Bananas.org - Relocating My Bananas

My first banana purchase was a Goldfinger (FHIA-1). I know it was in the ground at least two winters, maybe a third. The plant was heavily damaged by a 24F arctic blast in December 2008. The following spring two pups sprouted, but then the main corm died and rotted. The two pup grew minimally that year, so the next year I covered them with a 25 gal. pot as winter frost protection. This year they continued to linger, so in early August I decided to move them to pots. For one pup the move was too late. The other just unfurled its third leaf since potting and appears to be OK.

That experience prompted me to act on my Dwarf Orinoco and Mona Lisa (FHIA-2). Although both of these made it through this winter in pretty good shape, neither has really taken off. The DO sent up a pair of pups last fall, the ML one. Both of these plants were protected by a bed of straw and covered by sheets over inverted tomato cages. None of the plants exhibited any new growth until late in June. The photo's below are all of the Dwarf Orinoco; I have yet to act on the Mona Lisa.

This past winter/spring my neighbors had to rip out the shrubs along side their driveway, which had been shading my half of the strip between the two driveways. Now this ground sees unobstructed sun from early morning until mid to late afternoon. So I've made the decision to relocate my bananas there. I've also decicde to try growing them in wine barrel halves for improved drainage and gopher protection.

Two weeks ago I prepared a barrel-half with CHC and 16 evenly distributed 1/2" drain holes. The CHC I am using is MiracleMulch brand. Unlike the chunkier mix used for my citrus, MiracleMulch is mostly Coir, fibers, and 1/4" chips. I also didn't treat this CHC to the extent I normally do for citrus. I rehydrated the CHC directly in the barrel. The tighter mix restricts drainage, allowing me to flood and drain the mix several times. I later questioned my decision to forgo a cation exchange soak, so the weekend after planting I again flooded the mix and then added 2 gal of a Calcium Nitrate and Epsom Salts solution. Here's the uprooted DO prior to seperating the pup and repotting.

This weekend the rhino horn shaped pup shown in the pictures broke through the surface. I expect at least two more pups to do so before winter sets in. I am still formulating plans for this winter's frost protection, but I probably mound straw around the corm and then tent everything with plastic to deflect the rain.

The pup had almost as many roots as mama. This pup and an earlier one were potted in 5 gal. nursery pots using shredded redwood bark, peat based potting soil, and well composted steer manure.

Here's mama in her new home.

Next weekend I'll post updated photo's.