sman87

Saw the weather outlook for the next two weeks up till the end of the month. and decided to replant my Basjoos that were dormant in the basement since late Oct. Looks like the temps will stay above the 32 degree mark at night for the most part. I couldn't keep them inside any longer as decay was beginning to win the war lol. Out of 15 that I overwintered 11 survived and were suitable to replant in the ground. Corms were hard and looked relatively alive. Unfortunately I had to cut drastically back on several leaving only modest sized stumps poking though the ground. Most P-stems I have are solid at 2-3 feet. I did notice the "famous" white color in the core p-stems as I peeled back some of the nasty slime layers. These were NOT potted up and put in dormancy, but were stored bare root with the corms exposed to help dry out. My questions is has anyone else had experience replanting from this method? How long will it probably take to start seeing these guys "wake up" now that they are exposed to better conditions? Will post some pics of the yard tomorrow to help!

Hammocked Banana

Probably grow roots for 3 weeks or so depending on temps, then the cigar should start to push up.

designshark

I'm anxious to see how this turns out !

sman87

Week one has gone well we had one hard freeze so far last Thurs (26 degrees!) but I was more than prepared. I double covered all bananas with weed blocking sheets, burlap and tied them all up. Each one made it without damage! A couple minor frosts followed unfazed them as well. There hasn't been much to show yet since temps haven't been above 58 for a week or two and its been dry, but I assume the corms below might be waking up under the insulated soil.

sman87

Unfortunately this experiment did not go successful. Due to the extremely cold prolonged winter of -30 F temps, a 25 week indoor dormancy and cold spring I lost 12 of 15 plants to heavy corm rot and decay. Not all decay occurred during the winter in the basement. Over half of them rotted once they were put out in warmer weather. I thoroughly examined all viable corms before composting my losses, and replanted my last 3 giant corms. Luckily those 3 re sprouted! on the last week of June. Those have been placed in my permanent Basjoo bed, and will be mulched heavily once winter comes from now on. pics coming soon.