sirdoofus

Well, no surprise really, my basjoo is still alive. Just uncovered it today and it looks like it is doing just fine.



And several hours later, same day, it has grown over an inch. Sorry the pics aren't from the same distance or angle, but you get the idea.

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sirdoofus

Now for the Helen's Hybrids - unfortunately not what I was pulling for, but hopefully the mat is still viable. Not very promising for a cold hardy plant considering the amount of protection it had and how mild the temperatures were this winter. The weird thing is that the p-stems are very firm, basically no give at all when squeezed. We'll just have to see how it goes.

And if you are interested here is a short video of the process.

https://youtu.be/eSS3HD8BYRQ

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smeash

Those plants still look viable to me.. just give them some time im thinking they will spring to life.

sirdoofus

Thank you - Yeah, I am assuming at this point they are, but keeping my fingers crossed nonetheless.

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cincinnana

Looking awesome.

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sirdoofus

4 weeks later, the first full leaf has unfurled itself....yay!! And the 6-7 pups cut down end of last year are regrowing too

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cincinnana

Looking awesome....

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sirdoofus

So the basjoo is looking pretty good overall:



Not all the pups made it though, interestingly enough. Two big pups, including the biggest one (not the mother) succumbed to something, but 4 other pups are growing, so far so good:



The Helen's Hybrid I am not sure about. P-stems didn't survive at all but we'll have to wait and see if the corm is still viable:



And the Dwarf Orinoco. This was kind of weird, there were about 4-5 stems when I covered it, but only the main one had anything left of it. There were no remnants of the pups at all, which makes me think something might have been eating it. Another wait and see:



Just curiously, do any of you have a suggestion for how far down I should cut the dead p-stems? Should I cut them all the way to the top of the corm or not or does it make any difference?

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sirdoofus

Its gonna be a long wait, coldest spring on record.......we had frost on the ground this morning

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cincinnana

My plants are late to the party too .....just started to break the soil last week.
I think it really means it is going to be a good growing season.

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sirdoofus

I like your attitude

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sirdoofus

Young, front yard basjoo came through winter in fine fashion

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sirdoofus

And the Backyard Beast (someday hopefully) also lookin' stellar.

Pokers showing themselves above the mulch:



At least 4 p-stems alive and growing.......

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all43

I love this time of year!!!!!

sirdoofus

So I pulled my Helen's Hybrid out of the garage today where I dry dormant stored it. Looks pretty good so far, seems quite firm, I didn't see any rot on the root ball at all, so hopefully it works. I have had no success overwintering HH in the ground, so hopefully this proves viable.





And planted....with some temporary black weed barrier over the mulch to, hopefully, warm things up faster

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subsonicdrone

wow they look great

sirdoofus

Thank you, yeah, I was pretty happy when I pulled them as I had no idea what to expect. Now comes the real test

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sirdoofus

A little encouraging growth on the Helen's Hybrid....so far so good

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sirdoofus

Update on my first dry storage, replanting attempt:

Things were a bit touch and go for awhile. After replanting the two plants, the one in this pic with 3 main pups (I didn't separate them, I just dug and stored the entire schmozzle as one plant), and the other separate plant you can see in the wheelbarrow pic above, I learned that over wetness is still definitely an issue even with hot, dry weather. I didn't remove all of the soil from the corms at the end of the season, that may have been a mistake.

I put the single plant (not pictured in this post) in a pot with recycled potting mix and it started growing nicely but then stopped and succumbed to rot, even though I only watered it once. I am pretty sure it was fine when I pulled it out of the garage, possibly rot had already started, but everything looked/felt dry and firm.

The plant in the pics here was put directly in the ground and started pushing immediately but then slowed down and started limping. The pics below are from today and I am now confident they pulled through, however its been 2 months since I planted them, so the situation is not ideal.



The stem on the left side, below, is a bit of an enigma to me. It looked for all the world like it was going the way of the dodo, the stem became softer and more flexible over the 2 months, I actually had to support it, but over that time it was still, slowly, pushing leaves. I was expecting it to just stop at any moment and collapse, but so far it has pushed out a healthy looking half leaf, a new large leaf that is looking good, and another is on the way behind it. The funny thing is that while it was pushing out these healthy looking leaves, it was looking more and more like it was going to hit the ground. Ironically, the pup in the above pic, on the right and in front of the pup with nice leaves, is as firm as can be but still has only pushed a small portion of it's first leaf.



And, a lovely little tenant has taken up residency.



Take homes for next year:

1) For any large pups, separate them at the end of August, beginning of September, giving them a month to heal, so they are appropriately sized to go into large pots the following spring.

2) Remove the soil from around the corm before storing (probably a good idea, but I am still not convinced its an absolute necessity)

3) Don't put them directly into the ground in the spring, give them a chance to re-establish growth in a pot

4) Use an EXTREMELY well draining/aerated mix, like coarse sand and perlite (just so the pots aren't so damn heavy), until they are growing well again, then transplant them.

5) and I noticed this when planting carrots - Don't use coconut coir in a winter mix - I didn't realize just how much, and for how long, this stuff holds moisture - I used some of this to plant my carrot seeds into and I found I only had to water them every 3 days or so (carrots need constant moisture until germination) even in 30 degree weather -- crazy - everything else was drying out in 3/4 of a day. I have been using coir instead of peat in my potting mixes and I now suspect it may be part of the reason I have had such a challenge over wintering bananas in my house/garage.

If anyone has any wisdom they would like to add, I am all ears

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sirdoofus

Noticed my front basjoos straining out of their winter enclosures so decided to pull the protection. Its a little earlier than usual and we still have some cool nights (0C ish) in the forecast for the next few weeks, but it will give me a good opportunity to see how they handle them. And I can always throw the covers over them for the night if I deem it necessary.





Leaving my big basjoo in the back alone for now....its a bit more cumbersome to uncover and then re-cover so I am gonna wait on that a bit.

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