tastyratz

So I'm up in NH and thinking of bringing my plants back out but still iffy on the safe point...

So for those of you growing in cold areas... what do you usually consider all clear? lows above freezing? good warm days? etc?

Pancrazio

It depends from cultivar to cultivar and on your method of culture.

To me i go as follows so far;
I pot tem up in autum, around a month before the temperture go to low to permit the leaf growt. So, i give the plant a month to recover from transplanting and get used to the new pot.
In spring i check the climate normals to see the last days of a recorded freeze in the history of my city; about 10 days before that day, if the weather forecasts are good, i plant them in ground if they are already actively growing in post. Of course, root growing has been very limited during winter, however i don't disturb the roots to let the plat grow as quickly as possible. If forecast aren't good, i wait till they predict a solid 10-15 days of nice spring time.
This is what i do for my dwarf orinoco: a pretty hardy one. For my dwarf cavendish i do pretty much the same, but waiting 3 weeks more that i have done for the dwarf orinoco. Still wating good forecast etc but i want temperature slightly superior for that one.

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Illia

Depends on your variety as well as climate. Pay attention through the years or look at climate records for your area - About when do the freezes stop? That's when to put them out is when you KNOW it won't get too cold anymore. For more cold hardy varieties I put them out when it doesn't get below 31 degrees. For less cold hardy varieties, I wait til my greenhouse or outdoors seriously never freezes. (for me, greenhouses = early April; outside unprotected = May)

Right now I've got what I believe is a Namwah outside, a fairly hardy variety, so far doing quite well aside from its absolute lack of experience with wind. It still freezes from time to time though, but I know it'll never go below the high 20's, and so far, only the low 30's. I've got a quick way to protect it each night the skies are clear and so far so good. The days certainly aren't very warm, but, in my climate they almost never are. The banana still grows. That's the joy of having a cool summer tolerant variety.

So for me, the major thing is historic climate showing that the lows never get too low, based on the variety's hardiness. But even then, if it freezes, I still have a quick easy protection for smaller bananas. For larger ones I wait longer. But for smaller ones, it's wrapping the p-stem and carefully keeping the leaves up, in, and unharmed.

LilRaverBoi

I move all mine out into the ground at the same time, so I wait till I'm CERTAIN it won't freeze (then again, in Iowa, there isn't any certainty when it comes to weather LOL). Basically, my guidelines are that the low has been at or above 40 degrees for at least 1-2 weeks.

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Illia

lol If I followed that rule, I'd put them out in the middle of winter or before then. Out here I pretty much rely on historic records which usually point to an absolute safe month of May. Our winters normally are in the low of 40 and up, but of course, if it is clear out, it's frozen. The thing is - It rains. A LOT. So naturally, temps are 40-55 during winter.

Olafhenny

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