Time to put the bananas to sleep for the Winter - Page 7

cortejuan · 11-07-2007, 03:59 PM

Hello,

first of all I am new on this forum (and I am French)

I have a balbisiana which seems to be a "neue art" because it looks like yours. Do you know what is the lowest temperature it can bear?

It is for the moment in a pot but I would like to plant it outside next year. I live in eastern France zone 6/7 with strong winters (lowest temperature about -18 C degrees.

Bye

bigdog · 11-07-2007, 07:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cortejuan

Hello,

first of all I am new on this forum (and I am French)

I have a balbisiana which seems to be a "neue art" because it looks like yours. Do you know what is the lowest temperature it can bear?

It is for the moment in a pot but I would like to plant it outside next year. I live in eastern France zone 6/7 with strong winters (lowest temperature about -18 C degrees.

Bye

Welcome to the forum! I haven't planted any of my Musa balbisiana 'Neue Art' yet, so I'm not sure. I think they would be good to at least a zone 8a though, and probably zone 7 with some protection. I'll find out next year. By the way, the other name for this banana is M. balbisiana 'Gigantia' (or 'Gigantea', not sure which). Most Musa balbisiana look very similar though when young, so unless you bought seeds that were labaled as such, no telling what you have.

Patty in Wisc · 11-08-2007, 12:46 AM

Hi All,
haven't posted here since last Spring when I transplanted my 2 IC bananas inground. I dug them up last week or so, & one is in 5 gal. pot with little soil around, & bigger 1 is laying on west side of sunroom floor on it's side with as much soil I could shake off. The rootball is wrapped in a towel with tarp under. I was surprised at how small the rootballs were! That one was 6 ft tall when planted & is now 12 1/2 ft tall --- that is the one I have dormant laying down. It is bigger because it was in a much bigger pot last winter & will not fit in sunroom in pot. It also has 4 pups - largest is about 3 ft. tall. I hear that they get their energy from mother plant so decided to leave them on.
I cut all but 3 top leaves off of both & the one that is forced into dormancy, I cut the 3 leaves in half.
I might try cutting off 2nd biggest pup & pot it up for a Christmas gift to a friend. (should I take the chance?)
I twisted my left ankle about 5 weeks ago & fractured & tore ligaments in left ankle, so it was a real chore digging & carting them up 4 steps (dolly) to SR. but not so bad! I sure hope that big IC will gorw back next spring & produce 'nannas next year!
Any opinions are welcome.....thanks again Bigdog!
To DaveK...don't water like they are outside. They KNOW it is winter & will be semi-dormant (my opinion).
Pintandeago...no grass is GOOD! I killed all of mine & it is now all wood chips now. YEAAY -- no mowing!
Frankthetank...we are in same boat huh? Sorta? (Hey, how 'bout those Packers & Brett Favre?!)
Question: how do you cut 'nanna plants back from 6-12 ft tall to 2 ft & still have them grow? I thought you have to leave at least the stem growing from top leaf. Isn't this the pseudostem that can't be cut off?
Thanks much...am learning a lot from here & will let you know how my plants overwinter.
I also have a double Mahoi potted that did real well potted over summer. It's 2 lower leaves are yellow but I think it's too moist. Anyone ever tasted one of those? Thanks again.
Patty (geeze, it's getting cold...1st night of frost tonight!)

mikevan · 11-08-2007, 07:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patty in Wisc

Question: how do you cut 'nanna plants back from 6-12 ft tall to 2 ft & still have them grow? I thought you have to leave at least the stem growing from top leaf. Isn't this the pseudostem that can't be cut off?

Cutting the stem shorter won't harm that stem so long as it's cut above the originating point of the leaves and it's not about to flower - it'll continue growing from where you cut it. A couple or three feet is a hard cut-back - I'd go for four feet, but I've chopped mine before and had them continue growing from the center. The only time you want to really avoid cutting is when you think that a flower-stalk is coming up the center. If you cut the flower-stalk, that stem will die and you won't get nanners from it. So - younger stems can be cut back if needed, but older stems should be kept intact. Of course, it takes a lot of energy to put out new leaves and heal the wound when there are no leaves feeding the process, so don't do it often or you'll likely end up with a weaker plant and smaller bunch of nanners.

