Kostas

Hello!

I would like your help with planning where to plant my various banana cultivars. My main concern is their cold hardiness and as none of these has seen a winter outside,i would like your suggestions with which to plant where,depending mainly on its cold hardiness but other factors as well.

I have a limited number of available places to plant in Melissia(8b/9a,usual winter min of -3C to -4C and about a week in total of below freezing tempratures,spread out about half and half with the days usually above 0C,record low about -6C but i think it has gone close to -10C as well one year) that are to be filled with bananas. I want to fill them all these with bananas first and then plant in Pyrgos(9b/10a,mostly 10a+,usual lows of -1C to -2C just before sunrise,1-2 times per year,record low is -3,6C) only the most tender ones that cant make it here unprotected or with limited/easy to implement protection.
Here is a breakdown of the available planting places in Melissia:
2 relatively protected spots,one of which can get a good deal of not very direct and somewhat filtered North winds if its very windy. The other position gets less wind. I plan to plant my Namwah Tall at the more protected spot and Kandrian at the somewhat less protected unless otherwise advised. They need to be able to deal with the weather unprotected and retain their pseudostems in most years. Part day sun.
1 exposed spot(gets filtered Northern winds),under a tall balcony with room for a 3-4meter tall cultivar and space to lean slightly away from it to accommodate even a very tall cultivar. 3-4meter ones preferred for that spot to minimize interference with the growth of a nearby(2meters away) young palm but even really tall ones acceptable. I was planning to plant a Hua Moa there maybe but i hear its cold sensitive(?) Lots of full sun. Once the palm grows,it will be somewhat protected but that is years ahead...
1 relatively exposed but better protected than the previous exposed spot. Its right beside the previous spot but has some tree canopy as well(short,that allows for emergence of mature tall varieties(3-4meters) and is protected from all other sides. I was planning to plant a Saba there. Filtered sun to part day sun till emergence.
1-2 very protected spots under short tree canopy. Very good protection but very shaded as well,till emergence at about 3meter height.
1 somewhat protected spot under tall,deciduous tree canopy and marginally away from a balcony,faces south,protected from all other sides except directly above and South in winter due to the deciduous nature of the canopy. Shade during the growing period. Under wallnut tree which is known to interfere with other tree's growth but not sure if it affects a banana.

The cultivars i want to accomodate are:
Namwah Tall
Kandrian
Saba
Hua Moa

The above are a must. Preferably,i would like to accommodate some of the following as well:
Belle
African Rhino Horn
White Iholene
Mysore
Pisang Klotek
Praying Hands
Monkey Fingers
Ebun Musak
Red Iholene
Ae Ae

I dont currently have all the above buts its what i plan to have in Melissia. I know some of the above are cold sensitive but if any of the above spots suffices to allow it to keep its pseudostem ok unprotected or with minimum and easy to implement protection,i would prefer them grown in Melissia. Some of those will also be grown in Pyrgos anyway but i would prefer to have them at Melissia as well,where my main house is.

Thank you very much in advance! I am waiting for your replys to start planting!!!

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pitangadiego

Out of that list, the only ones that have any chance iny our winters would be Praying Hands, Belle, and Saba. The rest aren't going to be happy with temps below 40, and preferably 50.

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Kostas

Thank you very much for your reply Jon!

Will those at least be reliable at my climate? Are they as hardy as Ice Cream? This one didn't loose any pseudostem height from winter although new growth has been somewhat slower than i expected.

Is there any good chance any of the other cultivars mentioned to succeed at one of the protected spots I mentioned?

I expected Kandrian and Namwah/Misi Luki to be hardy but it seems I was wrong...

Thank you very much in advance!

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

sunfish

Namwah and Mysore had no problem here and it got below 40f

sunfish

Looks like this will be okay.

Musa Pisang Klotek - Bananas Wiki

Dalmatiansoap

Saba is a Winter winner in my case Kostas, I lost Ice Cream couse of stem rot few days ago. M. Nam Wah will be tested yet in Winter to come.

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Kostas

Thank you very much for your replies!

Tony,

Does this mean their pseudostems will survive -3C ok?


Ante,

Good to hear Saba did well for you! What was the minimum temperature it saw?
I am sorry to hear that about your Ice Cream. Even now,if its not completely rotten,you could remove all rotten parts and the growing point may still be alive and start growing again once you have stopped the rot. Did it grow any new leaf or retained any old one after winter?


Thank you very much in advance!

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

sunfish

I had 6 or 7 morning frost lowest temp. around 34f. Kru,Red and White Iholena were the only plants that were damaged. Any temps. lower than this I don't have any experience with.