Dwarf red cold tolerance?
 

What is the cold tolerance of a dwarf red?

What about frost?

Re: Dwarf red cold tolerance?
 

Re: Dwarf red cold tolerance?
 

Yes prior to posting I used the search function on Dwarf Red and read them all.

See I live in 8b/9a. Problem is that we go below 30 and see frosts regularly in the winter. If the leaves can handle 30 degrees then I'm ok. If they fry at 40 I'm in trouble. One post suggest they don't like anything below 50. Really in trouble there.

So does anyone have any hard numbers?

Re: Dwarf red cold tolerance?
 

I don't know about 30f but we had quite a few nights in mid to high 30's but it warms up pretty quick.

Re: Dwarf red cold tolerance?
 

Hey D.

I bought a dwarf red at our (MBG) plant sale last spring, so I'm wondering too. If it's anything like "tall red", it's not going to be good. Looks like we'll have our coldest night of the year (so far) tomorrow night. If you look in my gallery, those tall red pics are form 2 summers ago. After 2 really hard winters it's just a shaddow of itself. Keep your fingers crossed that this is a mild winter, we NEED one!

Re: Dwarf red cold tolerance?
 

You could always just do something to overwinter it.

Re: Dwarf red cold tolerance?
 

Pretty much any bananas leaves will fry in the 30s. If you are in a marginal area like yours, it is not a good banana for you. It may not ever die (which is what hardiness is measured by), but it also may never fruit depending on how cold it gets.

Re: Dwarf red cold tolerance?
 

Boy do we ever. I have thirty or so new citrus, around fifty Blueberrys, probably twenty bananas, 12 semi hardy Palms, four figs, two peaches, two plums, and I can't even begin to count the tropical plants I'm trying to establish. All of them could stand an easy Winter.

Did you protect?

Is the lack of vigor from a delayed growth waiting on higher temps?

Well another spring and Summer have passed withoout me getting over there. Maybe next spring. I did make it too the Botanical Gardens though.

How has your Black Thai faired?


Thanks Gabe,

Not all that encouraging but I did some fairly intensive protection on my bananas last year so maybe I could. If I could get some DR's grwoing well enough I might even consider a small hot house for them.

Re: Dwarf red cold tolerance?
 

The leaves will not fry in the 40's. Mine didn't. It only did when it got down to freezing -- but they all did. If you get regular frosts, the leaves will be toast. On the other hand, during your summers it ought to grow like gangbusters.

Re: Dwarf red cold tolerance?
 

Nope, no heroics here. I don't mind experimenting for a couple of years, but then you're gone and I move on. And as for fruit production - that's just gravy. I grow bananas because I like the way they look.

Re: Dwarf red cold tolerance?
 

I'll do both nothing and everything.

Eventually I will settle on some bananas that I want for ornamental value AND some others that I expect to produce fruit. Those, the fruit producers, will be managed just like any other crop.

I think selecting for fruiting has as much to do with the time of year that you select the pup to what you feed and water them. I hope that within 6-7 years I'll have a system in place that will prety much guarantee me fruit every year. I know that can be done with the Orinocos and I'm hopeful that I can do the same with some of the better flavored ones.

Re: Dwarf red cold tolerance?
 

We have a Dwarf Red in Florida Z9b. We don't take chances and put a simple hoop house over all our bananas when the first low temps threaten. It's not complicated, expensive nor does it take much time really. In Florida, it generally only gets into the 30s for brief periods of time, so it is not necessary to over-engineer the tent. We put a light in there to knock off the chill when necessary.

In March after the last frost date we remove the hoop house and our bananas are ROCKING beautiful with hardly any detectible damage. In this way, we don't really sweat what exact temp will hurt which specie and when. It is so worth the minimal effort come March b/c our garden gets a big colorful boost from the still green bananas, so happy to feel the warm weather return.

As I write this I cannot find the pics of our tent to attach, but if anyone cares I can seek them out on another computer and post them later. It is your basic hoop house assembled with a plastic electrical conduit skeleton and plastic sheeting held together with .99 cent clamps.

In any event, I hope your DR survives for you and I would be interested in knowing how it does without protection should you choose to go that route.

Best regards

Re: Dwarf red cold tolerance?
 

Thanks,

I will definately protect mine. From what you are saying it should not be too difficult. Seeing as they are dwarfs building a small plastic covered structure will be fairly easy. I can put a thermostat in it that will turn on a source of heat at 35 and off at 45. Hopefully 35 will not be too cold.

Re: Dwarf red cold tolerance?
 

Mine is in a protected spot, but that's as good as it's going to get. I'll keep you posted.

As far as that goes, my tall red is well sheltered too. What I noticed is that suffered in COOL weather, not frosts/light freezes. My tall red looked bad after a few nights in the 40's, but everything else - except Siam Ruby and Margurita which also suffered from minimal cold - looked fine. As beautiful as these are, I'm not wasting any more time on glorified annuals.

I guess I look at this as a learning experience. If it's not happy I'll move on. There are plenty of beautiful bananas that are a lot less picky. I have room for about 25-ish in my garden, and there are plenty of others I'd like to try.

Re: Dwarf red cold tolerance?
 

I'll be needing that list. Please. Especially the ones you've proven in Mobile. If it will work there it will work here.