Brazilian made it thru zone 6 winter!

gregsmith · 04-13-2006, 09:29 PM

Our winter in Pa. was fairly mild, a low of 0 degrees for a day or three. It was very cold in November and December with a rather warm Jan. and March! I packed all of my banana plants in straw in a galvanized steel fence and covered the frame with shipping bubble wrap! My Brazilian and ElEl I left outside in full west wind (very breezy but with full afternoon sun) I used a
thermostat controlled heating cable on these plants. My musa Basjoo (12) and Orinoco (4) are in there third year with no losses and no heating cable!
The mats on these are ever expanding with diameters of up to six feet!
The ElEl, I don't know about yet! I cut the stems back to four feet on each plant, by May 15th. the plants should reach six feet in height! I would like to hear from cold weather banana growers about their successes (and failures)!
Thanks, Greg Smith

BobbyinNY · 04-13-2006, 10:19 PM

That's incredible, Greg....... I live in zone 7 (Long Island, NY) I'm not as brave as you. I went out and bought a portable greenhouse, put a space heater in it and kept everything growing throughout the winter. Everything did fantastic except for the occasional problem with bugs - they love the greenhouse.

momoese · 04-13-2006, 10:59 PM

Greg, I'm curious as to what is EIEI ? Are you talking about AE AE or Eli Eli or is this another Banana that have not heard of?

gregsmith · 04-14-2006, 08:30 AM

That was a typo on my part. It should have been Ele Ele! I wonder if anyone has any plants for sale? I don't have anything rare to trade (yet)!
Greg Smith

04-13-2006, 09:29 PM	#1 (permalink)
gregsmith Junior Member Location: South Central Pa. Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 7 BananaBucks : 516 Feedback: 0 / 0% Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Welcomes: 0	Brazilian made it thru zone 6 winter! Our winter in Pa. was fairly mild, a low of 0 degrees for a day or three. It was very cold in November and December with a rather warm Jan. and March! I packed all of my banana plants in straw in a galvanized steel fence and covered the frame with shipping bubble wrap! My Brazilian and ElEl I left outside in full west wind (very breezy but with full afternoon sun) I used a thermostat controlled heating cable on these plants. My musa Basjoo (12) and Orinoco (4) are in there third year with no losses and no heating cable! The mats on these are ever expanding with diameters of up to six feet! The ElEl, I don't know about yet! I cut the stems back to four feet on each plant, by May 15th. the plants should reach six feet in height! I would like to hear from cold weather banana growers about their successes (and failures)! Thanks, Greg Smith

04-13-2006, 10:19 PM	#2 (permalink)
BobbyinNY Member BobbyinNY's Photo Gallery Location: Long Island, NY (zone 7a) Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 118 BananaBucks : 945 Feedback: 0 / 0% Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Welcomes: 0	Re: Brazilian made it thru zone 6 winter! That's incredible, Greg....... I live in zone 7 (Long Island, NY) I'm not as brave as you. I went out and bought a portable greenhouse, put a space heater in it and kept everything growing throughout the winter. Everything did fantastic except for the occasional problem with bugs - they love the greenhouse.

04-13-2006, 10:59 PM	#3 (permalink)
momoese Organic Mechanic momoese's Photo Gallery Location: West Los Angeles CA Find me on the map! Zone: zone 10 Name: Mitchel Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 1,983 BananaBucks : 30,317 Feedback: 9 / 100% Thanks: 36 Thanked 381 Times in 208 Posts Welcomes: 91	Re: Brazilian made it thru zone 6 winter! Greg, I'm curious as to what is EIEI ? Are you talking about AE AE or Eli Eli or is this another Banana that have not heard of? __________________ Mitchel

04-14-2006, 08:30 AM	#4 (permalink)
gregsmith Junior Member Location: South Central Pa. Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 7 BananaBucks : 516 Feedback: 0 / 0% Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Welcomes: 0	Re: Brazilian made it thru zone 6 winter! That was a typo on my part. It should have been Ele Ele! I wonder if anyone has any plants for sale? I don't have anything rare to trade (yet)! Greg Smith

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
There will be bananas in zone 7 again this year	bigdog	Main Banana Discussion	21	08-09-2006 11:49 AM
Just harvested dwarf Brazilian bananas	Rmplmnz	Main Banana Discussion	2	08-08-2006 02:45 AM
Grow Bananas in Zone 9 Types?	dabug	Main Banana Discussion	9	07-14-2006 12:11 AM
Removed splash screen after posts are made	MediaHound	Site News	0	05-15-2006 11:21 AM
05 harvest zone 7b	Southern-Grower	Main Banana Discussion	2	08-27-2005 10:23 PM

Members currently in the chatroom: 0
	The most chatters online in one day was 14, 11-13-2007. No one is currently using the chat.

Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)