Hi

Skids · 04-03-2011, 08:46 PM

Hi guys,
How's it going? I'm from Melbourne, Australia. I like to grow tropical plants and Melbourne is not nearly tropical. Some of my plants are in a greenhouse because they couldn't tolerate the frosts and chill we get here in the middle of the year. I have a few varieties of banana (musa sapientum) growing outside in the back yard. Last year a few of their pseudo-stems died from an unexpected early frost but some pulled through OK. I started tarping them after first frost and that seemed to do the job. My aim is to get fruit from them, which means I have to keep the psuedostems alive during winter. Any links or tips on how to protect my plants from frost would be great.
Anyway, that's enough for an intro.
Cheers.

sunfish · 04-03-2011, 08:53 PM

Protecting in-ground banana plants from cold?

Skids · 04-03-2011, 09:00 PM

I'm a noob to this forum, so hopefully this doesn't wrankle. The threads seem to read in reverse chronological order. Is there a way to have them read in chronological order?
Thanks.

sunfish · 04-03-2011, 09:08 PM

Go to User CP,upper left, select edit options

Thread Display Mode
Here you can choose the display mode for threads. For a full explanation of the modes, please view this help page.
Thread Display Mode:

chasbear · 04-04-2011, 06:55 PM

Skids, welcome to the forum and best of luck with keeping your naners overwintered. Don't forget we all love photos, and this always poses another learning-curve moment... how to post them properly. But, we have no doubt that as an intrepid banana grower you'll also become accomplished at this!

The Hollyberry Lady · 04-04-2011, 07:14 PM

: )

Skids · 04-04-2011, 07:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chasbear

Skids, welcome to the forum and best of luck with keeping your naners overwintered. Don't forget we all love photos, and this always poses another learning-curve moment... how to post them properly. But, we have no doubt that as an intrepid banana grower you'll also become accomplished at this!

Thanks for the welcome. I've posted 3 photos in a thread I created in the main forum.

ZorroNet · 04-04-2011, 11:52 PM

G'day Skids! Welcome to you too

I thought you might find it interesting that the place I became interested in growing bananas was in Oz. I lived there for 3 glorious months and couldn't secure a work visa, so I had to head home to the USA. Florida has a similar environment to The Central Coast north of Sydney. I learned all about bananas at Coff's Harbour at the plantation there. I miss Oz a lot... I guess growing bananas is one of my ways of looking back on fond memories there. Good luck getting fruit in Melborne... Looks like we have similar challenges!

Skids · 04-05-2011, 04:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZorroNet

G'day Skids! Welcome to you too

I thought you might find it interesting that the place I became interested in growing bananas was in Oz. I lived there for 3 glorious months and couldn't secure a work visa, so I had to head home to the USA. Florida has a similar environment to The Central Coast north of Sydney. I learned all about bananas at Coff's Harbour at the plantation there. I miss Oz a lot... I guess growing bananas is one of my ways of looking back on fond memories there. Good luck getting fruit in Melborne... Looks like we have similar challenges!

Wow, cool! I've never been to Coff's. I've been a bit further north Balina-Byron bay and I think the climate is pretty similar. Down here in Melbourne we get hot-dry summers (except this year when there was a strong la nina bringing humidity and heaps of rain) and longer cool winters than places like Coff's which I think are more humid and have relatively short winters. I read in Wikipedia (never known to be wrong

) that Florida is sub-tropical to true tropical so I imagine it's like Brisbane to Cairns in Queensland. Melbourne is about the same distance from the equator as New York, but due to geography we have moderate weather in winter and stinking hot often in summer.

cherokee_greg · 04-05-2011, 10:23 AM

Welcome to the Org

ZorroNet · 04-05-2011, 10:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skids

I read in Wikipedia (never known to be wrong

) that Florida is sub-tropical to true tropical so I imagine it's like Brisbane to Cairns in Queensland. Melbourne is about the same distance from the equator as New York, but due to geography we have moderate weather in winter and stinking hot often in summer.

You are right about FL (Wikipedia is mostly), but they are referring to South FL where it is subtropical and 12 hours southeast of where I am in the northwest end of the state. We have short, mild winters, but unfortunately it does get to freezing temps, so I will just have to watch my plants and cover them when appropriate. I think they will just go dormant around 50F (10C), which is fine... I'll just cut them back and cover them if it gets really cold. Hopefully I can get fruit out of them before the cold kills them!

