Why not...
 

New guy here. Recently purchased a few different types of Banana plants.

I can grow most things outside without real issue. Inside is another story. I have one pothos that I've manage to keep alive for 7 years, although it looks a bit worse every year. No idea! I have however kept two Strelitzia Nicolai (White Bird of Paradise) alive for over a year, one fully indoors and the other out for the summer and in for the winter. Granted they aren't really that hard to keep alive. Oh and I also was able to keep a majesty palm growing and setting off new fronds throughout the winter. Although humidity was severely lacking.

Doing as much research as I can on learning how to keep them not only alive but hopefully growing. (The banana plants of course.)

The Ensete maurelii I recently planted in a pot, although I believe I may need to pull it up and repot, drainage isn't as quick as I'd like. I'm thinking to much compost and not enough perlite, perhaps a bag or two of Cactus mix and more perlite will fix that.

The Basjoo I have yet to plant in ground. Trying to locate the best plant site before amending the soil and planting.

The Dwarf Cavendish I purchased a few days ago at a local nursery. It's potted in a 3 gallon pot at the moment with the plant standing 3-4 feet with a stem the size of a bat. I'm thinking I need to upsize the pot, considering the 10" it's in now doesn't really give much room to allowing pups to form. Also, the roots are showing on the top of the soil, which I'm assuming it could possibly be root bound.

Hoping to learn as much as I can to at least keep them alive, better yet thriving.

Re: Why not...
 

I haven't grown them, but from what I understand, the basjoo can be left outside where you are with a little mulch...Also, white birds can get very large, so you know.

Welcome to the banana bin.

Are you hoping to get fruit there, or just ornamentals? You can get fruit there, but it's not easy. see here:

http://www.bananas.org/f2/ooverwinte...ing-40727.html

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Welcome to the banana gang!.....:bananarow:

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Greetings, and welcome to the Banana Express. :nanerwaveytrain:

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Yep, I knew before buying the Birds that they can become really large. But read that they were easier to grow than the smaller varieties.

I wouldn't be against getting my Dwarf Cavendish to fruit, however, learning to keep it alive is my goal this year.

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Hello and welcome. I am in Indiana also

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Thanks Kevin.

Until I looked at your location I thought you could be a neighbor down the road after you said you were in Indiana also.

A neighbor down the road has a ton of tropical plants he grows. From a huge Brugmansia to a 3' by 4' what looks to be a blue Agave to of course quite a few Ensete Maurelii that he puts out every year. He has what looks to be a 20x20 greenhouse outback, I can only imagine what he has locked away.

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Lol where are you located. It's funny cause I grow brugmansia and I had a huge agave like that also. but no greenhouse out back :(
I grow many different things so if you are close and ever looking for something or need help with anything let me know. The basjoo you should plant in the ground in a area that doesn't collect water. I have had my mat in the ground for 3 years and are easy to overwinter with some mulch,straw and a tarp. I even did one out front with no protection. The mother died down but 2 new ones came up. That was with nothing not even mulch around them.
Here is my patch. Not great picture but it is from last week.

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That patch is epic!! I live east of you, Anderson area. I was over around your neck of the woods a few weeks back. Bought a car from Pearson Ford.

I'll have to plant my Basjoo out in the backyard. My front yard is covered by silver maples unfortunately. Debating on whether to cut them down of leave them for the next owner. Yes, I plan on moving....eventually. But my backyard is slopped towards my field as I call it. So, planting in a place that doesn't collect water won't be an issue. I was thinking of planting in a raised bed area. The soil here likes to compact pretty bad, so after find the spot I plan on amending the soil with a good deal of compost and what ever else might help the area.

I have a big silver maple out back as well, but plan on having that either topped of cut completely. (Why people planted trees with such invasive root systems so close to the house baffles me.)

I'll have to snap a pic of that house down the road that grows all that. The house starts to fade away in the heart of summer with everything planted around.

I have thought about either buying a greenhouse or building one. I'm trying to weigh the pros and cons though. Figuring out what to grow in it and when. Also what to do for a heat source etc.

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Compost is great, but don't forget some sand. They love loose sandy soil.

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It's a shallow root system; it won't hurt the house unless you're on a slab, and if footers were properly poured, it still shouldn't be an issue. I get this question all the time regarding dawn redwoods. Patio slabs and driveways are at risk because they are flat on the ground. A footer will usually act as enough of a barrier because the roots are so shallow.

