modenacart

I believe you can keep them in the garage too. I would keep them covered with a blanket though.

D'Andra

HEY! I think modenacart was watching me!

I decided our shop was too cold so I put them in the garage. I really meant to cover them with a blanket but didn't get to it yet. Do you cover the entire plant?
I have the corms on the floor. Is that going to be a problem?
I was potting the last little plant (bird of paradise) in earthworms castings as it began to snow.
The cold front dropped us from 64f to 51f in less than an hour! It got down to 24f at our house. That gave us a wind chill almost in the single digits.
Remind me when it's 110f next summer not to complain.
Everything in our yard is now brown or bare except for the bamboo and weeds and it's going to be even colder tonight.
The good news though. All the plants are in and taken care of and we sent over 45 gallons of tomatoes to the homeless shelter and kept plenty for ourselves.
I will get them covered tonight and post pics of what I did as soon as the camera gets back home.
Thanx for the tip modenacart!

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D'.

modenacart

I would to simulate a hibernation environment, but I have no experience personally, just what I have read. I have keep plants in the crawl space without problems. Maybe someone with practical experience can give their opinion. I would put some newspaper or something between the corm and the floor for a little insulation. The floor's surface themperature might get pretty cold.

D'Andra

You're so right. That floor was freezing cold this morning. I was thinking of putting down some wooden skids until I read your post. I actually have hundreds of pounds of newspaper I've been saving to put in our new worm beds. The last load of papers is sitting right next to the bananas. Why didn't I think of that?!

I have a plant light on a few feet away from them germinating some voodoo lilly bulbs, so I threw a blue plastic tarp over the bananas. The tarp lightly touches them in a few places, but I don't think it'll be a problem. The temp is staying between 40&50 so I think it's gonna be okay.

Thanx!

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D'.

modenacart

I tink it depends on the type, but it sounds like it will be ok to me.

sandy0225

Try putting down some styrofoam sheet under your roots. That insulates it from the floor real well. You can get it at home depot, lowe's menards, etc. or if you go by a construction dumpster you can often get smaller pieces there!

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Sandy Burrell



Northern Tropics Greenhouse
1501 East Fuson Road
Muncie, IN 47302
www.northerntropics.com


specializing in bananas, heirloom tomatoes and water gardening plants~
check out our new online store at our website!

D'Andra

I've not thought of using foam, but that's a great idea. I put the corms on a stack of papers about a foot tall and that seemed to work great. Now, the problem is it's been around 70f for several days and I don't have any place to keep them cool. Any ideas or suggestions on what to do here?

I'm building a transfer cabinet for TC and underneath I'm making a growing area. The foam should work perfect for that! Again, great idea!

Thanx for the help.

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D'.

MICHIGANANA

Just wondering about the best way to wake these guys up in the spring(besides sunshine, warmth and h2o)? I'm in Michigan and have left them potted in sand/soil mixture. They have lost all their leaves and only about a 3-4 foot stem remains. They have been in my basement in above freezing temps. will they get enough photosynthesis and energy from the sun the stem gets? thank you.

bigdog

First and foremost, make sure you are well past the threat of frost. I'm glad I haven't planted mine back out again, as we are forecasted by some to be 21F on Easter morning! Secondly, I would prepare your planting hole well in advance also, and cover it with some clear plastic to warm up the soil. When you are ready to plant them back out, cut the top of the pseudostem to make sure there is green (or white, yellow, etc.), and not black, in the center. If it is black, you need to cut until you find green or white. Peeling the outermost dead leaf sheaths off to expose the green trunk will help it to photosynthesize. Just don't yank too hard and peel live tissue off of the pseudostem. I take a sharp knife with me, and just cut dead tissue off.

Patty in Wisc

BigDog, just want to thank you for starting this thread...I learned a lot, and have read it few times since last yr.
I have 2 Ice Cream from last June when they were 2 inches high. They were in my sunroom all winter with temps low 45F to about 55-60 high. They grew slow, but one (in 30 gal pot) got to be over 6 ft from soil. I just planted it out inground & I know it will really take off. In fall, it will be too big to get back into sunroom (12 1/2' ceiling). I have crawl space under SR but it's open & it will be too cold. I'm in zone 5 where we can easily get to below zeroF.
My question is, if I wrap it to make it dark, & lay it sideways on cool SR floor, would it go dormant or will the room be too warm? (45 to 55F). I do not have a garage, but have a uninsulated shed. To put there, I would really have to wrap it well! I know it's early, but like to think ahead.
Also, how do you acclimate your bananas to sunlight after storage?
Thanks much,
Patty (in Milwaukee)

bigdog

Hi Patty,

Glad it was of some help to you. I think your plant would be fine on the SR floor with those temps. My garage is about the same temperature in the winter, and I stored several bananas in there two winters ago. My first time storing 'Ice Cream' in the crawl space was not too successful. The corm lived, and so did the main pseudostem, but there was a lot of dieback on the pseudostem. It was a little slow getting going in the spring too, but caught up just fine. This year, from that one corm, I have four 6 foot pseudostems going in the ground! I still haven't peeked at them yet. Too busy with finals right now. Next week should be the time for me to start planting.

