maybe any kind of banana is cold hardy in zone 5?

sandy0225 · 08-21-2009, 08:57 PM

I have a customer from Indianapolis, she came up and bought a couple more basjoo the other day. She bought two last year too and a couple tropical dwarf cavendish or williams, she couldn't remember which.
Anyway when fall came she couldn't remember which ones were hardy and which ones were tropical and so she just cut all of them off the same--and mulched them with bags of leaves and put a tarp over the top.
She told me that all her bananas came back up this year, even the tropical ones. She showed me what her plants looked like and she pointed out basjoo and dwarf cavendish in the greenhouse by their leaf shapes. She said two of her plants had wider greener leaves with little red blotches on their pups, and two of them had the faint red stripes in the leaves like basjoo so she was pretty sure that's what she had.
She said she did the same thing with some cannas and they came back too and were growing just fine.
So do you suppose that any banana would be hardy mulched that way as long as a big enough area around them was mulched?

saltydad · 08-21-2009, 10:57 PM

I mulched my Musella lasiocarpa and my musa sikkimenesis last fall. the Chisese yellow just (last minth) sent up one pup. The sikkim never sprouted. I dug up the corm, cut some rot away on the top and planted the rest. Nothing has grown yet. Wish it were so; my sikkim, Burmese blue, maurelli and glauca, etc. would not have to be dug and dragged inside.

bencelest · 08-21-2009, 11:56 PM

I think the temperature has a lot to do with the survival irregardless of type of bananas you want to grow. The tarp and the mulch kept the temperature higher than the allowable temperature. So you can safely say any bananas can be grown as long as that particular banana do not go below her allowable temperature. But that is only one aspect. There are many tangibles too.

Bob · 08-22-2009, 06:13 AM

Sandy , the plants you sold to this lady, were they large corms? I'm starting to conclude that even though say a basjoo can be successfully overwintered the larger the corm the better, Check out John-NY's post on this and I totally agree with his observations. After not doing as well with my basjoo last winter as I would have liked, I am assuming that leaves would make better contact with the ground therefore more efficient insulation and as you mentioned going wide enough with the mulch is one of the important clues. (Last year I used straw bales and tarp). Eventually the facts will be clear.

sandy0225 · 08-27-2009, 12:18 PM

They were about three feet tall, but not really large by banana standards. I'm going to maybe try mulching a few more things this fall and see what happens.

LilRaverBoi · 08-27-2009, 12:30 PM

Hmmm...I'd like to know more about this, since back home in IA is zone 5. I'm pretty skeptical though, to be honest (not doubting your story...just doubting it would work for me in my area). I'm sure there are a lot of small things with impacts on the success rate....is the area sheltered from wind, level of snowfall, level of existing moisture in the soil, sustained or occasional low temperatures, mulching media/amount/technique, etc etc. Just keep us informed on any info on this!

Bananaman88 · 08-27-2009, 01:21 PM

Brian,

I really think several factors influence survivability. I know you are living in St. Louis at the moment. I was there several years ago and employed at the botanical garden. We had a banana in the Chinese Garden, which has walls on all four sides, a smallish water feature, and some tree canopy. Every year after the top growth was killed back some by the first few frosts the horticulturist in charge of that garden would cut back the pstems to about 2-3' tall and mulch them heavily and they always came back in May. At the time, this was thought to be M. basjoo; however, I eventually got a pup of it to flower here in Houston and realized that it was actually 'Orinoco'. The St. Louis area is normally considered USDA Zone 5, though it is a borderline 6. Still, as you know, they get severe winters there, sometimes with snow on the ground for a few weeks at at time (not so much lately) and extended cold temperatures. One winter when I was there we had about 14" of snow at the garden and temps didn't get above freezing for about 2 weeks and the 'Orinoco' still came through. So, I think pstem circumference, micro-climates, and protection methods has a lot to do with each plant's survivability rates. Just my 2 cents worth.

LilRaverBoi · 08-27-2009, 03:25 PM

Well, St. Louis/MO is zone 6ish....but I have nowhere to even plant in the ground here. I was referring to my home in Iowa where it is very definitely zone 5 at MOST. It is much warmer here...very weak by my standards. In Iowa it isn't uncommon for it to not get above 0 degrees F for over a month (and above freezing 2-3 mo.) while getting blanketed by feet of snow. I doubt Basjoo are even hardy there...but I never have tried overwintering anything there.

sandy0225 · 09-03-2009, 04:25 PM

I wish we had a foot of snow when it was 0 here. The problem here in Indiana is that we don't get reliable snow cover. If we did, things would be much better. Snow actually helps insulate plants from the cold and adds to their hardiness. You might want to try basjoo there. I talked to a guy in Montana who had success with it!