How far from the house is the tree?

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Well, I have two directly out front that are maybe 20 feet from the house. And another on the right side of my driveway, that has cracked and raised the driveway.

Two years ago, if memory serves correctly. When we had that bad drought in the midwest with the heat, a storm came through, and with the wind, moved one of the tree's out front enough to snap my main water line entering the house.

I also have another Silver Maple roughly 15-20 feet from the back of the house as well. Don't get me wrong I love tree's in general, however, tree's with such root systems should have been planted far enough away from the house and any concrete slabs.

And speaking of Dawn Redwood. I have one planted in the back field.

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So when planting the Basjoo, what would you suggest? As far as soil additives go? What type of sand and how much? Are we talking like 1/3 or 1/2 mixed with native soil? Amending with compost and Cactus mix?

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As I said, it will affect slabs, as it did in your case. The house should still be okay, unless you get a tornado or some other incredible wind that commits unnatural acts. In that case, all bets are off.

As for the dawn redwood, I would love to hear more about it. Maybe see some pics. I am pretty much the leading authority in the world on that tree, so if you have any questions or concerns, please let me know. Click on the bottom link in my sig and peruse the site. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me via the Contact link. And please, don't cut any branches off! Low branches are what cause the dawn redwood to develop that huge, contorted bole that makes it so unique. From ground level to approximately 7 feet, any branch will cause the tree to grow a huge canker around each branch. That is how the dawn redwood develops that huge, grotesque base.

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Yep. About 1/3 to 1/2 sand is good with lots of good organic material, then topdress heavily. I pile grass clippings around mine as a fertile mulch. Once it rots down some, they fill it with roots and eat it up. Keep it wet but not soupy...

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I planted it about 5 years ago I guess. It was around 6 ft tall at the time. It hasn't really grown as much as was expected. It might be around 10-12 ft now. Although the trunk of the tree has enlarged greatly. I have a field out back that likes to flood in the spring, so I figured either that or a cypress would be ok to plant in the area. Menards had them for sale, and I picked one up for maybe $70? We had a real bad winter/spring about 3 yrs ago? And not only did the flood freeze, the top of the tree died off as well. It has since shot up a new shoot at the top which has grown nicely.

My only issue at the moment other than growth rate, would be some animal is shredding the bottom of the trunk, taking slivers of the bark off. I've not seen what is doing it, so have no clue. I can only assume a squirrel is using it for their nest. I'll have to take a few pics tomorrow and get the actual sizing of height width and circumference of the trunk.

The only branches that I have trimmed off have been ones that were broke due to weather.

I also wanted to mention. I have seen quite a few redwoods around this area. There are a few across town that are massive!

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Deer love to de-velvet their antlers on them, as the bark is somewhat spongy, and it doesn't hurt their head as much.

Sounds like you had some ice damage. Dawns are susceptible to freezing rain, so it sounds like that may have been an issue. It's a very resilient tree, so with periodic flooding, it should do well. What is the soil pH like? Ideal pH is 4.5, but I've had them in pots on the patio that were running 3.8 and doing well. You can throw flowers of sulfur around to help acidify the soil.

Also, they love urine so if you can get a bunch of that into the ground, it will love you for it.

If you want to email some pics of the damage, I'd be glad to take a look.

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So, I see that the Cactus Mix I had states not for ground use outside. So, when using sand which is best for clay soils? Paver based sand? Playground Sand? Poultry Grit(granite).

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After reading here and there though, I see sand added to clay soil is never good. So would a boat load of compost be enough for planting Basjoo?

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Just sand and clay isn't so great, but mix in a generous heap of organic matter with it, and you'll be ok. Florida "soil" isn't much better than beach sand, it's about 90% sand. If you keep them fertilized, mulched and watered, they love it.
In Illinois, where I used to live, I grew several banana plants. One spot was almost all sand and gravel... The one I planted there grew twice as fast as the others I planted in good midwest farm country soil. Go figure. You could, if you wanted, dig a hole 18-24 in deep and 3-4 ft in diameter, fill it with sand and mix in a few shovels of dirt and grow great bananas there so long as you water, fertilize and top dress it properly.