Finally checking in
 

Hi Everyone,

I live near Toronto and yes I'm growing bananas (Musa Basjoo) outside in Canada. What a remarkable plant. This is my second year with them. Started with a small plant about 12" tall. It grew to about 7ft the first year with 4 pups. I now have over 10 plants and some of them are over 11 ft.(pseudostem over 6ft) not bad considering they froze to the ground last winter. I also have another banana plant outdoors but I'm not sure what it is. All I know is that I need to bring it in before the cold sets in. I hope to try other Banana plants in the future to see if I could create a microclimate in my small backyard. If anyone has suggestions on other banana plants or hardy tropicals that I could try to over winter here in a zone 5b/6a I would appreciate it.

Regards.

Re: Finally checking in
 

Hello, I am growing in England.
I have Basjoo 4 years old about 16 feet tall.
I agree that it is a remarkable plant -- never ceases to amaze me.
Can I suggest that you consider " Sikkimensis" Mine are about 6 / 7feet tall from seed in 2003, but if you can get hold of a pup ( I have several ) it gives you a faster start.
Wrap your Basjoo and preserve the stem at all costs and you will bew AMAZED at its growth next year,
good luck

Parker.

Re: Finally checking in
 

Thanks for the Tips Bananaman. I did wrap my Basjoo last year in Burlap and then built a cage around it using dry straw and more burlap. However it froze right to the ground. I don't think our past abnormally cold winter helped much. Lows went down to -9F/-22C. However, we made up for it this summer with more than 40 days of over 86F/30C temperatures. Hopefully this winter will be much warmer. I really would like to see these how big they would get it they started above ground.

Thanks again.