As far as acclimating them to sunlight, here's what I do: Nothing! They don't seem to ever skip a beat either.

Patty in Wisc

THANK YOU! That is the first concrete answer I got after asking this around the net! I will try to keep as many leaves on (to give it a head start next spring), keep it covered so it's dark, & let it sleep on floor.
I put it in the ground Sunday (whew, it was heavy even with most dirt off), and wouldn't you know we had 3/4 inch hail storm last night. It took it just fine. I'm sure I will need help getting it out of ground in fall, but worth it! Thanks again!
Patty
(Milwaukee)

D_&_T

With us living in Northern Indiana, and getting an unknown variety of dwarf banana from a known greenhouse in our area. How well do they do in a room in our house for the winter? We got it about 3 weeks ago when it gets closer to frost time we will need to know how to care for it.

Dan & Tara

when get pic will post it

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Dan & Tara
in need of greenhouse

bigdog

That's a loaded question, lol. It depends on the variety of banana, the size of the plant when you bring it in, and the conditions in the house. I would grow it outside in the ground for the next couple of months to get maximum growth out of it right now. Around mid-September (while it's still warm outside, so it will grow new roots), dig it up and pot it up into a pot that looks about 2 sizes too small, and use a very-well draining mix. The reason for that is to prevent overwatering. The smaller the pot, the less water for the soil to hold. If you have typical indoor winter conditions (72F, dry, low light), only water it when the soil is bone, bone dry. Basically, just enough to keep the leaves alive. The easiest way to kill a banana indoors is to overwater it.

Or, if planting it outside isn't an option, you could just leave it in a pot, but water and fertilize regularly (every couple of weeks) and put it out in full sun. You want to have the biggest, healthiest plant possible before you bring it in for the winter.

D_&_T

thank you

now need to decide to repot or plant it for rest of summer!
we are working on some pics of it................believe it might be a DC or SDC by some pics on here and what I have read, my wife called the nursery, all the person she talked to know it is about 2 yrs old. and said to call back earlier in morning to get someone that knows more.

Dan

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Dan & Tara
in need of greenhouse

JoeS475

Dan and Tara,

I'm in NJ, and the winters here are brutal. All of my bananas are currently potted. I personally find this easier for northern climates, because in the spring I can get the plants outdoors in the warm days, but bring them in overnight if its going to be too cold. In the fall this doesn't really apply, since the plants are too big to be dragged in and out of the house frequently. Also this saves you the back breaking work of digging them up from the ground.

For your banana to survive the winter growing indoors, like bigdog said, make sure they are very dry before watering. It is so easy to kill a banana that is indoors with too much water. They will also need a south facing window, the biggest and brightest you've got.

I lost my super dwarf cavendish, and high colour mini variant this winter, despite their small size. My regular dwarf cavendish and other larger bananas actually did better, even though their leaves were dusting the ceiling.

Best of luck with the plant! I use mine simply for the tropical look, since getting bananas in the north is very tough. But you never know, one or two of my survivors might possibly (with a little luck) bloom this summer...

Be careful, soon you'll end up buying random banana plants when and wherever you see them, its addictive!

Enough rambling from me, take care!

~Joe

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D_&_T

thanks Joe

so I think I'll repot as it dries out real quick, and might be close to being rootbound. we have had it 3 weeks with new leaf each week and 3 pups growing very well as well!!

Dan & Tara

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Dan & Tara
in need of greenhouse

microfarmer

You may as well separate a couple pups and pot them up separately too. It'll give you more plants for next year and more possible successes

You'll then have extra bananas and you can trade someone here for their extra pups of a different variety...

like me perhaps...

I got a couple Ice Cream pups...

Jeff

P.s. What he said

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My new hero...

D_&_T

how big should pups be when they are cut off WITH corm.

would be interest in trading one pup.

Dan with his arm twisted by wife Tara (Dan is 6 ft with me 5 ft 3.......so me arm twisting him is a little out of the question!!)

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Dan & Tara
in need of greenhouse