08-21-2009, 08:57 PM	#1 (permalink)
sandy0225 Northern Tropics sandy0225's Photo Gallery Location: Muncie, Indiana zone 5 Find me on the map! Zone: zone 5 Name: Sandy Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 1,718 BananaBucks : 371,634 Feedback: 31 / 97% Said "Thanks" 38 Times Was Thanked 1,801 Times in 682 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 9 Times	maybe any kind of banana is cold hardy in zone 5? I have a customer from Indianapolis, she came up and bought a couple more basjoo the other day. She bought two last year too and a couple tropical dwarf cavendish or williams, she couldn't remember which. Anyway when fall came she couldn't remember which ones were hardy and which ones were tropical and so she just cut all of them off the same--and mulched them with bags of leaves and put a tarp over the top. She told me that all her bananas came back up this year, even the tropical ones. She showed me what her plants looked like and she pointed out basjoo and dwarf cavendish in the greenhouse by their leaf shapes. She said two of her plants had wider greener leaves with little red blotches on their pups, and two of them had the faint red stripes in the leaves like basjoo so she was pretty sure that's what she had. She said she did the same thing with some cannas and they came back too and were growing just fine. So do you suppose that any banana would be hardy mulched that way as long as a big enough area around them was mulched? __________________ Sandy Burrell Northern Tropics Greenhouse 1501 East Fuson Road Muncie, IN 47302 www.northerntropics.com specializing in bananas, heirloom tomatoes and water gardening plants~ check out our new online store at our website!

08-21-2009, 10:57 PM	#2 (permalink)
saltydad saltydad's Photo Gallery Location: Silver Spring, Maryland USA Find me on the map! Zone: 7a Name: Howard Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 4,552 BananaBucks : 193,761 Feedback: 2 / 100% Said "Thanks" 14,712 Times Was Thanked 4,662 Times in 1,778 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 824 Times	Re: maybe any kind of banana is cold hardy in zone 5? I mulched my Musella lasiocarpa and my musa sikkimenesis last fall. the Chisese yellow just (last minth) sent up one pup. The sikkim never sprouted. I dug up the corm, cut some rot away on the top and planted the rest. Nothing has grown yet. Wish it were so; my sikkim, Burmese blue, maurelli and glauca, etc. would not have to be dug and dragged inside. __________________ Men In Nursing- "A Few Good Men" "Gardening is the purest of human pleasures." - Francis Bacon "If by a liberal, they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind; someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions; someone who cares about the welfare of the people, their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, their civil liberties; someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicion that grips us; that is what they meant by a liberal, I am proud to be a liberal." John F. Kennedy, September, 1960 http://flickr.com/photos/saltydad/ and http://community.webshots.com/user/saltydad http://s751.photobucket.com/albums/xx151/saltydad/

08-21-2009, 11:56 PM	#3 (permalink)
bencelest Banana Nut bencelest's Photo Gallery Location: California Zone 9 Zone: 9 Name: Benny Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 3,058 BananaBucks : 197,109 Feedback: 3 / 100% Said "Thanks" 15 Times Was Thanked 1,415 Times in 653 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 0 Times	Re: maybe any kind of banana is cold hardy in zone 5? I think the temperature has a lot to do with the survival irregardless of type of bananas you want to grow. The tarp and the mulch kept the temperature higher than the allowable temperature. So you can safely say any bananas can be grown as long as that particular banana do not go below her allowable temperature. But that is only one aspect. There are many tangibles too. __________________ Banana Nut

08-22-2009, 06:13 AM	#4 (permalink)
Bob Orang Puteh Bob's Photo Gallery Location: Washington Twp N.J. Find me on the map! Zone: 6a Name: bob Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 3,528 BananaBucks : 212,842 Feedback: 12 / 100% Said "Thanks" 9,537 Times Was Thanked 4,058 Times in 1,694 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 565 Times	Re: maybe any kind of banana is cold hardy in zone 5? Sandy , the plants you sold to this lady, were they large corms? I'm starting to conclude that even though say a basjoo can be successfully overwintered the larger the corm the better, Check out John-NY's post on this and I totally agree with his observations. After not doing as well with my basjoo last winter as I would have liked, I am assuming that leaves would make better contact with the ground therefore more efficient insulation and as you mentioned going wide enough with the mulch is one of the important clues. (Last year I used straw bales and tarp). Eventually the facts will be clear. __________________

08-27-2009, 12:18 PM	#5 (permalink)
sandy0225 Northern Tropics sandy0225's Photo Gallery Location: Muncie, Indiana zone 5 Find me on the map! Zone: zone 5 Name: Sandy Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 1,718 BananaBucks : 371,634 Feedback: 31 / 97% Said "Thanks" 38 Times Was Thanked 1,801 Times in 682 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 9 Times	Re: maybe any kind of banana is cold hardy in zone 5? They were about three feet tall, but not really large by banana standards. I'm going to maybe try mulching a few more things this fall and see what happens. __________________ Sandy Burrell Northern Tropics Greenhouse 1501 East Fuson Road Muncie, IN 47302 www.northerntropics.com specializing in bananas, heirloom tomatoes and water gardening plants~ check out our new online store at our website!