Best to you in Melbourne... I've been to Canberra in winter and it was quite chilly, but I didn't make it as far south and west as Melbourne. Say hi to Jet for me... your hometown boys and one of my fave bands.

Cheers!
Dave

Skids · 04-05-2011, 04:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZorroNet

You are right about FL (Wikipedia is mostly), but they are referring to South FL where it is subtropical and 12 hours southeast of where I am in the northwest end of the state. We have short, mild winters, but unfortunately it does get to freezing temps, so I will just have to watch my plants and cover them when appropriate. I think they will just go dormant around 50F (10C), which is fine... I'll just cut them back and cover them if it gets really cold. Hopefully I can get fruit out of them before the cold kills them!

Best to you in Melbourne... I've been to Canberra in winter and it was quite chilly, but I didn't make it as far south and west as Melbourne. Say hi to Jet for me... your hometown boys and one of my fave bands.

Cheers!
Dave

Canberra? Ugh. That's much colder than Melbourne. It's further north but being inland behind the mountains it is a continental climate. Melbourne is south of the mountains (well, USians would call them hills, cause they aint no Rockies) and on the edge of a large bay and near the Southern Ocean which moderates things.

Jet hey? From Dingly I recall. Yeah not bad. You like pub rock?

ZorroNet · 04-05-2011, 05:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skids

Jet hey? From Dingly I recall. Yeah not bad. You like pub rock?

You know we don't really have pub rock here... unless you consider Jet pub rock haha! You're hard pressed to find a pub at all in my neck of the woods... It's all beachy tourism to the south and rural country in any given direction for 30 miles or so. I miss the big city sometimes!

Skids · 04-05-2011, 06:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZorroNet

You know we don't really have pub rock here... unless you consider Jet pub rock haha! You're hard pressed to find a pub at all in my neck of the woods... It's all beachy tourism to the south and rural country in any given direction for 30 miles or so. I miss the big city sometimes!

Wow, in Oz a place isn't considered a town unless it has a pub in it.

When you say you'll cut back your bananas. How much do you need to cut them back?

ZorroNet · 04-05-2011, 08:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skids

When you say you'll cut back your bananas. How much do you need to cut them back?

I'm not 100% sure, but I have read that is a way people in the North here keep them from freezing and turning into a pile of mush. I read a nice article about someone in Ohio getting plants from ground to fruit which is killer. I'll see if I can find it again and post a link. Remember, I'm a newbie too

Skids · 04-05-2011, 08:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZorroNet

I'm not 100% sure, but I have read that is a way people in the North here keep them from freezing and turning into a pile of mush. I read a nice article about someone in Ohio getting plants from ground to fruit which is killer. I'll see if I can find it again and post a link. Remember, I'm a newbie too

No worries. I thought you might have had some experience with it from Coff's or somewhere. I have no idea. The plants that got frost bitten last year mostly survived but one plant that probably would've fruited last summer turned to mush. It was the first frost too! I covered them after that. I was new to the area and didn't expect frosts for another month like where I'd previously lived. Ah well.

ZorroNet · 04-05-2011, 09:07 PM

Here is the article I was referring to...

Bananas move north of the tropics | Flower & Garden Magazine | Find Articles at BNET

04-03-2011, 08:46 PM	#1 (permalink)
Skids Location: Melbourne, Australia Find me on the map! Join Date: Mar 2010 Posts: 34 BananaBucks : 12,436 Feedback: 0 / 0% Said "Thanks" 8 Times Was Thanked 44 Times in 18 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 30 Times	Hi Hi guys, How's it going? I'm from Melbourne, Australia. I like to grow tropical plants and Melbourne is not nearly tropical. Some of my plants are in a greenhouse because they couldn't tolerate the frosts and chill we get here in the middle of the year. I have a few varieties of banana (musa sapientum) growing outside in the back yard. Last year a few of their pseudo-stems died from an unexpected early frost but some pulled through OK. I started tarping them after first frost and that seemed to do the job. My aim is to get fruit from them, which means I have to keep the psuedostems alive during winter. Any links or tips on how to protect my plants from frost would be great. Anyway, that's enough for an intro. Cheers.

04-03-2011, 08:53 PM	#2 (permalink)
sunfish Banned sunfish's Photo Gallery Location: San Diego Find me on the map! Zone: 9-11 Name: Tony Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 18,429 BananaBucks : 1,610,375 Feedback: 8 / 100% Said "Thanks" 3,210 Times Was Thanked 20,593 Times in 7,760 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 2,716 Times	Re: Hi Protecting in-ground banana plants from cold?

