JCDerrick

I've been in a hurry to insulate my basjoo stems this year so I'll have preserved as much as possible for next spring. Figured I might as well start them at 4-5' versus ground level.

But what exactly is all this insulation doing? Someone on this page made a good point, bananas don't radiate heat from the inside - so why insulate them?
I used water pipe insulation....and the Musa Basjoo lived........ - Banana Forum - GardenWeb

I know it'll protect the stem from frost, but it doesn't seem to do much else if the cold just penetrates right through the insulation.

So is all the insulation for nothing? Maybe a heat source like Christmas lights would indeed be the better solution?

I'm confused after reading that - maybe you all can set me straight. A lot of folks insulate their p-stems, can't all be for nothing.

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Malama 'Aina



Normal Jan. Low: 34°F, Normal Jul High: 92°F
Coldest: 16-20°F, Warmest: 98-103°F
Annual Precip: 48 inches

john_ny

J.C. - While banana plants don't radiate heat from the inside, they can absorb cold from the outside. (That's why I put a lot of insulation on my house.) I have wrapped my basjoo stems (like I would wrap A fig tree), and found that they sprouted from just about as high as I wrapped them.

I would say, if you're using Christmas lights, make sure you use the regular old mini lights. The C7 lights are too large, and may burn, and the new LED lights don't give off any heat.

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John

JCDerrick

Thanks John. I bought some of the larger and smaller tonight - so I'll make sure we use the smaller from now on. I'm going to give them a shot and see how they work. Certainly a lot better than the frost blanket I was using - which would hold a lot of water.

I'm thinking of trying several methods this winter, see which works best/worst.
1.) No protection
2.) Christmas lights
3.) Hay mulch with p-stem cage
4.) Leaf mulch with no cage
5.) Fiberglass insulation covered to keep dry - mulch on ground

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Malama 'Aina



Normal Jan. Low: 34°F, Normal Jul High: 92°F
Coldest: 16-20°F, Warmest: 98-103°F
Annual Precip: 48 inches

v1rtu0s1ty

jcderrick,

I did some experiment with insulation 3 weeks ago. I have an external temperature reader. I was in the garage when I was doing the testing. I left the temperature reader exposed and lights turned off. I went back after 15 minutes. The reading was 55F. Next test was to cover the sensor with the R13 insulation and doublewrapped. I did the same thing and went back after 15 minutes. The reading was 67F. Amazing.

I protected my basjoo using the same insulation 3 weeks ago. I protected it too early. Anyways, hopefully it will live. I was told that it will not make it because it's only 2 ft high. If it doesn't I'll try next year again but I'll dig it and overwinter in the basement.

I'm hoping I can find the picture. I remember, I took the picture with my son behind it. But not sure where it got saved.

JCDerrick

Thanks, sounds like that might be worth trying on one of the last 4' basjoo I have. If nothing else, I'll have all sorts of methods to talk about next spring.

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Malama 'Aina



Normal Jan. Low: 34°F, Normal Jul High: 92°F
Coldest: 16-20°F, Warmest: 98-103°F
Annual Precip: 48 inches

v1rtu0s1ty

You will be fine. If you search for zonepusher in gardenweb, he is in zone 5a and basjoo was able to survive, what more for your zone.

And also, you have many extra bananas. I only have one. Hehehe.

Go try it!!!

JCDerrick

It's amazing how many pups you find when you dig them up. I dug up two this last week and one had 7 pups, and the other had 9. Some were kinda small, but they all had good roots and a corm (or the start of one) and I'm thinking they were all sword suckers. So if everything grows, I've gone from starting with 11 basjoo this year to now having over 40 of them (I split most pups during the year too). LOL - they are like rodents.

__________________
Malama 'Aina



Normal Jan. Low: 34°F, Normal Jul High: 92°F
Coldest: 16-20°F, Warmest: 98-103°F
Annual Precip: 48 inches

JCDerrick

Of all the methods I've used this year - so far the easiest, fastest, and I think the best overall (temperature wise) is the lights. They might even be cheaper in the long run since I can use them year after year with only the cost to power them.

I am only trying them on two of my basjoo, the largest and one up front (which I'll probably mulch eventually and remove the lights). But the one in the back is my tallest and I wanted to preserve it. Frost hasn't hit it bad yet - it's next to the house. But we've been 32, 31, and 29 the last three nights. Bad frost yesterday and today - took my whole front yard out. Calling for 33 tonight with more frost.

Lights come on at 38F and the largest lights burn the warmest - but not too hot (I can hold it in my hand). Smallest lights are easier to cover a larger area and together make a nice amount of heat themselves. Last night at 29F the trunk of this banana was a nice 43F (with just a single strand of lights - there are three now). So even on our coldest night of around 16F in January that should mean a lot of protection, especially if I throw the frost blanket over it too.





I removed the cage from around the larger p-stem - I think the lights will work a lot better than hay.

__________________
Malama 'Aina



Normal Jan. Low: 34°F, Normal Jul High: 92°F
Coldest: 16-20°F, Warmest: 98-103°F
Annual Precip: 48 inches

bepah

Keep a good eye on the lights.

I couple of my palm friends lost palms because the lights burned the trunk....

Hoe hot the lights are in your hand is not a particularly good measure of the heat these lights may supply. It is easy to hold something in you hand that is 130F........Bananas do not deal with that level.

I am very interested in what lights you are using.....and how you will keep the leaves green.

Thanks!

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John Case
Rookie Gardener, Veteran Drinker

JCDerrick

I think these are more modern "safety" lights. They are warm in your palm, but they aren't hot - certainly not enough to burn. I have my doubt over their effectiveness at extremely low temps, but I'll keep an eye on them.

I know lights like this used to get fire hot a few years ago - I can see those burning the p-stem easily. But these seem to be OK. I'll keep a close eye on them though. The outer p-stem leaf getting burned though - would that really do harm to the plant as a whole? Since leaves come up from the center, it'd have to be a pretty bad burn I'd think.

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Malama 'Aina



Normal Jan. Low: 34°F, Normal Jul High: 92°F
Coldest: 16-20°F, Warmest: 98-103°F
Annual Precip: 48 inches

saltydad

I'd imagine you're not anticipating saving the leaves, just the p-stem. That's all that's necessary. BTW, looks real nice and festive, too!

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