How fat can a banana stem get in zone 6?
 

I've noticed that the diameter of the stem on my banana plants keep on increasing with each leaf they add even after getting planted 1ft deep. Whats the largest diameter stem these things can get in zone 6? Maybe 10 inches or so?

Here's my largest musa basjoo reaching the 3 inch mark with still at least another month left to grow this year.
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Re: How fat can a banana stem get in zone 6?
 

LARGE, never as big as say zone 11 but give it another year and you will not stop being amazed. Plants fruit here ya know..?

Re: How fat can a banana stem get in zone 6?
 

I was interested so I just went out and measured......have several bananas that are all about 10" across the base of the pseudostem. My E. maurelii is about 15" and E. Glaucum is about 14" at the base" but they tend to form an hourglass shape naturally and are fairly large at the base.

Re: How fat can a banana stem get in zone 6?
 

My basjoo was about 10" in girth last I checked... I don't know how much across, but it's pretty thick.

Re: How fat can a banana stem get in zone 6?
 

That's pretty big. It must mean that musa basjoo does survive pretty well in our area. What do you do to protect yours? Will a leaf bag filled with leaves along with a tarp be sufficient given that it is already planted 1ft deeper?

Re: How fat can a banana stem get in zone 6?
 

As Bob noted, they're most dependent on cultivar, really, and of course other factors.

Great examples: Rajapuri: Grows only 6-7 feet tall avg, but the trunk can get to be bigger around than Ice Cream, which can grow 18 feet tall. My Yunnan gigantea can get to be about 25-30 feet tall, yet be much smaller in diameter than the Ice Cream. Also, look at your mean temperature for your microclimate. You can buy an inexpensive digital thermometer which can read your mean temp, which can give you an idea of just how much growing time the banana will have outdoors in the location you choose for it. Remember that bananas pretty much halt growing below 70 degrees and above 90-95 F. Have you ever tried Grow More "Banana Fuel"? I dont really have a need for it in my region, but I've heard great things about it, and should help boost your growth in a shorter season region.

:)

Re: How fat can a banana stem get in zone 6?
 

Re: How fat can a banana stem get in zone 6?
 

If they stop growing completely at 53F, then there's still another month of growth and they are still putting out around 1 leaf per week getting a bit larger each time. I expect them to top out at around 4-5 inches in diameter this year and I'll probably cut them down to around 2ft, then wrap them in blankets, trash bags, layers of leaves and tarp the whole thing to try and protect some of the psuedo-stem to hopefully give it a chance to come back next year.

I think the corm which is 1ft underground is already around 6 inches in diameter so I think there's a chance of survival here. If they do make it through the winter, I'm hoping for them to approach the 7-8 inch range next year.