man with the yellow hat

I dug these up last year and kept them dormant in my garage, they were slow to respond in the spring, but they are doing well now.

norteno

That is some unbelievable growth! How did you do it? I wouldn't think of Michigan having enough heat to pull that off.

mskitty38583

wow! that is very impressive!!! especially for mi.

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D_&_T

Gives us hope!!

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in need of greenhouse

JCDerrick

That's incredible. What type are those?

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austinl01

Very cool! The growth you got from them is awesome! Tell us your secret!

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Arkansas River Valley

Average January Low: 31°F, Average August High: 92°F
Typical Low Each Winter: 13-15°F, Annual Precipitation: 52 inches

Bob

WOW!!!! great job man!!this increases my optomism a lot. I'm in zone 6 too(N.J.) like everyoner else what variety? fertlizer ? etc........

man with the yellow hat

basjoo

man with the yellow hat

There is no secret, I think they just like the warm, calm, wet growing season that our area provides. I do nothing but plant them in april, fertilize once and forget it. Yours look awesome also, its amazing to watch how fast they grow. Mike.

man with the yellow hat

I use stokes banana fertilizer once a year right when growth takes off. good luck, mike

JCDerrick

Thanks, I thought that's what they were. I'm thinking of digging a few of mine up, even though they are more than hardy here, to preserve the full pseudostem. I always hate loosing the top part of the banana to the frost/freeze. It's only my second year growing them, but I like to be able to put a growing plant out in the yard early in the spring.

Looks like you get most of yours in fairly modest sized pots for the winter; I was worried I'd need huge pots for them. I assume you split all the pups off when you dig them up too?

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man with the yellow hat

yes, i remove all pups, and dont worry about digging up to many roots, they will grow back in the spring, and this way they will flower for you also. Good luck, and use a hand dolley to save your back.

JCDerrick

Thanks, will do. I moved a few in the middle of the year and was surprised how quickly they bounced back. It seems only the pups take a while to get going again when split. I would love to see them flower too, even if that means a stalk dying back. I just get the feeling that even with our humid summers, they'll never reach full height unless I protect them in the winter. I'll be digging up about half of them, so I'll get a good idea of what digging them up, versus leaving in the ground produces.

I do know one I left in the ground last year has pupped like crazy this year, where as two of my first year bananas (which were half its size) are much bigger than the one left in the ground now heading into the fall. So I suspect digging them up is the sure way to keep big bananas.

And I think your pots are bigger than I thought when I looked at the full sized photo. Are those 20" or so?

Thanks again.

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man with the yellow hat

there 18 and 20's, plastic to keep the weight down.

JCDerrick

Thanks mike. I gathered up all my 16-25" pots yesterday. I am actually excited about digging some of my basjoo's up this year and saving the full p-stem. I know a lot of folks would say "why bother?" - but I think it'll be worth the work once I can put a 4-7' p-stem back in the ground in the spring.

Few last questions. You clearly have to dig yours up before I do being two zones north, but about what time (temperature wise) do you go ahead and dig yours up?

How much water do you give them over the winter months? Mine will be in the garage under metal halides, at around 65F (at the lowest) so I expect they'll grow some over winter - a few new leaves most likely (the 3' pups I had grew a lot last winter anyway, but at that size, not surprising). And finally, do you do any leaf trimming, spraying with fungicide, etc before potting them up and moving them in?

Thanks again for all your help. This thread is a great resource for folks who want to preserve their basjoo p-stems.

P.S. Where did you get your pots? Those look ideal for the plants. Many of our big box stores sell really cheap quality pots that size.

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ClevelandCATHY

I'm not an expert, but those look more like a praying hands banana. I think basjoo flowers are yellow. Somebody correct me if i'm wrong.

modenacart

Looks like it to me. I would say they are most likely not basjoo. Maybe praying hands are in my future if they do that well there.

JCDerrick

I second that. On a related note, will over wintering basjoo the same way present any issues?

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modenacart