In2art

I am just starting to grow bananas in Bellevue, WA. I have Musa basjoo planted in the yard, and some others (unknown) in pots. I would also like to grow Mekong Giant in the yard. Mostly interested in growing hardy bananas for foliage, fruits would be an unexpected bonus.

Abnshrek

Hello, Welcome, Happy Growing, and Merry Merry.. :^)

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I'm a Nannerhead :^)

2woodensticks

welcome to you..little chilly up the this time of year for you ..do you have or are you going the green house way??do you bring in less cold tollerant nanners inside..not just the ones in pots but even the ones in the yard can be brought in if a freeze is in the forcast..some members do dig up and store..replant in spring and go from there..

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got to love em..{neotropical rattlesnake..cascabell}

In2art

Thanks, all for the welcome.

I have wrapped the stems of Musa basjoo with burlap and fastened it with garden Velcro so far. I plan to mulch heavily with compost and then cover some of the ground around them with plastic to minimize moisture over the winter. Contemplating whether I need to do more.

I have seen videos on YouTube where people cut the bottoms out of barrels and put them upside down over the plant. I have also considered making a chicken wire circle around them and filling it with leaves, or putting light shade cloth over them. I joined in the hopes of learning more, so please let me know what works well.

As mentioned, this will be the first winter for basjoo in the yard. I planted 3 starts. They range from ~4-8' tall. One has 3 pups and one of the others has one small pup.

I hedged my bets on the potted ones. I took one to my office, put one in the greenhouse and brought one into the house. The one at the office has put out a pup.

Linda

Illia

Welcome! I'm also from the Pacific Northwest, but way over westward in the middle of the forest. I don't grow ornamentals, but, I can tell you that whatever banana it is - They're very addicting and before you know it, you've got yourself quite the handful.

Don't expect to eat and enjoy the fruit from ornamental cold hardy species though, and, they do indeed take a long time to fruit especially if you don't cover the P-Stem during the winter. If you do, you'll surely enjoy the beauty of such a large, tall mat of (or single) bananas. I think Basjoo take at least 2 years to flower, possibly 3-5 depending on climate and other variables.

In2art

Thanks, Illia...what is the P-stem? And how does one cover it for winter?

The leaves have not died back yet, is it ok to cut them? Should I just wrap the stem up higher at that point?

Illia

P-Stem is the Pseudostem. It's basically the "trunk" of the plant, or more technically the stems to the leaves. You mentioned earlier about putting a barrel over the plant or wrapping it, that's just about the same thing. It's protection of the stem itself so the plant doesn't die back.

If you still have leaves now, you're fine. But when the temps go lower than they already have been (of which it has been surviving) then I'd cover the stem and not worry about the leaves. Either cut them or leave them. With me, I let the leaves die at the first frost which has always been mild for me, then, on the next day, cover the remaining stem to protect it from future freezes. It's still alive, you can tell by the greenish color here and there and by its continued enormous collection of water inside. If the plant is dead, it is completely brown and black, and hardly has much good water in the stems themselves.

This sort of protection is only needed for plants outdoors though. Basically, you wrap the main stem with things like bubblewrap, tarp, foam, hay, etc. Whatever you choose, there's quite a few YouTube videos showing the different methods. Also remember to cover the ground too. To keep it alive, best to cover the surrounding ground AND the main stem. You ideally want it to keep cold and dry.

From your previous post it seems you've got most of the needed info covered though


If I have small pups or potted bananas, I always bring them indoors and let them grow out the winter. Helps speed up the waiting time for fruit. Just remember, they like temps indoors above 65 degrees, good humidity, lots of water if it's warm enough, and enough root space as they grow through the months.

In2art

I am mostly just after a small grove of lovely tropical foliage. Would like to maximize height, so want to winter protect as best I can. Flowers would be interesting. I didn't even think basjoo had edible fruit...does it?

Illia

Technically all bananas have "edible" fruit, but, really it's not much worth it. The fruit is heavily seeded, small, and I believe either tasteless or pretty starchy.

I love tropical foliage, but I also love growing what food I can. If I can grow bananas that are more than 3x the flavor of storebought, and have none of the excessive pesticides, fungicides, and possible herbicides storebought ones have - That's great! Because honestly, the more I got into learning how to grow bananas when I first got into the idea, the more I was repulsed and educated on how truly chemical-soaked the storebought nanners are.

In2art

Maybe my success with the ones I have will lead me to try for fruit.

I don't know what type the ones in pots are, perhaps I am closer than I realize.

I do have an area in the back yard where I could plant them, then dig and store. I would have to wrap them and store outdoors, but I could protect them from excessive cold.

Capitum

There are a few of us in the PNW, sometimes with extras for trade or giveaway

I'm just North of Monroe, usually a few degrees cooler than your location. I know of a person in Monroe who has a Basjoo mat in her backyard, she doesn't do anything at all (lets it die to the ground each winter) and they just pop back up again. It is unlikely she will ever see fruit or that the plants will get enormous, but it does create that tropical look. Once you have your mat established, you might experiment with leaving one part of the mat unprotected just to see when it breaks ground in the spring, and how big it is able to get compared to the protected plants.