Name the cold hardy bananas!
 

What bananas (edible or ornamental) are cold hardy enough to survive zone 7b and 8a winters? Of course, we're talking about the corms being able to handle the cold and not the pseudostems. I know the following are able to handle cold temps:

Ornamentals
Musa basjoo
Musa sikkimensis
Musella lasiocarpa
Musa velutina

Edible
Orinoco

What else? Thanks.

Re: Name the cold hardy bananas!
 

Let me get back with you on this come spring... Currently have several others out in the winter right now... (ie, ornata, saba)

Re: Name the cold hardy bananas!
 

In his talk at the CRFG Fruit Festival last year, Jon Verdick had this to say about it ( http://webebananas.com/FESTIVAL%20OF...%20Handout.pdf )

Joe Real's Cold Hardy List, from most hardy to least:

California Gold
Thousand Fingers
Monkey Fingers
Orinoco
Brazilian
Golden Rhinohorn
Dwarf Orinoco
Dwarf Brazilian
Misi Luki
Mysore
Namwah
Raja Puri
Manzano
Ice Cream
Gold Finger
Dwarf Namwah
Sweetheart
Namwah Pearl
Praying Hands
Saba
Cardaba
Williams
Belle
Valery

Generally. Red bananas are less cold tolerant (Tall Red, Dwarf Red,
Cuban Red, Kru Red Iholena, Red Green, Dwarf Red Green, Rose), though
some green bananas are fairly tender as well, such as Kumunamba and Kofi.
Most Reds will barely survive mid 40's for extended periods. Flowering, in winter (induced by an unusually warm week), or after a long winter can impact fruiting (size and quantity).

Re: Name the cold hardy bananas!
 

I think this should be chopped off at about DB and then bump Saba and Raja Puri up with the keepers...from what I've learned, not experience.

Re: Name the cold hardy bananas!
 

Musa ornatas, Musa violecea, Musa rubinea, Musa yunnanensis, Musa 'Bhutan', Musa cheesmanii/nagesium, Musa manni, Musa sikkimensis(all hybrids),

Re: Name the cold hardy bananas!
 

Thanks for the info, guys. I enjoyed the link. Now, I have an idea what to look for and purchase this spring. :)

Re: Name the cold hardy bananas!
 

This year, all of my bananas are surviving 32 frosty or freezing nights with: 1 night below 26, 4 nights below 27, 6 nights below 28, 8 nights below 29, 12 nights below 30, 14 nights below 31, 21 nights below 32 deg F.

And one of them is a RED edible fruiting cultivar and has a few pups. Will post later in spring. Will sell the cold hardy red edible fruiting banana to the highest bidder. I was disappointed that no one believed that there is a cold hardy RED banana. But mileage could vary in your actual yard. You have to test them yourselves.

Re: Name the cold hardy bananas!
 

Hey Joe, where did the Red come from?
I noticed that you have the large brazilian, and orinico listed as more cold hardy than the dwarf versions. Interesting, I wonder why?

Re: Name the cold hardy bananas!
 

Isn't Orinoco hardier than Dwarf Orinoco?...(so I've heard)

Re: Name the cold hardy bananas!
 

The only speculation that I have is that the tall versions would have stouter stems, and hence, more protection from the cold.

If in the same clump, it is the tall ones that gets fried leaves first during frost events. But the cold hardiness that I am talking about would be the pseudostems. If the pseudostems survive and how green they are, would be the primary determinant of having fruits after the winter season.

Leaves never ever count for me as a basis of cold hardiness. It is a given that all banana cultivars will have fried leaves after every winter, including M. basjoo, except at one instance when it was unseasonably warm (Nov 2001- Mar 2002, IIRC) and all the leaves of M. sikkimensis, D. Brazilian and C. Gold came out undamaged while M. basjoo suffered minor damage. But it was unreplicated event.

Re: Name the cold hardy bananas!
 

the Red came from another friend who found it as one of the strains of tropical highlands. Will have to confirm what it is, have no official name given to me yet. He lost the name.

There is another good guy here who also has a cold hardy version of a red edible fruiting cultivar, and he gave me one of the red cultivar. That is another cultivar that is performing well too, but is suffering some minor damage at the pseudostem, but still cold hardy enough to bear fruits after most winters.

Hopefully, when I have time, will be able to trace their names back to various emails.

Re: Name the cold hardy bananas!
 

Thanks Joe, Do you know what country the Red came from?
I remember seeing basically two types of bananas in the higher elevations of Michoucan MX, and one was a red. It'd be nice to go back in the winter and see if there are any outstandingly more cold hardy ones, and bring them back to the US.

Re: Name the cold hardy bananas!
 

Hi JoeReal,

I never have imagined that you have so many nights under the freezing point
in Davis, Calif. Until today I took it for granted that any bananas could be
grown without any problem in your place.
So your data is very referential in relation to hardiness of edible bananas.

Re: Name the cold hardy bananas!
 

I went under my house this weekend and the only type to keep its psuedostem were the orinocos. The goldfiner, raja puri, gauy namwah, and saba all lost the stems. I will find out this spring if the corms are still good. They were still firm so we will see.

The orinoco still had green leaves on them.