Re: question on winterizing basjoo
 

Here's the Canadian guy who inspired me:
http://www.tropic.ca/K-L-M-N/Musa%20...Protection.htt

Erlend

Re: question on winterizing basjoo
 

Great article on wrapping up your banana plants for the winter. It's hard to think about that when it is 95 and sunny! Red

Re: question on winterizing basjoo
 

I hear that, its been in upper 70's or in 80's...............calling for possible frost this weekend here in northern Indiana!! little pots just move inside over night, but the 20 gal will have to cover. any suggestions?

Dan & Tara

Re: question on winterizing basjoo
 

DT- I also may have to deal with frost, but i plan on just covering mine with some blankets for now. Its suppose to warm right back into the 80's again, so i would rather protect them for one night and maybe have another 2 or 3 weeks of growth...even though i doubt even some light frost would even harm them?

Re: question on winterizing basjoo
 

Thanks Frankthetank,

yea I agree about keeping out as long as can. Its just easier to move little ones in over night, there are 1 to 3 gal size, one in 20 gal is mom and 2 two pups with mom over 8 foot. the last couple new leaves are still standing straight up:0489:

Dan

Re: question on winterizing basjoo
 

Hey Erlend ,Ray's a great guy and man would I love to have his back yard!!!

Re: question on winterizing basjoo
 

Dropped to 40F here last night. I didn't protect the Basjoos but brought everything in containers inside. They seem fine. I've got one more night (friday) to keep an eye on (in case of frost).

Re: question on winterizing basjoo
 

Here in northern illinois it has been down in the low forties at night, a little nerve racking but besides Friday forecast of 38 the next week looks ok, lows 48-55 highs in the 70's low 80's, I have several plants in small planters that are easy to move. But My DC is in a pot that weighs about 175 lbs. trying to figure out what to do for overwintering as this is my first Banana I got n April, and has three healthy growing plants :basketballnaner:

Re: question on winterizing basjoo
 

I use a dolly to move around a super Dwarf Cavendish i have in a 20gallon pot. It makes easy work of it to move in and out of the garage, probably until mid October when it finally comes inside for good. This is the time of year when a hoop house would be great.

Re: question on winterizing basjoo
 

Thanks, I may have to stop by HD or Menards on the way home from work tomorrow, really want to get these through the winter :2686:

Re: question on winterizing basjoo
 

WOW, frost already! I live in Canada and our first frost date is around Oct. 15th. I wish you the best of luck in over wintering, and beating the frost! I will be in your situation next month!

Re: question on winterizing basjoo
 

When I lived in norther Indiana 30 years ago I had a farm and put the Banana I grew there in a winter hot bed I dug a trench with a back hoe 9 to 10 feet deep and four foot wide and put in moist fresh cow manure in the bottom 18 inches to two ft deep and covered it with straw then set the bare root plants on on the straw layer and then put a bail of peat around the roots of the bananas and covered the hole with a couple of old sliding glass doors on the times that it got really cold (-20 deg F ) I covered the glass door with plywood and bales of straw. The layer of cow manure was usually made enough heat to keep the temp to above 60 at night in the hole and allow slow growth all winter; when spring cam I just lifted them out with the back hoe and dug out the peat and cow manure and straw and used it for potting mix and pushed the hole back shut with the backhoe. It is very important not to let water run in to a hot bed and in some locations a sump pump may be needed to keep the hole dry. in the late winter I started my bedding plants under the glass in the hot bed for a early start to the garden. If I was going to do this today I would add supplemetal lighting the days up there are just too short in Dec and January Up north.

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what part of northern IN did you live in the 70's?
we live in Wabash county:2747:
Dan & Tara

Re: question on winterizing basjoo
 

RE: D_&_T --North West Allen county EeL River Township between Huntertown and Churubusco From -- Philip

Re: question on winterizing basjoo
 

Has anyone ever tried a "Wall O Water" to protect their plants?

Re: question on winterizing basjoo
 

I can see that working for small plants and protection for the lower Pstem, corm, and pups, but I don't think they make them very tall (over 36") to protect the upper Pstem of the full size plants. If you have dwarf varieties, they may help if you blanket the canopy with some kind of cover.

