Brought the bananas up from the basement.. HELP!
 

Ok, stored my bananas in my parents basement, they had furnace issues that I wasn't aware of, and almost all of my bananas are goners. They're almost 1000% completely dried out and were potted. Severely underwatered. I have a few stragglers that I'm trying to resuscitate, but I need advice from the pros. I'm attaching a few pics, so you can see what I mean...The last pic is 2 Ice Creams and the one looks pretty darn good for what it's been through, so I think it's fine, but it's twin in the same pot isn't faring so well.

I think I have 3 options:

1. Break up soil a little with a fork, very slowly water, little at a time, and hope for the best.
2. Soak the whole pot in lukewarm water for 30 mins, drying, and keep repeating until soil is back to normal.
3. Pull out corm, cut off dried material, and replant in new soil.

1. Is what I started doing after I cut all the dead leaves. But, I'm wondering if I should just bite the bullet and pull all the corms out and really see what I have viable and what isn't. I'm just not sure that's the best idea.

Please help!

Re: Brought the bananas up from the basement.. HELP!
 

I'm not an expert with bananas but have some experience with plants. What would I do? I'd place the pots in a good place (warm and sunny), water them well and after a couple of weeks carefully lift corms on the dead to check for buds (potential pups). I'm sure that's bad advice but it's what I'd do because I hate, hate, hate having to wait to open presents. If I saw no signs of life? I'd gently repot them and nurse them another couple of weeks. Bananas are pretty tough and I'm the ultimate optimist.

Re: Brought the bananas up from the basement.. HELP!
 

Please update your location in your profile. It'll help us to help you...

Re: Brought the bananas up from the basement.. HELP!
 

Thanks Kat, I have them in a spare room I use for plants and have a little bit of light on them. I watered gently, but they're still super super dry because I used quite a bit of peat when originally potting them.

I updated my location. I am impatient, so I pulled a couple of the really bad looking ones out carefully and they're totally gone. I'm afraid to touch the ones that show signs of life. It's still a little chilly at night, low 50's, but some 40's still, so I think it's a little early to put them out in the shade. I just don't want to be doing the wrong thing and make the ones that are viable, even worse.

I was so consumed with everyone's advice about using peat, that now they're so dry, they're not re-hydrating well.

Re: Brought the bananas up from the basement.. HELP!
 

Try this mix. Works well for me and I grow in pots. 40-50% coarse sand, 30-40% garden soil (the cheap one they sell in bags will do fine) and 20% composted manure. I used a mix of cow and sheep and sometimes add dried chicken manure to the mix...
It's hard to overwater with that mix and so far I haven't lost anything in it.

Re: Brought the bananas up from the basement.. HELP!
 

I wouldn't worry too much about cutting away any dead stuff, if there is living tissue in there it will grow through all that just fine and you might end up doing some damage. I'd pretty much echo Kat's advice and just water them, keep them in a warm and sunny place and see what comes back. I don't think you need any repotting until they start growing again. If you can take them outside and just totally soak the soil, and let it drain through a few times, that will re-wet the media and make it easier to water as needed, it won't hurt the plants if they are alive as long as they are in a warm and well-lit place. Bananas are very resilient plants I would bet you lost a lot less than you think.

Re: Brought the bananas up from the basement.. HELP!
 

I thought I lost a young truly tiny this winter around December. I haven't watered it since and the soil is so dry if you move it around there is clouds in the air. I was going to re use the pot for some habanero peppers and pulled the corm and root ball out and saw a 1" pup shooting off the corm. You really never know how much reserves the plant has.

Re: Brought the bananas up from the basement.. HELP!
 

Your winters are too long to not water at all while overwintering. A small drink a couple times during the winter will help them survive it. Don't overdo it.