natej740

I just went down and checked on my musa basjoo i stored in my basement and its dried out...All of the outer layers are brown and crisp. The inner layers still felt firm. Is that normal or is it just going to get worse? My Ensete V. Marellii is doing great put out 2 and a half leaves in my cold dark basement! Ill try to add pics later if i get around to it. Thanks

The Hollyberry Lady

natej740

It was a large pup(the one in my profile pic) that i separated and took it straight down there. It grew some as well but it stopped growing a while ago. If it will continually get worse i was thinking of potting it up and see if i can get it to grow again...I dont really have the room for another huge banana plant in my spare bedroom though....And my girlfriend already thinks im crazy with all these plants...lol

saltydad

This happens to me, though I've never stored basjoo indoors. Unless it is totally dry and has no weight at all in spring, plant it, If it's at all firm it should come back, though it may take a while to show green. These are tough suckers, and most make it!

Here's what mine look like now in the basement.

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Patty in Wisc

Oh my, I did what Big Dog posted about how to store over winter. I cut all leaves off except for the newest leaf...and that's cut in half. I have them laying on floor in cool sunroom & covered to keep light off. The lower part of leaves are brown but if I pull them down a little, it is green --so far.
Howard, I would cut some lower leaves off. And, welcome back! Looks like you got your puter working again

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saltydad

Actually the ones that have all their leaves have now been potted; I'm trying to keep them going for a head start next spring. The others that are bare root only have the top leaf on them; the others were cut off before I brought them inside. Interestingly, I have some elephant ears bare root that are still green and growing- no water!

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Jack Daw

Isn't that floor too cold? Those corms shouldn't be feeling that cold all winter long.

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saltydad

The furnace is in the same room. If anything, it's too warm. I wish it were around 50 instead of normal house temp.

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Olafhenny

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chasbear

Howard, its quite obvious where your priorities lie, eh?

Will it be housekeeping or banana-keeping? Hmmm, let me think about it...
It sure looks like my kind of priorities.

Better not let natej740's girlfriend see this photo!

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Olafhenny

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saltydad

Actually, Olaf, this room has successfully wintered bare root bananas,potted bananas, bare root plumeria in dormancy, potted plumeria, ee's., canna corms, etc. I have never had a plant rot in here; if it were cooler dormancy would just be easier to provoke.The only hassle is that my tender pond plants tub needs refills pretty often due to evaporation. There is some cold air entering around the door just to the left of the back wall in the pic, which probably lowers the temps in that half of the room somewhat.

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mushtaq86

How long are you winters Howard,meaning how long do you store your nanas inside,i personally think storing bare rooted nanas is to much of a hit and miss.

RobG7aChattTN

I think it seems like basjoo does worse overwintering indoors than any other Musa. I don't know why...but I've had trouble with basjoo also when other Musa in the same conditions do just fine.

saltydad

\

I dig them in November or December depending on the weather and my physical condition. This year was later as I was recovering from a back muscle strain. They go back out usually in May; sometimes a tad earlier. I actually never got to dig up some of my ee's and cannas this year. We'll see how they do without any mulch....gulp.

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Patty in Wisc

They SHOULD be feeling that cold Jack. It's what keeps them dormant. I'd say anywhere between 40 & 60f is good.

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nannerfunboi

patty..temp in my cold room in house is 52F my stored plants.. EE , cannas, bananas(big ones i cant pot up for winter)..
i dust them all with cheap ground cinnamon..(from dollar store) seems to
combat the molding ok..
this is my 1st yr storting bananas..ive overwintered EE and cannas for yrs
now..
so im hoping this same procedure will be good for my nanners ...
so far ok..
thanks for all others insights and posted practices in storing our
prized plants !!
happy new year !!!

lwabirds

Nate,
I've stored basjoo's over winter with pretty good success. You will get the outter layers turn brown. That's pretty normal since it's no longer photosynthesizing (if you have it in the dark). I've made the biggest mistake by not keeping the soil damp. The plants will die if you let the soild go dry for to long. I water maybe once a month. Just enough to give them a little moisture. I've lost 6ft potted basjjoos (tops cutt off and put in the garage for winter) by not watering them at all.

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natej740

Thanks...they are starting to look really bad so i bought some potting soil yesterday and was planning to pot them up and try to get them growing again...The ensete i got off of you isnt looking good at all but who knows....they are tough plants.

bananarama2

This is certainly one of the most volatile subjects on the whole site. And, with one read, there are at least half a dozen topics that can be pursued. Botanically speaking, most plants stop active growth at around 14degrees Celsius, about 58 degrees Fahrenheit, so targetting the low 50's for storage is right, which gives a safe temperature range to avoid freezing the root, yet encouraging dormancy. Maintaining enough moisture either in the storage medium or in the air (an evaporating pond plant tub ?) helps maintain a healthy dormancy, without drying out the roots. If the roots still appear healthy, (moist, crisp and uniform texture), then do indeed try to save them by planting up now (spring is not far off for most of us). As Rob (if I recall rightly) mentioned, this is a pretty iffy challenge on a good day, and it takes a lot of thought and planning to create a perfect over-wintering space for bananas, and it seems, a good dash of luck as well. Hope success is the norm for all of the banana storers out there! Good luck all!

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