the basement or under the house? I really dont want to lose my sikkimensis and 'red tiger' because they are not that easy to come by. If digging up and putting into the basement is a virtual foolproof way of doing it I would not think I would want to risk leaving them in the ground and hopefully getting lucky in that they survive. I am calling on the expertise of the forum for advice on how I should overwinter my most precious and borderline nanas this year because you guys know your stuff. WHat are the pros and cons in my particular case? I already know the basjoos are staying in the ground because they have a great reputation for being hardy here, the others do not.
Mind you I am a lay person, but here is my dilema: Why would people bother to overwinter in the ground in any climate that is not lightly beyond the bananas ability to cope vs. just dig up and take into the basement or under the house? I really dont want to lose my sikkimensis and 'red tiger' because they are not that easy to come by. If digging up and putting into the basement is a virtual foolproof way of doing it I would not think I would want to risk leaving them in the ground and hopefully getting lucky in that they survive. I am calling on the expertise of the forum for advice on how I should overwinter my most precious and borderline nanas this year because you guys know your stuff. WHat are the pros and cons in my particular case? I already know the basjoos are staying in the ground because they have a great reputation for being hardy here, the others do not.