Re: question on winterizing basjoo
 

Well,I'm going to be the weird one here today.But have enjoyed reading how all ya'll overwinter your Basjoo's.

I live in SE Texas zone 8b.normally I just cut& compost my leaves& don't even mulch my plants.I have never had them bloom.My biggest one is now going on 5 years& 9 feet and actually had the most stem loss last year(but is still taller than the others)I'm wanting to relocate this one large banana (includeing pups...its set 5 this year so far)cause its in the way of my brugmansias& actually shades the backside of my brugmansia in the late afternoon.So my thoughts we're to connect the 2 beds my banana is in between this winter while its cooler outside and will sweat less in the process.

1.I could winter in my GH but are times the temps rise in it durring the winter cause we still feel the heat from the sun in winter and even have a good bit of highs in the 60s even a few 80s in Jan/Feb.
But I do have room in the GH(was my main request that I have plenty of ceiling space for hanging baskets and knew my banana might be going here.)But I worry about the temps durring the day.sometimes its reached 115 in the winter in the afternoons...with the doors open.wetting the floor helps some.

2. I can winter in kitchen cause have vaulted ceilings.And I wintered my dwarf cavendish& lil prince in this room last year,just by sitting them in front of french doors.

3. my house is on blocks so I could opt for the yankee method and place under house or stick in hubbys garage.

I've no idea why its never bloomed,but someone on GW told me about 2 years ago that if it set alot of pups it was getting ready to bloom.I'm sure it gets plently of fertilizer as is between 3 brugmansias.




Here's some input I've noticed here in Tx up in Tyler which is a zone 7b I believe.Is a lady in town.When freezes are forcast I've seen her bananas wrapped in waterheater blankets?(looks like foiled covered insulation on both sides)she ties this around plants and then wraps plastic around outside with enough sticking up to fold over the top to keep dry.she has a centry plant that has a cage built like a box covered in plastic but has christmas lights underneath for adding a lil heat.

some years ago...When Paul James was at his old house he had a guest on his show that showed wintering banana plants under house,just like Frank in Knox/Nash does.I do think the guy lived in NY.But he wrapped roots in burlap,but did wash roots off and let them dry out for a week.

Re: question on winterizing basjoo
 

I see some recommend using leaves and others straw or hay. This will be my 1st winter with a Basjoo w/3 pups, a velutina w/3 pups, 2 Trachycarpus fortunei, a sabal minor McCurtain and a Rhapidophyllum hystrix. I was planning on using small cages after cutting the banana p-stems to around 12" and using leaves (tulip poplar) from my yard. Do you all suggest using hay or straw instead? Maybe both? Reasons? And I guess the reason for some using bags of leaves is so they stay dry? Thanks!

Re: question on winterizing basjoo
 

I think its very interesting to consider all the different conditions that people have to deal with in terms of overwintering their plants. Every area is different and with it's own challenges.

I live on Vancouver Island and while our winters can be on the mild side we have to deal with heavy rain and cold wet conditions. I have seen others in my area winter their Basjoos using the cage method however I think it really depends on the location and more specifically the water table of each microsite. Some areas with good drainage most of the year will become almost swampy in the winter months. Taking a walk in my backyard during the winter feels like walking on a wet sponge. My feet sink into the soil and puddles form where I have just stepped.

While building a cage and waterproofing it with a tarp may keep the surface around the base of the plant dry, I think that water would come up from underneath. I have limited experience but cold and wet doesn't sound good for any banana. Last year I dug all of my Basjoos (except one) and stored them in an unheated shed. We did have a colder than usual winter but every one of them survived and came back larger than last year. The one plant I left in the ground as an experiment was in my front yard where drainage is better. It wasn't protected at all and the stem that I left turned to mush and I ended up cutting it at ground level. The plant survived but grew very slowly all summer and didn't get much larger than the year before.

I guess it really depends on how warm/cold it is under your house.

Re: question on winterizing basjoo
 

First frost likely tonight or tomorrow night! Time to get busy.