stalewiak

Snookie

Lol most of mine look like it's time for a dirt nap:}

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Mayor of Lizard Creek

sman87

I have a dozen Basjoo and Mekong Giant bananas dormant in a basement crawlspace bare root. Its been about 9 weeks since I put them in dormancy. So far they have dried out without any signs of mold or rot on the corms or P-stems. The corms and root balls are BONE dry now, yet the p stems have held most of there green color excluding the outer layers, which have dried forming a husk. I estimate I have about 15 or so weeks left till I will put them back outside. I recently gave the corms and roots on each plant a quick misting just enough to be damp, but I see the forums split on whether or not to water at all bare root stored bananas during the winter. Should the plants be good to go for the rest of the winter till spring?

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stevelau1911

I think it may be better to have them stored up side down in the coolest spot you can find that doesn't get below freezing.

I had rotting issues with my ensete maureliis in the attic 2 weeks ago where it may have gotten too damp despite relatively cool conditions, but after taking them into the coldest part of the house which stays around 40F through winter, and dusting them with sulfur, the rotting has stopped.

Here's one of them that I took out just to get some photos of. It's been dormant for over 2 months now and I will need it to stay dormant without rotting away for another 3-4 months.

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I'm in zone 6 upstate NY, specialize in growing temperate cold hardy bamboos(mainly phyllostachys) and starting to get into bananas.

my picture website is http://www.flickr.com/photos/31489820@N02/

http://stevespeonygarden.blogspot.com/

bengal tiger nanas

bengal tiger nanas

this ensete still has a lot of moisture after 7 weeks. do you think it will be ok? stay's between 35 and 55

stevelau1911

If it is not rotting, i would just check on it every couple weeks or so to make sure it is alright. Otherwise, if you want to be safe, you could just rub some fungicide powder all over the base, and wherever rot can occur.

I believe orienting it upside down can ensure that the moisture doesn't concentrate into the base.

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I'm in zone 6 upstate NY, specialize in growing temperate cold hardy bamboos(mainly phyllostachys) and starting to get into bananas.

my picture website is http://www.flickr.com/photos/31489820@N02/

http://stevespeonygarden.blogspot.com/

bengal tiger nanas

thanks stevelau1911, i will turn it upside down, i only did it like this because a youtube vid i saw. your way does seam right. thanks again

sman87

That fungicide powder does wonders! After using it this fall its really controlled the drying process and let each pstem and corm go into dormancy without too much mold or fungus resistance at least so far. A light "dust cloud" of the powder to get a surface coat over the vulnerable areas is really all you need. make sure you ventilate the area you are working in it could be harmful to breathe

sman87

From the look of the picture it looks good so far. That temp range should be sufficient, humidity at or under 50% seems to help as well negating a breeding ground for mold/ fungus. Is the Pstem staying firm? Any signs of softness? Also keep a "nose" out for any unusual odor coming from it as well as it could be a sign of decay. If in that case, don't panic remove the infected area of the pstem with a sharp knife completely so only healthy plant tissue remains. Then dab the area with a small amount of powder fungicide. From what I've read some fungus can travel quick through the stem if gone uncared for.

hasty22

Sman Did you leave any nanners in ground to overwinter?
http://www.bananas.org/images/smilie...coldbanana.gif

sman87

No, unfortunately I chickened out this year on keeping them outide. lol Partly because I wanted to keep as much Pstem alive as possible and start off tall when I put them back in next April. The ground where most of mine were planted stays pretty waterlogged in the fall and winter months so I didn't trust the space they would've been in during winter anyway, and also they were on an edge of a garden which gets plowed over each spring so there was no guarantee they would be left undisturbed or intact lol All in all I chose to go the dry root overwinter method this year.

benthayer

I know there is a lot of debate as to whether to water over-wintered bananas or not. I live in North Carolina. Here's my experience--last fall I dug up my bananas(3 gran nain and 3 double mahoi) and placed them in the garage where it doesn't go below 40 degrees. Per the advice at the beginning of this thread I did not water at all. By spring all the plants were crispy brown and the stems fell away from the corms, so essentially I was just planting corms and they all looked dead to me. Fortunately not all of them were dead, 3 out of six survived, but they had to start all over again.

This fall when I brought them into the garage I decided I would lightly water them once a week. What a difference--they still look alive with green leaves and strong stems and hopefully when planted out in the spring with take off. My goal is to try to get bananas and with the no water regimen it wasn't going to happen. It still might not happen but I believe they have a better chance by being watered in the winter.