I failed again at Wintering. Anyone from Kansas?
 

I'll be looking to buy some plants for this spring/ Summer but I'm really sick of killing them over the winter. I have some reading to do. The plants I insulated with bubble wrap died. The corm I left in a pot and ignored sprouted in the spring but never really grew past three leaves and with care eventually died. I was hoping to talk with someone else from Ks or really anyone with similar climate. Maybe get some tips or tricks.

Re: I failed again at Wintering. Anyone from Kansas?
 

Zombie.

Those plants at first can be tricky to start.

Try again this spring with Basjoo and plant directly in a well amended spot in your yard. The well prepared planting hole should give your plant a good start.

Go back to your older thread and buy a pup from that forum member in the spring.

In your zone and mine bubble wrap is useless for cold protection.You would either bring the plant indoors or leave it in the ground with a nice 8 inch layer of mulch on top.
There are many good informational youtube videos to watch....pick and choose what you can use and fits your budget.

Use keywords growing basjoo winterizing basjoo planting basjoo

Re: I failed again at Wintering. Anyone from Kansas?
 

Thank you! I'll take your advice and hopefully be successful next winter. I really enjoy these plants and can hopefully keep them alive.

Re: I failed again at Wintering. Anyone from Kansas?
 

Hello,
I live near Philly. I don't know much about growing banana plants where you are but I can tell you that I have had great success with Saba. Currently I'm growing 20+ varieties (it's an illness but I've come to terms with it...hahah) and I tried a lot of different things. I have planted them all in the ground and was FLOORED by how crazy they grew in the summer and then extremely disappointed by how many stopped growing completely when I potted them and brought them inside...will never do the planting in the ground thing here again. Everything I have stays in pots. I have had multiple varieties flower in pots (that are big enough to support that) and actually harvested a bunch two summers ago (my proudest moment, don't tell my three sons that). I find that for my growing situation, Saba grow quickly for a novice banana grower like me, even in a pot, and, like all bananas they like to be on a regular fertilizing schedule.
Well, that's my two cents.
Good luck and if I can help in any way, let me know.
Sandy

Re: I failed again at Wintering. Anyone from Kansas?
 

You were lucky to have something in a pot survive. Anything sufficiently below ground will have its root system kept above freezing throughout winter. Basjoo will survive without insulation here (in Canada, Z~7) and come back from the ground if it's buried sufficiently.

Re: I failed again at Wintering. Anyone from Kansas?
 

Basjoo is a different animal and can stay outside in the ground happily all winter zone 6b and much colder. We never mulched but never got flowers, this year have heavily mulched and protected and hope for flowers next year (but without mulch still got big mats and 10 feet tall in totally exposed areas.
But for real edible bananas, We have found that best results are growing in ground and digging in fall after chopping off all leaves and storing in root cellar (other on this forum have great pictures, store in crawl space under house, garages, etc. with great description of how they do it.) Our experience with pots hasa been poor - maybe not enough fertilizer or ????, so we dig - but not a big deal as one does not save the roots and the corms are "small". (8-10" diameter on our biggest with pstems of 10feet).

Re: I failed again at Wintering. Anyone from Kansas?
 

I really felt that too. I was really surprised.

Re: I failed again at Wintering. Anyone from Kansas?
 

Thank you! So from what I understand, you bring the potted ones in for the Winter?

Re: I failed again at Wintering. Anyone from Kansas?
 

Thank you for the information. Ideally I'd like to get around 10 plants for this coming spring to see how they're going to do and maybe try a few approaches.

Re: I failed again at Wintering. Anyone from Kansas?
 

We need more info about the growing & winter conditions of the potted plant to help you. ... size & height of the plant??? ... how & where stored??? ...



Since you wrapped the plant with bubble wrap I assume the plant was leaf outside (???) as there would be no real reason to wrap the plant if brought inside.


Plastic wrapped around the nana pstem will trap moisture and promote fungus. This can travel down the pstem into the corm to form root rot. ... If you stored the potted plant in an unheated garage it would have gone dormant. The pstem may die back some or all the way to the soil. But the corn would survive if it IS NOT watered during the winter. ... So I suspect much of your problem was cause by the plastic and failure to vent or un-wrap the plant during warmer days/temps to allow the plant to breath.



Root rot is a fungus that will draw water from the corm. So the potting soil may feel or be dry but the exterior of the corm & soil around the corm is soggy wet. Nanas in containers, it would be a good time to repot & inspect the corms for rot when the pstem dies and repot in fresh potting soil.


I'm in south Georgia I bruit a small green house in which to store small potted nanas during the winter & start spring garden seeds. ... Others on the fourm move their potted plant next to the garage or house and cover with plastic during the freezing temps. ... Just be aware that during the daytime the temperatures under the plastic can be 50 deg higher than the outside temps. The plants must be vented & cooled when the outside temps are 40 deg & above. ... A simple lean-against a garage covered with 6 mil poly would be easy to build to store your potted plants. ... On a sunny day with the outside temps just above 60 deg my green house is over 110 deg if not vented.

Re: I failed again at Wintering. Anyone from Kansas?
 

You're spot on. Oddly enough the potted plant was a corm left over fron the previous year that early in the season didn't do much and I thought had died.

The plants planted in the ground were wrapped with bubble wrap and left alone until they wilted over. I didn't realize that on warm days I needed to unwrap them. That makes total sense though.

Thank you!

Re: I failed again at Wintering. Anyone from Kansas?
 

Thanks for the additional info. ... In your winters it is not likely you can save the nana pstem if the plants are left in the ground. So try cutting the pstem to about 2 ft above the soil and cover with a thick pile of mulch. Then cover the piles with a trap or plastic during cold & freezing rains & snow. Then uncover when it is bright & sunny.

Re: I failed again at Wintering. Anyone from Kansas?
 

I'll try that as well as try and make a sort of greenhouse with plastic and PVC.

Re: I failed again at Wintering. Anyone from Kansas?
 

There's a real good video on youtube by Logees greenhoiuses in Connecticut about overwintering "Hardy"bananas, Basjoo in particular. In addition to that info I grow them for a year in a pot and bring indoors the first winter for smaller plants and bury the corm a foot deep when first planted. Hope this helps.

Re: I failed again at Wintering. Anyone from Kansas?
 

I'll check it out. Thank you!

Re: I failed again at Wintering. Anyone from Kansas?
 

I grow basjoo out in the rockies all winter with no problem.. just give that a go and that might clean up your problem..