Be well,
Mike

bencelest · 11-09-2007, 08:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikevan

Cutting the stem shorter won't harm that stem so long as it's cut above the originating point of the leaves and it's not about to flower - it'll continue growing from where you cut it. A couple or three feet is a hard cut-back - I'd go for four feet, but I've chopped mine before and had them continue growing from the center. The only time you want to really avoid cutting is when you think that a flower-stalk is coming up the center. If you cut the flower-stalk, that stem will die and you won't get nanners from it. So - younger stems can be cut back if needed, but older stems should be kept intact. Of course, it takes a lot of energy to put out new leaves and heal the wound when there are no leaves feeding the process, so don't do it often or you'll likely end up with a weaker plant and smaller bunch of nanners.

Be well,
Mike

What I've been wondering about is how can you tell if there is a flower-stalk inside the p-stem. Is there any slight bulge there? Or any sign?
I have a dwarf Brazilian that is ready to bloom and I keep on watching any tell-tale sign for the flag or shorter leaves but I can't tell by looking at the p-stem if there is a flower ready to come up.

Patty in Wisc · 11-10-2007, 03:49 AM

Thanks Mike.
Good guestion Benny! Am wondering the same thing.

Patty

bencelest · 11-12-2007, 10:22 AM

Patty:
I guess we'll never know and will keep on wondering.

mikevan · 11-12-2007, 03:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bencelest

Patty:
I guess we'll never know and will keep on wondering.

You'll know when your nanner flowers. You won't see any more sign of the flag leaf coming that you see from regular leaves, and the flower either - if there's any change it's very imperceptible. Unless the flower chokes and splits the stem, that is.

Be well,
Mike

jeff tn · 11-14-2007, 02:26 PM

I hate digging them up too.The yard is not the same without them

.I put mine in the garage where there is heat.Cant wait til April.Thanks for sharing.

bikoro child · 11-15-2007, 04:14 PM

HI everyone ...today was the d day for protecting my bananas .First freeze is coming so you can see what i've done here/http://gardenbreizh.org/photos/ryan/album-5397.html

mcollum83 · 03-11-2008, 03:54 PM

this is a very imformative thread...thankyou to all of you putting all this imformation down. I have a question for you all. I live in zone four...can I plant mine outdoors as long as I bring them in to winter dormant in my basement when temps are near freezing? What if my basement gets above 55 degrees because a heater duct runs down there? Any information to help me would be great. Thank you all

D_&_T · 03-11-2008, 05:15 PM

Depends on variety of bananas you have, if you know what kind try reading about them on other threads or in the wiki.

stumpy4700 · 05-18-2008, 11:29 AM

Thanks bigdog, While searching on how to winterize my bananas is the only way I found this must-have site! This post should be a must read for anyone who is thinking about growing bananas, so for the entire group of newbie's I "Thank-You" . I too live in the Nashvile area and last year I brought my 2 Bananas in the sunroom. They were only about 2 ft tall so they didn't take up much space.They did survive that but I put one out too early and 1 died. So far this year I'm up to 6 Plants so I might have to try the garage. There is no telling how many banana lives you have save but I just want you to know that your time was well spent posting this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

douglas gray · 08-20-2008, 10:20 PM

Joe, Big Dog, that is great info'. I killed the only nana of size last winter. now I have lots of little ones I want to keep. do you still suggest bare root, dry & dark if they are small for overwintering. I do have a greenhouse for option....thanks again both of you excellent for novices !!!

bananoloco · 09-16-2008, 06:26 AM

Seems like this thread has been going for years and I must say that I wish I had had this information when I first started...it would have saved alot of years of trial and error. Great work big dog!

I started doing the crawl space thing and quickly realized that I was breaking my back. So now, I cut mine down to fit my 9 ft garage and store them vertically against the wall. It makes it easier to roll in and out on a dolly.

In terms of temperatures... I put a cover over the windows and keep it as dark as possible. The temperature rarely goes below 50 and seems to stay in the low 60's for the bulk of winter. In fact, sometimes at the end of Feb and in March it will even go into the 70's. At first I was worried about the temps being too high but it seems that the mysore, orinco, raja's, and ice cream have no problems with it. On the other hand, I can't seem to get the dwarf cavendish to overwinter well and have all but given up on this type.

mikevan · 09-16-2008, 09:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bananoloco

I started doing the crawl space thing and quickly realized that I was breaking my back. So now, I cut mine down to fit my 9 ft garage and store them vertically against the wall. It makes it easier to roll in and out on a dolly.

