bluesky

I have so many Dwarf Orinoco banana trees (people in my area just aren't interested in growing these!) that this year I will have to cut them down and preserve the corms, I hear others do this but i'm relunctant...I'm afraid I will kill them! Would someone walk me through the process? Figuring this winter we will again hit -20 degrees for stretches at a time so that will put the rooms in the house at temps. of 40-45 degrees. Will this kill the corms? If I wrap them in plastic, will that not also kill them? How often should i sprinkle water on the corms during the winter? Most of the trees are from 2008 and now are putting out pups, when (if) they stay alive for next spring, will I have to go another year before they will pup anymore...I'm alittle confused on this. Thanks for any help!

blue

NEmusa

I grow all of my bananas in containers - makes transportation a little easier lol. I left them in the containers last fall and brought them into the basement for the winter (50-60 degrees F) - all of them went dormant but the psuedostems remained green all winter. My 14 foot mystery banana plant, well, unfortunately i had to cut pseudostem to 4 feet to get it into the house - lol, but even that one sprouted leaves again when i took it out back last MAY. I covered the plants with a loose dark plastic bag and gave each banana about a cup of water a month to keep the corm and soil lightly moist (no fertilizer since they weren't growing). All are still alive and happy as a clam - er, naner. But that's my experience with bananas so far. Search the site for more info and recommendations on overwintering to help you form a strategy for your banana corms.

bluesky

Thanks NEmusa. I'm still not quite getting the picture tho. cAn I cut the trees all the way down to the corm? Then I wrap them in a black plastic bag? Do they need to dry alittle first before I wrap them? Then once a month add alittle water...I would think sprinkling with a little water would be best, I would be worried of them rotting.

Randy4ut

A little searching will go a long way!!!

Time to put the bananas to sleep for the Winter

Sticky post #1 on cold hardy banana section!

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NEmusa

The corms i have grow in large 24" containers, and my basement tends to get extremely dry in winter. The soil mix I use became very dry and cracked monthly, and I was concerned that the corm might completely dry out. So, a cup appeared to be just enough to keep the corms from drying out. I didn't see any rot when i examined the corms and roots while changing the mix last spring. If you grow your bananas in containers, you may cut the pseudostem down to soil level after a light frost, store in a dark area 40 - 45 degrees and keep the soil on the dry side (http://urbantext.illinois.edu/garden...3_Fall_03.html). The coolest place in my house though only gets to 50-60 degrees in winter. I left 4 feet of pseudostem on the large one out of curiousity; I cut the petioles at an upward angle, covered the pseudostem and pot with a large black garbage bag (didn't really wait to allow it to dry - it stayed green all winter) and put it in a corner in the basement. I left it loose because I wanted to check on it regularly (typical banana worrier that i am lol), and i was concerned about creating a possible harbor for mold or fungus. I would then check on it monthly until springtime. Interestingly, the new leaves emerged from the top of the stem when I put it outside. I'm still somewhat new to growing bananas, but this strategy worked well for my plants last year. But also keep in mind that I grow my bananas in containers.

Now, if you're growing your banana plants in the ground and need to dig them up to overwinter them, you may need to follow a different strategy, and I agree with Randy4ut to take a close look through the link 'Time to put the bananas to sleep for the Winter' which he has listed below. It's a nice step by step description of how to remove your banana plants from the ground and prep them for the winter and well worth the read!

Some books I'm reading to learn more about bananas include Bananas and Plantains; Crop Production Science in Horticulture Series by JC Robinson, Bananas by Stover and Simmonds, Diseases of Banana, Abaca and Enset by DR Jones, The Complete Book of Bananas by Wm O Lessard and Bananas You can Grow by Stokes Tropicals. Some are probably overkill for the backyard gardener, but lots of information if you're interested. There are also many websites (including Bananas.org ) which have additional information about everything bananas. Best of luck and have fun growing bananas. NEmusa.

frankthetank

I dig them them up...drag them into the basement...throw them on some cardboard, cover them (not sure if that is even necessary) and forget about them...

I'll take a bunch of pictures of what i do this fall (about a month or so) and then hopefully that will help some...

My basement stays around 50F-55F...although i think they would be fine in the 40's.

I have never once watered mine...i rarely water the ones i have in pots during the winter.

NEMusa-

I noticed the same thing with my Sikkmensis... They seemed to get very dry last winter (i also have a very dry basement)... I probably should have watered them once since i think i lost 2 of them this spring....out of 10.

lkstapleton

I thought this was really interesting. I'm just starting to experiment with these varieties in San Jose, which is definitely warmer than Georgia.

http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/bitstrea...1/37010072.pdf

He basically grows bananas as annuals, and has tried numerous popular varieties to see which ones actually yield fruit before the cold sets in.

Lisa

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tikifarmer

Potter County , that's cold up there ...
Here are my tall orinocos in storage in South Central , PA .
Around 50-60F in the basement , no water , no light .
I have been successful doing it this way for the last 2 years . It is an adaptation of the Big Dog's method (I don't have a crawl space) .
3 are fruiting right now ...

NJ Banana

Tiki,

I have a bunch of basjoo's and a california gold. I am doing some outside and some inside this year. This is the first time inside for me... I dug them up, banged off some of the dirt and put them in my basement on a tarp...
I have some questions:

1- Is that all that you did?
2- How long until you got bananas?
3- When did you re-plant them and anything special?
4- How many do you have and how many have fruited?

Adam
Central NJ Zone 7