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08-27-2009, 12:30 PM	#6 (permalink)
LilRaverBoi Nanner Time! LilRaverBoi's Photo Gallery Location: Cedar Rapids, IA Find me on the map! Zone: 5 Name: Bryan Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 2,937 BananaBucks : 122,390 Feedback: 0 / 0% Said "Thanks" 534 Times Was Thanked 2,243 Times in 1,245 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 855 Times	Re: maybe any kind of banana is cold hardy in zone 5? Hmmm...I'd like to know more about this, since back home in IA is zone 5. I'm pretty skeptical though, to be honest (not doubting your story...just doubting it would work for me in my area). I'm sure there are a lot of small things with impacts on the success rate....is the area sheltered from wind, level of snowfall, level of existing moisture in the soil, sustained or occasional low temperatures, mulching media/amount/technique, etc etc. Just keep us informed on any info on this! __________________ BANANA RAVE! Feel the beat from start to stop, dancin' and movin' from bottom to top! lilraverboi@genxglow.com RIP Tog Tan. We love you and will always remember you! I'm Bryan with a Y! There is no 'I' in BRYAN!

08-27-2009, 01:21 PM	#7 (permalink)
Bananaman88 Bananaculturist Bananaman88's Photo Gallery Location: Houston, TX area Find me on the map! Zone: 9 Name: Brent Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 3,019 BananaBucks : 228,484 Feedback: 22 / 100% Said "Thanks" 1,339 Times Was Thanked 2,263 Times in 1,178 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 191 Times	Re: maybe any kind of banana is cold hardy in zone 5? Brian, I really think several factors influence survivability. I know you are living in St. Louis at the moment. I was there several years ago and employed at the botanical garden. We had a banana in the Chinese Garden, which has walls on all four sides, a smallish water feature, and some tree canopy. Every year after the top growth was killed back some by the first few frosts the horticulturist in charge of that garden would cut back the pstems to about 2-3' tall and mulch them heavily and they always came back in May. At the time, this was thought to be M. basjoo; however, I eventually got a pup of it to flower here in Houston and realized that it was actually 'Orinoco'. The St. Louis area is normally considered USDA Zone 5, though it is a borderline 6. Still, as you know, they get severe winters there, sometimes with snow on the ground for a few weeks at at time (not so much lately) and extended cold temperatures. One winter when I was there we had about 14" of snow at the garden and temps didn't get above freezing for about 2 weeks and the 'Orinoco' still came through. So, I think pstem circumference, micro-climates, and protection methods has a lot to do with each plant's survivability rates. Just my 2 cents worth.

08-27-2009, 03:25 PM	#8 (permalink)
LilRaverBoi Nanner Time! LilRaverBoi's Photo Gallery Location: Cedar Rapids, IA Find me on the map! Zone: 5 Name: Bryan Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 2,937 BananaBucks : 122,390 Feedback: 0 / 0% Said "Thanks" 534 Times Was Thanked 2,243 Times in 1,245 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 855 Times	Re: maybe any kind of banana is cold hardy in zone 5? Well, St. Louis/MO is zone 6ish....but I have nowhere to even plant in the ground here. I was referring to my home in Iowa where it is very definitely zone 5 at MOST. It is much warmer here...very weak by my standards. In Iowa it isn't uncommon for it to not get above 0 degrees F for over a month (and above freezing 2-3 mo.) while getting blanketed by feet of snow. I doubt Basjoo are even hardy there...but I never have tried overwintering anything there. __________________ BANANA RAVE! Feel the beat from start to stop, dancin' and movin' from bottom to top! lilraverboi@genxglow.com RIP Tog Tan. We love you and will always remember you! I'm Bryan with a Y! There is no 'I' in BRYAN!

09-03-2009, 04:25 PM	#9 (permalink)
sandy0225 Northern Tropics sandy0225's Photo Gallery Location: Muncie, Indiana zone 5 Find me on the map! Zone: zone 5 Name: Sandy Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 1,718 BananaBucks : 371,634 Feedback: 31 / 97% Said "Thanks" 38 Times Was Thanked 1,801 Times in 682 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 9 Times	Re: maybe any kind of banana is cold hardy in zone 5? I wish we had a foot of snow when it was 0 here. The problem here in Indiana is that we don't get reliable snow cover. If we did, things would be much better. Snow actually helps insulate plants from the cold and adds to their hardiness. You might want to try basjoo there. I talked to a guy in Montana who had success with it! __________________ Sandy Burrell Northern Tropics Greenhouse 1501 East Fuson Road Muncie, IN 47302 www.northerntropics.com specializing in bananas, heirloom tomatoes and water gardening plants~ check out our new online store at our website!

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