GardenBee

I planned on taking my banana plants indoors during thanksgiving but did not find the time. The next thing I know we had temperatures in Yorktown, VA below 40 degrees F and the leaves on my plant froze overnight. They are now brown and lifeless. I placed my plastic sheet over them, though the openings at the sides are pretty large to let air in. I am hoping they will survive. Do you think I should remove the brown lifeless leaves? Last year the plants bloomed under the plastic, but the moment I closed the openings their leaves dried up because of the lack of carbondioxide. This year I messed up by not covering them. Will there ever be a time when I won't lose my banana plants?

caliboy1994

If you bring them inside now, they should be fine. Trim off the dead leaves, and new leaves should come out.

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Illia

They're perfectly fine. All my bananas suffered temps below 31 degrees and got their leaves completely burnt to hanging strips of brown slop, but, the P-Stems were still alive (even on my very cold intolerant Double/Mahoi) and after about a week of being potted up indoors, they're all, including the Double, sprouting up new leaves.

But yeah, cut off the dead leaves. You'll notice the P-Stem is still slightly greenish in places, that signals life still in there. If there is no green or even reddish coloration even at the base, it's likely dead. Otherwise - Smooth surfaces of green, green-yellow, or red-green are good signs.

Edited to add, not all mine were fine, two died, but they were obviously dead. They were complete brown mush all the way down.

Olafhenny

Of course they will survive.

My eternal mantra: "As long as you still have a sound corm, which is at least as big as a prune
plum, you have a viable banana plant."

Chances are, that the only thing, which is frost damaged are the leaves, if so, cut them or their
damaged parts off.

The pseudo stem is most likely still sound, but if it has also received substantial damage,
treat it like the leaves, then bring them in like you had planned for Thanksgiving. I don't
know, what you mean by "bringing them in". If they are in pots, then no further comments
necessary. If they are in the ground and you have pots for them, to transplant them into,
do that with as little disturbance of the roots as possible. In both cases allow at least a
month for the plants to adjust to their new environs, before expecting new growth.

If you plan to winter them "dry root", make sure, that they do not touch any concrete in your
garage or basement. Layer at least one sheet of plastic on the concrete, topped by a layer of
cardboard, before you place the banana plants on top. If your bananas are in direct contact
with concrete, that will ensure that they will rot.

Good luck,
Olaf

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