In terms of temperatures... I put a cover over the windows and keep it as dark as possible. The temperature rarely goes below 50 and seems to stay in the low 60's for the bulk of winter. In fact, sometimes at the end of Feb and in March it will even go into the 70's. At first I was worried about the temps being too high but it seems that the mysore, orinco, raja's, and ice cream have no problems with it. On the other hand, I can't seem to get the dwarf cavendish to overwinter well and have all but given up on this type.

A 16' trailer would work too so you don't have to cut your taller nanners back as much. Let it hang over some and you can keep 20' nanners even. If you have room in the garage, of course. Knowing most nanner-heads, we'll park the BMW outside and put the nanners in the garage over the winter.

It's good that the DC doesn't get very big - you could probably put that in a large pot and in a greenhouse over the winter.

Be well,
Mike

JCDerrick · 09-16-2008, 11:26 AM

I just read through the whole thread for the first time, and I agree this is one of the best threads on the forum. I hope this one keeps going - full of good info. After doing a lot of reading on this forum I've decided to dig up a lot of my larger bananas this year and preserve the full p-stem. I figure I'm young and might as well do the grunt work on saving them while I can - and it'll pay off in the spring with a nice full p-stem growing again.

Franklin · 09-19-2008, 04:56 PM

Hi everyone. I'm hooked. I grew my first Musa basjoo this year and it's now at least 7 feet tall. Here's were I need help. The tree is in the ground. I'm in zone 6 along the Connecticut coast. The catalog where I bought the sappling claims the plant can withstand -20 degrees F. It seems hard to believe. What should I do to protect this beautiful banana tree? I was able to get one of the pups transplanted to a pot that I could bring in just in case. I know you folks will be able to guide me. Thanks!

JCDerrick · 09-19-2008, 07:54 PM

Lots of good methods are discussed here on the forums, do a search to find the best method for your area.

You probably will need to mulch a good bit heavier than we do here for basjoo if you want to keep any of the p-stem alive. If you're not concerned about the p-stem, but just want to keep the banana alive in general, you could probably just put a few inches of hay/leaves on the surface and it'd be fine. Basjoo are pretty tough and can survive very cold temps. How much you want to keep above the surface is up to you - the methods I use always preserve as much of the p-stem as possible.

Edit - here's another good page with photos:
Protecting cold hardy bananas

11-07-2007, 03:59 PM	#121 (permalink)
cortejuan Location: France (east) Find me on the map! Zone: 7/6 Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 1 BananaBucks : 129 Feedback: 0 / 0% Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Welcomes: 0	Re: Time to put the bananas to sleep for the Winter Hello, first of all I am new on this forum (and I am French) I have a balbisiana which seems to be a "neue art" because it looks like yours. Do you know what is the lowest temperature it can bear? It is for the moment in a pot but I would like to plant it outside next year. I live in eastern France zone 6/7 with strong winters (lowest temperature about -18 C degrees. Bye

11-08-2007, 12:46 AM	#123 (permalink)
Patty in Wisc Junior Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 24 BananaBucks : 237 Feedback: 0 / 0% Thanks: 1 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Welcomes: 0	Re: Time to put the bananas to sleep for the Winter Hi All, haven't posted here since last Spring when I transplanted my 2 IC bananas inground. I dug them up last week or so, & one is in 5 gal. pot with little soil around, & bigger 1 is laying on west side of sunroom floor on it's side with as much soil I could shake off. The rootball is wrapped in a towel with tarp under. I was surprised at how small the rootballs were! That one was 6 ft tall when planted & is now 12 1/2 ft tall --- that is the one I have dormant laying down. It is bigger because it was in a much bigger pot last winter & will not fit in sunroom in pot. It also has 4 pups - largest is about 3 ft. tall. I hear that they get their energy from mother plant so decided to leave them on. I cut all but 3 top leaves off of both & the one that is forced into dormancy, I cut the 3 leaves in half. I might try cutting off 2nd biggest pup & pot it up for a Christmas gift to a friend. (should I take the chance?) I twisted my left ankle about 5 weeks ago & fractured & tore ligaments in left ankle, so it was a real chore digging & carting them up 4 steps (dolly) to SR. but not so bad! I sure hope that big IC will gorw back next spring & produce 'nannas next year! Any opinions are welcome.....thanks again Bigdog! To DaveK...don't water like they are outside. They KNOW it is winter & will be semi-dormant (my opinion). Pintandeago...no grass is GOOD! I killed all of mine & it is now all wood chips now. YEAAY -- no mowing! Frankthetank...we are in same boat huh? Sorta? (Hey, how 'bout those Packers & Brett Favre?!) Question: how do you cut 'nanna plants back from 6-12 ft tall to 2 ft & still have them grow? I thought you have to leave at least the stem growing from top leaf. Isn't this the pseudostem that can't be cut off? Thanks much...am learning a lot from here & will let you know how my plants overwinter. I also have a double Mahoi potted that did real well potted over summer. It's 2 lower leaves are yellow but I think it's too moist. Anyone ever tasted one of those? Thanks again. Patty (geeze, it's getting cold...1st night of frost tonight!)

