How to Wake up Bananas from long Winter dormancy.
 

Hey everybody. March is here and I am trying to wake up some of my plants to get a head start.
All of my nanas have been in my garage where temps are around 45 average and not all that much light.
All but two are with there roots wrapped with burlap so that they don't have to sit on the concrete. I was thinking of moving them inside by potting them up until they go back out into the ground.
What is your process with that.

Re: How to Wake up Bananas from long Winter dormancy.
 

Hello, great question..I was wondering the same thing when I took mine out. I have kept in spare room growing over winter since I started, but wanted to try due to the low maint and room space. I took mine out of garage and left in a dark..low light room for 24 hrs to gradually raise temp. Some i cut almost all roots off, others just the dark ones i thought would die anyway. I used mostly coarse silica sand..planted, watered and couple started pushing in only 2 to 3 days. I think the key is root, bottom of pot temp..heat mat always helps to really get them going. Worked out good...but Id like to hear how others do it. I fig if they can survive in a 45degree garage..surely I couldnt kill em that fast.

Re: How to Wake up Bananas from long Winter dormancy.
 

It’s all about soil temps! If in pots you can use heat mats or on sand with soil heating cables, etc. anything to warm the roots and corm.

In the ground I always remove the mulch and allow the sun to warm the sand. After you get a few weeks of good growth just cover the mulch back.

Re: How to Wake up Bananas from long Winter dormancy.
 

So I started with just one of my Dwarf cavendish nanas that were in the garage all winter. I moved into the bathroom because for some reason it's the warmest place in the house. After a few days I noticed the pups were growing. But the main stem (had to cut it back a bit) had no growth. Now.... It's been a few weeks and I moved it into the living room and so far two more pups pushed through but main part seems done.
Looking at the bright side, Looks like once I divide the pups I have 5 more plants.

It looks like that we will have many days of above freezing at night here and I feel tempted to uncover some of the bananas that I left in the ground. Maybe one day of close temps but I figured that I just cover it if needed for the night.

I'm ready for some nanas to go banana

Re: How to Wake up Bananas from long Winter dormancy.
 

Basjoos and daffodils will come up about the same time.
Usually daffodils first and basjoos 30 days+- later.
It depends how your plants are sited in your yard.

Basjoos when first coming through the middle of the old P-stem will tolerate repeated frost so your good there.

My plants are under 5 inches of mulch/leaves and will push right through it when they are ready which is 30 days out

Now is the time to fertilize the plants in the ground with your choice of granular garden fertilizer.

I can't wait for my stuff to start growing too:)

Don't forget.....try to make it to Brians Botanicals this summer, you won't be disappointed.

Re: How to Wake up Bananas from long Winter dormancy.
 

When should I start fertilizing indoor container banana trees?

Re: How to Wake up Bananas from long Winter dormancy.
 

I am from NJ and will wait until end of April to pot mine. I have 7 Thai Black stored and wrapped in my basement. Last spring I had to cut back several times to stop rot that kept appearing. I potted them and all came back and went into the garden mid May. Perseverance is the key.

Re: How to Wake up Bananas from long Winter dormancy.
 

Warning! We stored maybe 30 corms i n a 48 degree, 90% humidity root cellar. Great idea, BUT kept them there too long and they became over-dry. A few are coming back after 6-8 weeks on a heat mat. These corms went in without any pstem. Next time we will keep pstem, or leave them in for only three months prior to potting up. Clearly a pstem will be the better choice if we can postpone potting up (or planting out) for an extra three months.

Re: How to Wake up Bananas from long Winter dormancy.
 

I had a lady from Jacksonville tell me one time that in March, her ex-husband would go out and give each p-stem a swift kick or two.....she said he swore that it woke them up....then she backed off of that a bit, by saying that he was also a drunk!