Bananas.org - Wintering?

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- Cold Hardy Bananas (http://www.bananas.org/f15/)

- - Wintering? (http://www.bananas.org/f15/wintering-3631.html)

I am new to this forum and want to start a few banana trees. I was looking at the ice cream variety and am open to some other suggestions, as long as they taste good. I was wondering what the purpose of wintering is? Is that just to make it trouble free over winter? Could I grow them inside over the winter in pots with the same/better results or is this not feasible with their heights and needed pot size.

Would strongly suggest Dwarf types, our D. Brazilian is in a 20 gallon pot (76L.).
Biggest problem seems to be watering, fine line between to little or much! The
leaves rub ceiling til they unroll some. 8ft. or 244cm. ceiling

If I wanted to keep a larger variety, could I do what bigdog did, http://www.bananas.org/f15/time-put-...inter-310.html , and dig them up and store them in my basement/attic for the winter months.

Drawman, I live in Z6 so I'm somewhat in the same boat. There's the tried and true Basjoo if you just want foliage. It is probably the only nana you will be able to winter outside, but it will need protection. It is just too cold in your area for much to survive the harsh conditions of winter. Aside from that you can grow most any kind you want but come winter you will need to bring them in the house or make them go dormant in a basement or crawlspace. I winter all my large nana's under the house and bring the small ones in as it's hard for them to survive being so young. The are kinda temperamental inside the house and prefer little water and moderate light. What I'm saying is that they don't make good houseplants, especially in the winter. They'll probably lose leaves and look pretty poor come spring but are very resilient and should pull through. They are also notorious for getting spider mites and other pests which can be a problem. therefor I would suggest wintering them under the house. It is the easiest for me. You don't have to worry about bugs, plant size, or even caring for them at all through out the winter. Pull em out in spring, plant em, and watch em go. By the way this method will take about 3 years before you will see a flower. As far as taste, ask some of the experts I really can't tell you. I have only tried a few but they all taste better than storebougth since they came from your own garden! Hope this helps-Nate:hiiiiyanana:

Thanks Nate, I am wondering if it will get too cold to store them outside in a dormant phase. I was thinking that I could store them in my attic. Is there a temperature range I should try and stay at in the dormant phase? What temp is too cold?

Don't even think about leaving anything even in a garage. I killed strawberries and a peach tree by leaving them in an attached garage. Even leaving them in the ground might be a death sentence. We have had a very cold winter, but at least i've had lots of snow. I know as you get into MN (i was just in Rochester), you have a lot less snow then us (less insulation). Next year i'll leave bananas in the ground because i can afford to kill some off (i have about 15 right now, in the house). Best bet is to stick them in a basement and cover them. Just leave them be. My plan next year is to leave big ones in the ground, mulched and small ones in the basement, asleep.

Fruit? It will be a few years. Go dwarf.

Basjoo is the only plant that will winter outside, in your area. If you decide to store them, just keep em above 45. They go dormant when the temp drops to 57.If your talking about under the house. As long as it's sealed up, they'll be fine. If it's borderline wrap them in blankets. I do realize you should let a little air under your house in winter. Just don't put them near a vent. DO NOT put them in your attic. It gets way to dry up there in the winter. Tried it. Bad idea. Dead nana's. You might PM Bigdog. He's quite the pro at winter storage. Hope this helps.-Nate