11-10-2007, 03:49 AM	#126 (permalink)
Patty in Wisc Junior Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 24 BananaBucks : 237 Feedback: 0 / 0% Thanks: 1 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Welcomes: 0	Re: Time to put the bananas to sleep for the Winter Thanks Mike. Good guestion Benny! Am wondering the same thing. Patty

11-12-2007, 10:22 AM	#127 (permalink)
bencelest Banana Nut bencelest's Photo Gallery Location: California Zone 9 Zone: 9 Name: Benny Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 1,416 BananaBucks : 6,702 Feedback: 2 / 100% Thanks: 2 Thanked 120 Times in 108 Posts Welcomes: 0	Re: Time to put the bananas to sleep for the Winter Patty: I guess we'll never know and will keep on wondering. __________________ Banana Nut

11-14-2007, 02:26 PM	#129 (permalink)
jeff tn Location: I live on the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains between Knoxville and Pigeon Forge TN. Zone: 7A Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 4 BananaBucks : 188 Feedback: 0 / 0% Thanks: 0 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post Welcomes: 0	Re: Time to put the bananas to sleep for the Winter I hate digging them up too.The yard is not the same without them .I put mine in the garage where there is heat.Cant wait til April.Thanks for sharing.

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11-15-2007, 04:14 PM	#130 (permalink)
bikoro child bikoro child's Photo Gallery Find me on the map! Zone: zone 8 Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 300 BananaBucks : 3,022 Feedback: 0 / 0% Thanks: 29 Thanked 53 Times in 31 Posts Welcomes: 19	Re: Time to put the bananas to sleep for the Winter HI everyone ...today was the d day for protecting my bananas .First freeze is coming so you can see what i've done here/http://gardenbreizh.org/photos/ryan/album-5397.html

03-11-2008, 03:54 PM	#131 (permalink)
mcollum83 BananaNutYum Location: Hay Springs, NE Find me on the map! Zone: 4 Name: Goomba Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 7 BananaBucks : 346 Feedback: 0 / 0% Thanks: 0 Thanked 3 Times in 2 Posts Welcomes: 0	Re: Time to put the bananas to sleep for the Winter this is a very imformative thread...thankyou to all of you putting all this imformation down. I have a question for you all. I live in zone four...can I plant mine outdoors as long as I bring them in to winter dormant in my basement when temps are near freezing? What if my basement gets above 55 degrees because a heater duct runs down there? Any information to help me would be great. Thank you all __________________ Help me, I've gone bananas!

03-11-2008, 05:15 PM	#132 (permalink)
D_&_T 1st winter growing indoor D_&_T's Photo Gallery Location: Northern Indiana Find me on the map! Zone: 5-6 Name: Dan and Tara Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 656 BananaBucks : 2,441 Feedback: 2 / 100% Thanks: 392 Thanked 85 Times in 75 Posts Welcomes: 150	Re: Time to put the bananas to sleep for the Winter Depends on variety of bananas you have, if you know what kind try reading about them on other threads or in the wiki. __________________ Dan & Tara in need of greenhouse

05-18-2008, 11:29 AM	#133 (permalink)
stumpy4700 stumpy4700 's Photo Gallery Location: Cane Ridge Tn. Find me on the map! Zone: Zone 6-7 Name: Stumpy Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 294 BananaBucks : 1,566 Feedback: 1 / 100% Thanks: 153 Thanked 58 Times in 48 Posts Welcomes: 252	Re: Time to put the bananas to sleep for the Winter Thanks bigdog, While searching on how to winterize my bananas is the only way I found this must-have site! This post should be a must read for anyone who is thinking about growing bananas, so for the entire group of newbie's I "Thank-You" . I too live in the Nashvile area and last year I brought my 2 Bananas in the sunroom. They were only about 2 ft tall so they didn't take up much space.They did survive that but I put one out too early and 1 died. So far this year I'm up to 6 Plants so I might have to try the garage. There is no telling how many banana lives you have save but I just want you to know that your time was well spent posting this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

