Tropicman

When I t comes to overwintering bananas in the greenhouse,keep them as dormant as possible in a container of dirt,or to try to keep them growing as with water and fertilizing,of course at a slower rate than if there were outside.
Here in Kansas,during the day ,my greenhouse will heat up to 80* if the sun is shining,60* if not,plants are in containers not huge ones just barely enough to get the rootball in,as I'd like to keep them as close to dormant as possible,because when they put on growth the leaves are so huge they shade my other plants from any sunshine,but yet a little growth to keep the roots active so when planting in the ground come spring they jump into action a lot quicker,any thoughts on this subject?
Say you all!

Jack Daw

I would go with storing them dormant. In Kansas, you might come across the "insufficient daylight" problem.

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Tropicman

I should have mention the variety of banana,Orinoco and red ensete mure.
Because I have flowered a dwarf Cavendish to fruit couple winters back,on at least 3 trees.I do agree with you on the insufficient daylight,some winters are more sunnier than others.

RobG7aChattTN

I think (but please tell me if I am wrong) that Ensete do not store dormant very well. I have 6 in my basement right now with a ceramic heater and a grow light keeping them in the low 80's. The ones closer to the heater look dried out on the ends of their leaves, but the largest one I have further away and it looks pretty good. I'm trying to water them very little.

Tropicman

No they don't I've found if you can keep them growing,even ever so slowly the better they take off come spring when you but then outside,mine are getting 50* at night about 70* during the day,and very little water,I wait until I can see the soil pulling away fro the container,before I give them any water,my Orinoco,right next to it,has not grown any at the same watering and temperatures,I've already had to cut to 2 leaves off my ensetes Maurellii ,as my greenhouse is just a little over 12 ft,and my Orinoco trunk is 12ft just to where the leaves start growing,so luckily it will stay dormant,because it has no where to grow,until I can get it outside come spring!

natej740

My Ensete Maurellii is doing great in my cold dark basement.. it is dormant and still put out 3 leaves. it was in a pot though. My regular ensete venticosum isnt doing good but it was small and i dug it up...

Tropicman

Will you water it all thru the winter?

natej740

I havent watered it yet and it looks fine except the leaves come out pale yellow looking because it is growing in the dark. I plan on taking it to my spare bedroom/jungle with my other bananas at the end of feb. Ive heard getting them to come out of dormancy can take a while so if i can get it growing earlier it will take off when i plant it in the ground this year.