Marinemom

Which is better? To cover up and keep the height or cut to the ground and wait on growth in the spring? My bananas are the Musa Basjoo variety and are about 12 feet tall. I made my husband cover them from top to bottom, but I am just wondering if they would grow just as fast as being cut down.

A guy in my county has a banana tree and cuts his to the ground and by mid summer it is huge!!!! I wonder if I am doing wrong by covering. They are wrapped in carpet batting, an old solar pool cover, then plastic, then heavy duty trash bags on top, along with lots of Christmas lights inside for warmth.

I am thinking my husband isn't going to like covering them up next year if they are 15 feet!!!

Thanks for anyone that has experience in both scenarios!!! This is my second winter for them being in the ground and last year I covered the same way and they lived, but didn't quite grow as fast as I thought they should have when uncovered...

MarineMom in NC~
29 degrees and 7 inches of snow on the ground!!!

Bob

Sounds like they're well protected. If they don't do as well as you hoped this year you'll know and just cut them from now on.... if you are however successfull at starting next spring with a giant p-stem..... be really nice to your husband next fall!

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scottu

I'm sorry I can't be any help with your dilemma, however, I Shirley am interested in your endeavor and any valuable information on this subject. I have my first bananas that I got this summer "musa basjoo" also, and since I am in pennsylvania I will be running into the same conditions as you etc., and will be making the same decisions very soon. And if varig8 is around, please don't call me shirley.

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Viva La Banana

john_ny

I would say try to protect as high as you can. I have usually not have pseudostem heights of over 6 feet to try to save, but I have been successful in this, and the next year you start out that much higher. I think you must be refering to overall height. Most times bananas are measured to the pseudostem height, the top of the stem, because a leaf could be at a certain height today, and bend over and be a foot less tomorrow.

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John

RobG7aChattTN

I'd say cut them short...it won't set them back much and it makes them much easier to protect. Where you live you shouldn't have any trouble overwintering Musa basjoo. In fact, I'd say that if the guy using the lights for heat has basjoos then he could be causing more harm that good since that might keep them from going dormant. I live in a colder zone than you and all I do is cut them to about 1' of pseudostem after the first bad freeze and pile mulch on top of it in a big pyramid shape. In spring I pull the mulch off and they shoot up soon after. I don't think you lose anything by cutting the pseudostem short. Now if you had a slightly less cold hardy banana maybe a little more effort would be required but if it is just Musa basjoo then you don't have to do much.

Marinemom

I think I will go with the height for now as long as my husband is willing to get on the ladder and cover!!!! Let me ask this question about the cutting- Can I cut the stem to about 6 feet and keep it there to cover easily OR should I cut to the ground, if I ever decide to go that route?

Many thanks for the replies!!!
Marinemom in NC
33 and sunny!!! Snow is melting!!!!

Kostas

When you need to shorten the pseudostem for easier protection or whatever,the less you cut and the more height you leave on it,the better! When you cut very close to the ground,you may loose that pseudostem and only get pups to grow again in spring. If you leave sufficient height and that pseudostem hasnt formed a flower bud in the pseudostem already,it will continue growing again from that height when good weather comes.

6ft is a good height to cut if needed.

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''To try,is to risk failure......To not try,is to guarantee it''

drew leonard

You could dig them and store in the garage or basement. That is what I do here in the Charlotte area. On year three in the ground though, they will have been cut back the prior fall to about 8-9' of pseudostem to not loose the flower. That second year for me is always a b*^&h. They are about 10'- 12' of pseudostem and around 15- 17'' in diameter at the base.

Just my thoughts!

Happy Gardening!

Drew