Growing (and fruiting?) bananas in colder cilmates.

Moongrass09 · 10-06-2016, 11:18 PM

Hi, this is my first post here. This will be my second year since I first started growing banana plants. I'm in Ohio and it gets really cold. My first plant is a musa Java ice cream and I just brought it inside for the winter. It's about 6 feet tall now. I have it in my grow area with artificial lights. I looked around for a bit and couldn't really find my exact question answered. So what is the coldest climates people have actually gotten fruit from? Is there a better variety to try?

Island Brah · 10-07-2016, 07:37 AM

Welcome!

I've heard the Tall Orinoco is at at the top of the list for cold hardy fruiting varieties. I have a buddy down the road who digs up his 15 foot Orinocos and dry stores them at an angle in his garage in a loose open bag with some soil still packed on the roots and he plants them back each spring without losing any. Some people north of us in Tennessee leave them outside all year and they do fine as well. You're in a very colder zone than we are here in the Atlanta area so if you go with that variety, I'd dry store them over winter for sure.

I received a Tall Orinoco corm from a good buddy on the forum and it already grew 3 feet in a month in a 5 gallon pot! I'm going to keep it under lights this winter and I'll try to leave some outside next year once I get some pups.

I'm sure all the experts here can give you lots more info etc. Hope it works out for ya!

Moongrass09 · 10-07-2016, 08:32 AM

Oh okay, thanks! I figured keeping to growing over winter would give it more of a head start but this will not be an option if mine gets much taller and I run out of ceiling space. I'll definitely have to try that kind next.

Island Brah · 10-07-2016, 09:02 AM

Hey, also check out this link: Growing With CFLs: A Beginner's Guide

This may help you out. It really helped me!

10-06-2016, 11:18 PM	#1 (permalink)
Moongrass09 Location: Ohio Zone: 6A Name: Ron Tropics Join Date: Oct 2016 Posts: 19 BananaBucks : 9,358 Feedback: 0 / 0% Said "Thanks" 10 Times Was Thanked 32 Times in 13 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 0 Times	Growing (and fruiting?) bananas in colder cilmates. Hi, this is my first post here. This will be my second year since I first started growing banana plants. I'm in Ohio and it gets really cold. My first plant is a musa Java ice cream and I just brought it inside for the winter. It's about 6 feet tall now. I have it in my grow area with artificial lights. I looked around for a bit and couldn't really find my exact question answered. So what is the coldest climates people have actually gotten fruit from? Is there a better variety to try?

10-07-2016, 07:37 AM	#2 (permalink)
Island Brah Find me on the map! Zone: 7b & 8a Border Name: Island Brah Join Date: Jun 2016 Posts: 190 BananaBucks : 59,644 Feedback: 0 / 0% Said "Thanks" 556 Times Was Thanked 345 Times in 117 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 27 Times	Re: Growing (and fruiting?) bananas in colder cilmates. Welcome! I've heard the Tall Orinoco is at at the top of the list for cold hardy fruiting varieties. I have a buddy down the road who digs up his 15 foot Orinocos and dry stores them at an angle in his garage in a loose open bag with some soil still packed on the roots and he plants them back each spring without losing any. Some people north of us in Tennessee leave them outside all year and they do fine as well. You're in a very colder zone than we are here in the Atlanta area so if you go with that variety, I'd dry store them over winter for sure. I received a Tall Orinoco corm from a good buddy on the forum and it already grew 3 feet in a month in a 5 gallon pot! I'm going to keep it under lights this winter and I'll try to leave some outside next year once I get some pups. I'm sure all the experts here can give you lots more info etc. Hope it works out for ya! __________________ Growing: Basjoo, Blue Java (The Real One), FHIA-01 American Goldfinger, Manzano, Tall Orinoco, Raja Puri (USDA TARS), Veinte Cohol (USDA TARS), Patupi, & SH-3640 High Noon (USDA TARS) Last edited by Island Brah : 10-07-2016 at 07:42 AM.

10-07-2016, 08:32 AM	#3 (permalink)
Moongrass09 Location: Ohio Zone: 6A Name: Ron Tropics Join Date: Oct 2016 Posts: 19 BananaBucks : 9,358 Feedback: 0 / 0% Said "Thanks" 10 Times Was Thanked 32 Times in 13 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 0 Times	Re: Growing (and fruiting?) bananas in colder cilmates. Oh okay, thanks! I figured keeping to growing over winter would give it more of a head start but this will not be an option if mine gets much taller and I run out of ceiling space. I'll definitely have to try that kind next.

10-07-2016, 09:02 AM	#4 (permalink)
Island Brah Find me on the map! Zone: 7b & 8a Border Name: Island Brah Join Date: Jun 2016 Posts: 190 BananaBucks : 59,644 Feedback: 0 / 0% Said "Thanks" 556 Times Was Thanked 345 Times in 117 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 27 Times	Re: Growing (and fruiting?) bananas in colder cilmates. Hey, also check out this link: Growing With CFLs: A Beginner's Guide This may help you out. It really helped me! __________________ Growing: Basjoo, Blue Java (The Real One), FHIA-01 American Goldfinger, Manzano, Tall Orinoco, Raja Puri (USDA TARS), Veinte Cohol (USDA TARS), Patupi, & SH-3640 High Noon (USDA TARS)

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