Musa Basjoo in NW Ontario
 

I planted 2 Musa Basjoo about 3 weeks ago. The nights have bee slightly cool ( 8C usualy 11C), so they are growing a bit slow. Put out its first full leaf ( for me, had a few smaller ones). They aere less then 6 " tall when i recieved em. Heres the most recent pics. This was before watering em, and before us getting some rain. Ill post some recent ones soon.



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Re: Musa Basjoo in NW Ontario
 

wow very small but hopefully they have started to grow like weeds. best of luck.

Re: Musa Basjoo in NW Ontario
 

Thanks, its gonna heat up, and weve gotten lots of rain, il pos some pics in a few days

Re: Musa Basjoo in NW Ontario
 

Hopefully they will get real big for you and establish well. I would imagine you will have to really protect the corms though up there. I always thought even Basjoo were marginal for surviving winters lower than zone 5. What zone are you in? 3? Best of luck with them!

Re: Musa Basjoo in NW Ontario
 

Nw On is zone 5a or b the zone 4 and below are all up in the northwest starting in Manitoba.

Re: Musa Basjoo in NW Ontario
 

THe climate in my area seems to be somewhat of a mystery. Theres winters where the temp says its -30C outside, and I go outside, and that isnt the case. Also in the summer, it says its 40C ourside, and it isnt. After some searching I found the reason why.....

The first problem is the fact that most of our weather data comes from the airport, which is about 10-15km inland. My city is on the coast of lake supirior, and the lake seems to have a VERY large effect of our climate year round. Basicly, if your less then 5 km from the lake, your a zone 5. 5-10km inland is about a zone 4. 10-15km inland, which the airport is in, is zone 3. Anything around 40-60km fromt he lake, is zone a very cold zone 3. Lappe, just barly an hour and a hlaf drive away, is a zone 2, and has recorded -40C temps many times in my memory.

Also, there are the northshore mountains. A few hundred million years ago, this area of canada was the eastern shore of the inland sea, that stretched from the arctic, to florida, and from the alberta foothils to this area. Now, their barly 2 - 300 feet, with the main one, at 900 feet ( the only one at that night). The inportiant thing is, it surrounds the city as well. Basicly if your on the west/north side of these mountains, your colder then this side.

Fortunalty im about 5km inland from the lake, with a long, but thin yard, which seems to regulate the temps somewhat. There are a few micoclimates here. Ive overwintered wegelia unprotected. WIth MINIMAL topkill. Ive over wintered Fargesia Rufa bamboo here ( heavily protected), and it had NO leaf loss over the 3 months it was completely covered.

Re: Musa Basjoo in NW Ontario
 

I've noticed mine have gone nuts with the warm nights (above 60F) and constant rainfall we've been having (over 5 inches this month). Even with warm ground temps, i still wasn't seeing a whole lot of growth (I think they were shutting down at night).

Re: Musa Basjoo in NW Ontario
 

Frank, Ive had teh same problem. 60F is somewhere around 15 or 16C? Mine are jsut starting to take off. WEve had a bunch of rain, and humidity, and sun.

Re: Musa Basjoo in NW Ontario
 

Well its been a while since I posted. ITs been hot ( 35-33C) and feeling like 34- 40C with the humidity. Everything has filled in . I should have taken a measurment of the Basjoos before. One is doing better then the other, being as thers more ground shade, and more direct sun. I think i need to be watering more. Heres some pics:

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Thanks everyone fer looking:D

Re: Musa Basjoo in NW Ontario
 

those are really small...hope they get some size on them before first frost.

Re: Musa Basjoo in NW Ontario
 

Re: Musa Basjoo in NW Ontario
 

Its not the size of the boat, but the motion of the ocean LOL

When I got them, it looked like they only had 4 or 5 leaves, so they were no more then 4 inches tall. IF they do stay smallish, it should be easier to protect it for the winter. Either way one is getting dug up, and either going to be treated liek canna, or potted up, under artificial lighting. To my knowledge they will survive under low light situations, jsut not much growth.

If the warmth stays till last year, it shouldnt freeze till october( ish), so im hoping to get em mroe then 2 feet all ( which would be what..... 5 times the size? ( ya not the best at math). Either way, a good jump start for next year.

I just soaked the soil. I really have to multch around the bare soil. Im pretty sure thats why they arent growing as fast. Just need some good ole deep watering.

Re: Musa Basjoo in NW Ontario
 

Hollyberry, I remember you from UBC garden forum..... thanks for the input. Hope your holly is doing ok :D

Re: Musa Basjoo in NW Ontario
 

Re: Musa Basjoo in NW Ontario
 

Took a look, very nice :D

Ill be posting some when they get some size on em :D

Thanks again all

Re: Musa Basjoo in NW Ontario
 

Mine started out as tiny plug plants back in spring just like yours and 2 of them have broken the 3ft mark now with their newest cigar leaves and I think this is due to having them close to the pavement, and full sun since the soil really heats up and causes them to grow really fast. The newest leaves are close to 14 inches in diameter and each new leaf seems to be getting much bigger.

Re: Musa Basjoo in NW Ontario
 

Hmmm. Well thats ok, ill get em to grow. The soil isnt the greatest at the moment either.... im working on that.

Im still thinking i havnt been giving them enough water... well see how this week goes..

Thanks fer the info steve..

Re: Musa Basjoo in NW Ontario
 

Wow, those are fairly small. We dont even seem them sold in stores here that small usually. They appear to be about the size of the pups of my 12 foot tall basjoos. I will be very curious to see if those will actually survive a zone 5 or lower winter.

They look great and very healthy tho, in spite of their small size.

One thing to keep in mind when you do bring one in for the winter is that it will slow WAY down. Also, when putting them back out next spring / summer, you will need to acclimate them to the sun by giving them limited exposure at first (say 2 hours the first few days, then 4 hours the following week...etc) and build up to full sun for most of the day. Otherwise they will burn, and could defoliate. While thats usually not fatal, it could slow the growth for several weeks.

good luck!

Re: Musa Basjoo in NW Ontario
 

Re: Musa Basjoo in NW Ontario
 

STOP MAKING FUN OF MY TINY BANANAS!!! jk :P

I know their small..... in the first pics, they were about a few weeks in my posession, so they grew even since I initialy got them, so like i said , they have doubled in size... not the growth i was expecting.

This is definetly an experiment..... they technicaly shouldnt survive here, especialy unprotected. I got fargesia Rufa to survive here, but thats labeled as a zone 5 plant.... Basjoo is really a zone 8 plant, that happens to survive down to zone 5 while multched........ so personaly i wouldnt say its hardy to zone 5.

Bottom line.... its gonna be interesting to see what happens. Im digging one up regardless, and keeping one outside. Its gonna be under a few feet of leaves.... and a garbage can with rocks around to keep the heat at the soil....... If we had a winter like last year..... the thing will be fine

Hollyberry... Very nice plants.... im hopin to ge tmine tha tbig this yar:D