mari@adams.net

This is another picture of the banana plant. Sorry for the double picture, still trying to figure this out.

Richard

Nice!

Those fruits are 3-sided or 4-sided, counting the ribs?

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edwmax

The finer do appear to have 3 ribs ( 3 sided) and divided at the ribs.
It is Orinoco

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mari@adams.net

Thanks to everyone for helping identify this plant...I can now put a name to it. And thanks for helping me post this. I will continue to work on resizing and posting that your help has encouraged me to.

mari@adams.net

I have a question about whether to dig and bring in the cold hardy (Basjoo) plant or mulch and leave it out for winter. If I cut the stem down to a foot or two, do I take the chance of cutting off the bloom that hasn't developed yet? None of the Basjoos have flowered...this is the 2nd year for them. If I decide to dig them and bring them in, do I leave the pups attached to the mother stem or separate them from her at the time of digging. I have other non-hardy nana plants that have pups. I don't have a choice but dig them, so do I leave them all in a clump or separate them from mother plant.

mari@adams.net

It seems I have a leaf within a leaf. Does this look strange to anyone else?

Richard

Looks normal to me.

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mari@adams.net

The other leaves seemed to come out of the center top of the plant. Guess I haven't paid that much attention to where the leaves come out, but usually is the center.

Richard

Yes.

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edwmax

No it isn't. All new leaves grow from the center of the pstem pushing the older leaves & sheaf's to the outside. ... This happen on plants with closed canals. The cigar leaf will pull out.

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Richard

Here's the same phenomena on my Gros Michael ...

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mari@adams.net

The cigar leaf did pull out of the previous leaf the next day.....all of my plants are putting out a new leaf now before the previous one is very big. More so now than earlier in the season. Beautiful picture you have there.

Richard

It is not Ensete. If it is Dwarf Iholena, then temperatures below 60F might stunt it for several months.

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mari@adams.net

Thanks for your reply, I thought it was Iholena but the two tags confused me. I think I read that it doesn't have pups. Do you have to divide the corm to get more? Our nighttime temps will be going into the low 50's in a week. Should I bring this inside for the winter now? Two months ago when I bought this, it was in a 4" pot so has grown a lot since then. Is it a plantain? Banana plants are very uncommon in my area so have to rely on web sites for info. This forum has been a great help for information.

Richard

Yes, it's time to bring it inside. I'm not an expert on indoor banana care but several members on this site can help you. In fact there are threads on the topic.

Also, I have observed Iholena growing in the San Diego area and it does pup.

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mari@adams.net

This will go in my basement in it's pot where there is a couple of small windows for some light and I have overhead shop lights. I had some in the basement last year and they kind of went dormant, did no growth until spring. Watered them sparingly. It will be the first one I put in there, but does it make any difference if I want them to go dormant as to when I bring it in? I won't be able to put them back out next spring until April or May. Glad to hear they will have pups as I love watching the new leaf come out with its' pretty mauve color. Thanks for the info.

geissene

Hi Mari

I have noticed that in my area of Pennsylvania, my nana plants practically stop growing by October. Overnight lows are usually in the 40s by this time. I usually wait a few more weeks and then I dig them up for dormant storage. I never had an issue but I usually have some cold damage on the stems/leaves before I get around to digging them up.

Erik

mari@adams.net

Since the plants stop growing when temps get 50*, does that mean that when the days are approx. in the 60's& 70's daytime they will still grow, and the nights 50* or below, they stop growing at night? When the temp hits 50*, does all growth stop?

Richard

When most fruiting bananas experience sustained (6+ hours) of temperatures in the lower 50's (F) they go into shock that can take days to recover. When they experience sustained temperatures in the lower 40's it can take months to recover -- as it does at my location.

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mari@adams.net

So even though the days might get into the 70*'s, the plants don't respond to the 70's temp? I don't intend for them to be out when the temps are in the 40's-50's as I don't want to be, but this week our temps are in the 70's and nighttime temps in the low 50's and maybe high 40's. I will get the nonhardy ones in before the day temps get very cold, but I have some hardy ones (Musa Basjoo) that are too big to bring in so want to try and leave them out (mulched) this year. I have potted backups if I lose the outside ones. I think I wait (the outside ones) till a frost nips their leaves before mulching? The inside ones will go mostly dormant this winter in the basement as they did last winter. I'm in Illinois and our first risk of frost is Oct. 20 and almost certainly by Nov. 5. So, hopefully, I have a month before frost on the hardy ones.