08-20-2008, 10:20 PM	#134 (permalink)
douglas gray Bananaman douglas gray's Photo Gallery Location: Berkshire, UK Zone: 8b..I think Name: Doug Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 44 BananaBucks : 383 Feedback: 0 / 0% Thanks: 9 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts Welcomes: 0	Re: Time to put the bananas to sleep for the Winter Joe, Big Dog, that is great info'. I killed the only nana of size last winter. now I have lots of little ones I want to keep. do you still suggest bare root, dry & dark if they are small for overwintering. I do have a greenhouse for option....thanks again both of you excellent for novices !!!

09-16-2008, 06:26 AM	#135 (permalink)
bananoloco Location: Knoxville, TN Zone: 7 Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 7 BananaBucks : 253 Feedback: 0 / 0% Thanks: 0 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post Welcomes: 0	Re: Time to put the bananas to sleep for the Winter Seems like this thread has been going for years and I must say that I wish I had had this information when I first started...it would have saved alot of years of trial and error. Great work big dog! I started doing the crawl space thing and quickly realized that I was breaking my back. So now, I cut mine down to fit my 9 ft garage and store them vertically against the wall. It makes it easier to roll in and out on a dolly. In terms of temperatures... I put a cover over the windows and keep it as dark as possible. The temperature rarely goes below 50 and seems to stay in the low 60's for the bulk of winter. In fact, sometimes at the end of Feb and in March it will even go into the 70's. At first I was worried about the temps being too high but it seems that the mysore, orinco, raja's, and ice cream have no problems with it. On the other hand, I can't seem to get the dwarf cavendish to overwinter well and have all but given up on this type.

09-16-2008, 11:26 AM	#137 (permalink)
JCDerrick KeoniKale JCDerrick's Photo Gallery Location: Lexington, SC Find me on the map! Zone: 8b Name: John Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 162 BananaBucks : 1,587 Feedback: 2 / 100% Thanks: 43 Thanked 35 Times in 30 Posts Welcomes: 5	Re: Time to put the bananas to sleep for the Winter I just read through the whole thread for the first time, and I agree this is one of the best threads on the forum. I hope this one keeps going - full of good info. After doing a lot of reading on this forum I've decided to dig up a lot of my larger bananas this year and preserve the full p-stem. I figure I'm young and might as well do the grunt work on saving them while I can - and it'll pay off in the spring with a nice full p-stem growing again. __________________ Green fingers are the extension of a verdant soul.

09-19-2008, 04:56 PM	#138 (permalink)
Franklin Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 1 BananaBucks : 56 Feedback: 0 / 0% Thanks: 0 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post Welcomes: 0	Re: Time to put the bananas to sleep for the Winter Hi everyone. I'm hooked. I grew my first Musa basjoo this year and it's now at least 7 feet tall. Here's were I need help. The tree is in the ground. I'm in zone 6 along the Connecticut coast. The catalog where I bought the sappling claims the plant can withstand -20 degrees F. It seems hard to believe. What should I do to protect this beautiful banana tree? I was able to get one of the pups transplanted to a pot that I could bring in just in case. I know you folks will be able to guide me. Thanks!

09-19-2008, 07:54 PM	#139 (permalink)
JCDerrick KeoniKale JCDerrick's Photo Gallery Location: Lexington, SC Find me on the map! Zone: 8b Name: John Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 162 BananaBucks : 1,587 Feedback: 2 / 100% Thanks: 43 Thanked 35 Times in 30 Posts Welcomes: 5	Re: Time to put the bananas to sleep for the Winter Lots of good methods are discussed here on the forums, do a search to find the best method for your area. You probably will need to mulch a good bit heavier than we do here for basjoo if you want to keep any of the p-stem alive. If you're not concerned about the p-stem, but just want to keep the banana alive in general, you could probably just put a few inches of hay/leaves on the surface and it'd be fine. Basjoo are pretty tough and can survive very cold temps. How much you want to keep above the surface is up to you - the methods I use always preserve as much of the p-stem as possible. Edit - here's another good page with photos: Protecting cold hardy bananas __________________ Green fingers are the extension of a verdant soul.