husker18

I have three plants stored in garage. They are in 20" pots. The last few weeks I have been succumbed with mold and rot. The mold is white filaments on the upper and bottom stem and the rot is black on the bottom of the stem and corm. I have kept my watering very minimal. Also treated with sestemic fungi and insecti in november.

In one case the stem was rotten and just toppled over, the other I am noticing the corm was soft and black and just sorta collapsed. The last plant is a basjoo and was my biggest and seems to be holding the least amount of moisture and so far surviving best with no signs of rot or mold.

I am not concerned yet with the basjoo, but the other two which are a Texas star and gold finger. Currently the two latter are without stems and the corms are rotting. They both have water and sword suckers holding strong with green leaves.

My question. Should I seperate the suckers and repot them and to grow in a sunny window till spring? If the corm rots, will it take the suckerS with it? I am just trying to save them. Luckily, I seperated one sucker last fall and put in my office and it is doing great. Just trying to save as many as possible.

This is my second year. First year bananas died too. Even in failure I still love growing them. Third times the charm hopefully.

Any ideas on the rescue. I am in Indiana so spring is 3 months away.

cincinnana

What has happened is quite common when we/I store them .

To really find out what is going on you must pull up the corm and inspect it.
Clean up the dead spots and smell the corm...if it smells rotten then it is probably lost.
If the corm smells earthy and is firm you got a chance of success.
If the pup that is attached to the dead corm and has good root structure you should have no problem with it, just lift it out and recenter it back in the pot.

If the corm and pups are still viable dust with a rooting hormone and replant in same containers only after you have "refluffed and removed all the dead roots from your soiless mix"
For bigger pots like yours I will pop the container out in a wheelbarrow and work in new dry peat moss . Do not be shy you are not going to hurt anything but do not destroy the existing root structure either.
I am a fan of Espoma products to charge your soil with goodies which your plant will use, I only use it at a repot and I think of it as a kickstart.
All Natural Organic Plant Food for Organic Gardening
After the plant is established use your regular fertilizer schedule with what ever you chose.

Do not heavily water and move to a sunny/warmer area as planned.
My guess is that there is enough water in the soiless mix to hold it over for a few weeks or longer.

At garage temps you will not see roots till it really warms up 70+ at least.
With warmer temps of 78-90 you will see roots and growth sooner

I currently have a few containers that are in the same shape from November and they are just now responding and I replanted those 70+ days ago.
Current condition for those plants
temp 72
soiless mix damp/dry

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cincinnana

bump

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bigdog

Watering needs to go from "minimal" to ZERO. Corms must be kept cool and dry when dormant.