Denverian

Thanks for the suggestions! I didn't immediately cover it after the first freeze. I chopped off the leaves and let it dry for a week or so. But obviously it was still moist. So maybe wrapping with something soft/loose and then bubble wrap over that? All the leaves I had in there were still dry and loose, but the bubble wrap had been tight.

For Denver, this was a good winter temperature-wise. No crazy Arctic air and only about 3 times did we drop below 10 above. I think 6 above a couple nights was the coldest I had at my house. Now, I just wait to see if anything grows.

Denverian

One question for the experts... it's supposed to be cool and rainy this week, dropping to the upper 30s a couple nights. Should I put a pot over the cut down base? I'm wondering if cold rain wouldn't be good at this point. Looks like highs in the 50s, lows upper 30s.

geissene

Personally I think high 30s is fine for a nite temp. I'd only cover it when it gets within a few degrees of freezing.

Denverian

OK, I'll toss a pot over it if it looks like any frost is possible. It's still very moist... not sure if more water (cold rain) would be helpful.

Kevin2685

My first winter over wintering them the mother plant was same way really hard but never came up. I think maybe I cut it to short that year. All the pups made it no problem. The hard brown mother corm is still in there 3 years later lol. Give it time it might push up and if not the pups will take over for you.

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Snarkie

Upper 30's are fine for musa basjoo.

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Denverian

Well, I'll see. It's about 4" high and a 5" diameter, hard around the base. Coming from this low, how high could it get? I may buy another one and plant along-side just to ensure I have something big growing. I was very impressed with the growth I had last year. It was taller than me!

geissene

My fingers are crossed so that it recovers for you!

I had 2 basjoo p-stems that were about 4' tall this spring when I uncovered them. Just for laughs, I chopped one of them down to see how fast the plant grows back from a stump. At the end of summer, I can see if there is a height difference between them.

Bascially I want to know if it was worth the extra effort to save the entire p-stem.... In the last 2 weeks, the stump has grown 1' of new p-stem with a leaf coming and the full 4' p-stem basjoo has pushed a leaf and is working on the second leaf.

The race is on! haha

Erik G



Stumpy:


My other plant with full p-stem after winter:

Snarkie

It's worth the effort to leave them as tall as possible. My tallest one has been taller than me for a couple of months now.

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Absolouie

Hi, I am a newbie to this forum. My location is in Vancouver, B.C. and it has been a mild winter. I don't know the official name of the banana plant I bought from Costco other than Hardy Banana. I had planted it in the ground a few years ago and it has produced many pups. One of the them is almost the same height as the original, around 6 feet without the leaves. Last year, the banana fruits started coming out, although it did not grow to regular size bananas due to the cooler temperatures here. I wrapped them in the winter with bubble wrap and a material similar to burlap. They have survived the previous winters. This spring, after I unwrapped them, the younger plant has sprouted leaves like crazy. The original plant does not seem to be doing anything. The top of this plant is hard and dark. Am I suppose to cut back the trunk as I see in some of the photos in this forum or remove the top hard part? The trunk is 6 feet tall right now.

Any advice is appreciated. Thanks, Ernie

Tytaylor77

They do that sometimes. I have had a few just stop growing and send all energy to pups. It has happened to me maybe 3 times. 2 after winter and one mid summer. Main "mom" that stopped growing showed no signs of dieing of problems. I think this is common but I'm unsure why they do this.

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Absolouie

Thanks for your information. So do I just cut it back or down to ground?
The trunk appears to be greenish still, i.e. not dead.
What's a person to do?
Thanks,
Ernie

Tytaylor77

I always just left it hoping it would start back growing but it always just turns brown and dies back. I never cut anything green on mine. You will be suprized how fast the pup shoots up though. I would leave it all let it do its thing. Never know it may just be getting a late start.

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Snarkie

Most likely Musa basjoo.

Welcome to the forum, Ernie. Why don't you post in the New Members section and introduce yourself?

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Denverian

Well, so far my "stump" isn't doing anything, but there is a green shoot coming up next to it. So I guess that means it survived.

I bought another basjoo to plant next to the old one, since I want all that tall growth. Maybe I'll bring this stalk in next winter, along with all my elephant ear bulbs.

Snarkie

I had one do that over the winter as well. The mama died back but the corm sent up a couple of water pups.

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"Nuke my 'nanners, will you?!"

Denverian

Since the pups are coming from an established plant, to the get very tall?

I think the problem with the stalk was moisture. I see the pictures where someone else had actual insulation wrapped around the stalk. Maybe that's where I failed?

Tytaylor77

Moisture is a problem and causes them to rot. I never let the plastic touch the pstem on the ones I cover.

The pup will come up very fast because there is already a corm and roots to support it. The pup either water sucker or sword sucker will end up the same size in the end.

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Denverian

Good to know, thanks! We do have a rather short growing season in Denver... mainly due to the crappy late April and sometimes early May weather. Last year it didn't freeze until the first week of November, so not bad on the Fall end of things.

I have a bunch of elephant ears I need to plant this weekend. I start them growing indoors in April, and they're rather out of control right now. I'll have my tropical garden going soon.

geissene

About 3 weeks since my last picture and we've had several cold and not very sunny days lately so not much growth has happened.

Both my basjoos are pushing their second leaves and I'm surprised to see how much height my 'stumpy' was able to recover. Its gained back almost half the p-stem that I removed in April. Even better, the full p-stem guy is really rockin' some big leaves to start the growing season off.

In the back of the photo is my strawberry bed which has been enjoying all the rain and cool weather.


Erik G