banarama

Hi All!
I tried the recommended mulch depth in my area... 5b... of one foot in leaves and peat moss. The plants appear to be somewhat rotten on top with no signs of growth yet (mid May). Not really sure if these even are musa basjoo, either. Had them for 30 years indoors over winter and decided, after deliberating it, to try a few outside over winter- and these were already huge and in the ground for 2009 summer. The question is... should I give up and plant new or is it still early yet to expect some growth?
Thanx,
F-manhttp://www.bananas.org/images/smilies/bananas/03.gif

JuniPerez

Hi F-man...

Do you have pictures of the plants? What made you think they were basjoo's?

Mine don't show growth until a few days of warm weather and are JUST starting to grow (zone 6a)... and even then, a plant I would assume had died surprises me by suddenly kicking into growth.

banarama

Hi JuniP!
Thanx for the quick response! Very encouraging to here from you and your success! I think you are in a slightly warmer zone, so I hope I'll see some growth soon. I was told by another member last year that what I had was Musa Basjoo, but had never tested the plants for overwintering before. These are my file pix, you should be able to see what they are I hope!
Thanx,
Banarama/ Fred

Banana Gallery - banarama Gallery

LilRaverBoi

It's not really possible to ID your plants from just the leaves. We'll need pics of the pseudostem also (and some ID's require a bloom even). I wish you the best of luck with your plants. I wouldn't entirely give up on them by any means. I'd plant some in another area and see if you get some activity in that area in a few weeks. Have you removed all the extra mulch/leaves? Anything going on there? They should be sending up a bunch of pups if they survived and it's been warm for a little while. If not, bananas are one of those plants that surprise you, so give them the benefit of the doubt.

That's my two copper Lincolns, anyway!

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Abnshrek

If you haven't gotten any results yet I'd dig it up and see if its a marshmellow or rock solid. If its the later you have hope :^)

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saltydad

I'm in z7 and my basjoo corm just started sending up shoots. I'd wait a tad before digging it up.



25 shoots so far!

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banarama

Thanx for all the responses! Here's some stem pix:
Banana Gallery - banarama's Close ups

LilRB: I did remove the mulch and they look rotten in the center but hard below. The roots don't want to be pulled up! No signs of growth, but my indoor plants are just now starting to shoot up pups. We are due for our first week of 80 degree weather in a while, so I'm hoping!

Abnshreck: looks solid other than the very top center of where the old plant was on the corm, but I will dig around tomorrow- if I have the urge and time- to see just how hard the corm really is.

Salty D: I'm with you on waiting to totally dig 'em up! BTW... That is one awesome patch of bananas you have coming up! I'm freakin jealouse!

natej740

Hey hows it going im from the Buckeye State too. Im not sure if a foot of leaves and peet moss would be that great to overwinter them in. Im pretty sure peet moss retains water and you need to keep them dry in the winter. That is probably the reason they rotted. I used 2 and a half bags of cypress mulch to cover mine. I saved one p-stem and the other is puping. I uncovered mine March 11th and they were still hard at the base(i cut them down to 16" and lost about 6" of that). Here is a pic of it almost 2 weeks ago...

JuniPerez

Saltydad, that has got to be one of the most beautiful shots I've seen... I mean, to see so many shoots coming up like that after a cold winter excites the heck out of me... that is A LOT!

Unfortunately, my one and only M sikkimensis didn't make it... it was the only one not growing and when I tugged on the stem, it came off with ease and left a hole in the ground, and in my heart. = ( On the plus, I'm germinating a bunch of manipur seeds and have a few sprouted so far and a few have many leaves (no stripes yet).

Banarama, good luck! Give it some time.

Nate, that's awesome... is that a sikkimensis? I see maroon under leaf.

natej740

Im pretty sure its a basjoo. Its kinda crazy though because last year it didnt have the maroon under the leaves. The leaf that came out after that one was even more colored.

LilRaverBoi

Fred, if anything is still firm, there is hope. Like I said, bananas are one of those plants that always surprise you at what they'll come back from, so give it the benefit of the doubt. And if you want to cover your bases, buy some new ones just for the hell of it (maybe that's just my banana addiction speaking, though LOL).

__________________
BANANA RAVE!
Feel the beat from start to stop, dancin' and movin' from bottom to top!
lilraverboi@genxglow.com
RIP Tog Tan. We love you and will always remember you!
I'm Bryan with a Y! There is no 'I' in BRYAN!

banarama

Thanx to all who replied! I am going to post some pix of my plants. Still no definate yes or no as to what species these bananas are, let me know what I could show you to help ID them. I do know they came from Jamaica, where the banana plants can get really huge before fruiting.


Wanted to put the new stuff in a new album after uploading, but that doesn't seem to work. Pix are at top of the shots I have already posted. Thanx to all of you who are helping me out!