04-03-2011, 09:00 PM	#3 (permalink)
Skids Location: Melbourne, Australia Find me on the map! Join Date: Mar 2010 Posts: 34 BananaBucks : 12,436 Feedback: 0 / 0% Said "Thanks" 8 Times Was Thanked 44 Times in 18 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 30 Times	Re: Hi I'm a noob to this forum, so hopefully this doesn't wrankle. The threads seem to read in reverse chronological order. Is there a way to have them read in chronological order? Thanks.

04-03-2011, 09:08 PM	#4 (permalink)
sunfish Banned sunfish's Photo Gallery Location: San Diego Find me on the map! Zone: 9-11 Name: Tony Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 18,429 BananaBucks : 1,610,375 Feedback: 8 / 100% Said "Thanks" 3,210 Times Was Thanked 20,593 Times in 7,760 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 2,716 Times	Re: Hi Go to User CP,upper left, select edit options Thread Display Mode Here you can choose the display mode for threads. For a full explanation of the modes, please view this help page. Thread Display Mode:

04-04-2011, 06:55 PM	#5 (permalink)
chasbear Banana Explorer chasbear's Photo Gallery Location: Bukidnon Province, Philippines Find me on the map! Zone: Equatorial Name: Charles Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 189 BananaBucks : 22,862 Feedback: 0 / 0% Said "Thanks" 153 Times Was Thanked 210 Times in 65 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 26 Times	Re: Hi Skids, welcome to the forum and best of luck with keeping your naners overwintered. Don't forget we all love photos, and this always poses another learning-curve moment... how to post them properly. But, we have no doubt that as an intrepid banana grower you'll also become accomplished at this!

Members currently in the chatroom: 0
	The most chatters online in one day was 17, 09-06-2009. No one is currently using the chat.

04-04-2011, 07:14 PM	#6 (permalink)
The Hollyberry Lady The Hollyberry Lady's Photo Gallery Find me on the map! Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 15,161 BananaBucks : 1,456,659 Feedback: 1 / 100% Said "Thanks" 12,042 Times Was Thanked 11,326 Times in 5,311 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 102 Times	Re: Hi : )

04-04-2011, 11:52 PM	#8 (permalink)
ZorroNet Banana Newbie Location: Paxton, FL Find me on the map! Zone: 8 Name: Dave Join Date: Apr 2011 Posts: 14 BananaBucks : 8,672 Feedback: 0 / 0% Said "Thanks" 7 Times Was Thanked 7 Times in 6 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 6 Times	Re: Hi G'day Skids! Welcome to you too I thought you might find it interesting that the place I became interested in growing bananas was in Oz. I lived there for 3 glorious months and couldn't secure a work visa, so I had to head home to the USA. Florida has a similar environment to The Central Coast north of Sydney. I learned all about bananas at Coff's Harbour at the plantation there. I miss Oz a lot... I guess growing bananas is one of my ways of looking back on fond memories there. Good luck getting fruit in Melborne... Looks like we have similar challenges! __________________ Dave (Zorro) Paxton, FL http://goteamdave.com

04-05-2011, 10:23 AM	#10 (permalink)
cherokee_greg Love those bananas cherokee_greg's Photo Gallery Location: Fresno,CA Find me on the map! Zone: zone 9 Name: Greg Join Date: Aug 2009 Posts: 4,357 BananaBucks : 382,610 Feedback: 2 / 100% Said "Thanks" 8,066 Times Was Thanked 3,946 Times in 1,665 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 335 Times	Re: Hi Welcome to the Org __________________ Greg zone 9 Fresno,CA http://gardenjot.com/garden/view/1980/Gregs-Banana-Farm

04-05-2011, 09:07 PM	#17 (permalink)
ZorroNet Banana Newbie Location: Paxton, FL Find me on the map! Zone: 8 Name: Dave Join Date: Apr 2011 Posts: 14 BananaBucks : 8,672 Feedback: 0 / 0% Said "Thanks" 7 Times Was Thanked 7 Times in 6 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 6 Times	Re: Hi Here is the article I was referring to... Bananas move north of the tropics \| Flower & Garden Magazine \| Find Articles at BNET __________________ Dave (Zorro) Paxton, FL http://goteamdave.com

Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)