siege2050

I have a Tall Orinoco with a bloom, and it has 2 visible pups. I know that a blooming banana pstem will die, and produce offsets. My question is, when it gets cold, should I did up the blooming bananas corm and save, after I separate the 2 existing pups. Is there a possibility it will produce more pups from this dying pstems corm? I would think that yes, it would produce more, but I am not sure. It seems strange it would be limited to just the two pups it currently has, since the corm is not just for that pstem, the pstem just uses that corm. My goal is to get as many of these as I can, I like them much more than Basjoo due to their instant banana look in early summer, when Basjoo is struggling to get some height. People never really seem to notice my Basjoo even after I tell them it is root hardy, its the Orinoco they are drawn to and walk toward, and I use them for landscaping. I guess I will grow them till I get too old to toss them under the house, then basjoo will reign supreme lol.

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Kat2

Excellent question IMO.

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Lau

I don't know anything about growing bananas in zone 7, but I think the bananas would probably rot if you tried to over winter them. I think I would remove all the baby plants, and leave the blooming plant until it freezes. I would then cut the bananas off and hang them some place warm to see if they turn yellow. I would cut the plant down and dig up as much of the roots as possible and see if they will produce baby plants. It's just an idea.

Susan

Hammocked Banana

Yes if you isolate the fruited corm, it will produce more pups. I have no forst hand experience but have read some experiments on the org. Another option is to keep the corm attached to one of the pups. My recent trials have shown that pups with the momma corm still attached grow much faster and stronger than pups on only their corms.

siege2050

Orinoco actually store very well under the house in the crawlspace for 6 1/2 months, bare root, with no soil, roots, water, leaves, or lights after digging them up in fall. Its amazing really to see them still alive after so long in the spring. you just take them out after danger of frost, and dig a hole and plant them. In about 3 weeks they start producing new leaves. Yeah the bananas are going to be pretty close on the ripening, they might be done by then, but not sure.

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siege2050

Your absolutely right about the pups growing faster while still attached, a separated small Orinoco pup might reach 4 feet of pstem here in summer, but an attached pup will grow to about 7+ feet by fall. That might be an option while digging them, separate one of the pups because its easier to handle before putting under the house, and leave the other pup attached to the mother corm, while trimming away the dying pstem of the one that just bloomed. The next spring the pup attached to the mother corm will give it a head start with more pups growing. Might be a little lopsided and awkward putting it under the house, but it should work.

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siege2050

Then again, I might go ahead and separate the mother corm for the sake of experimentation, plant it in a large tub, and bring it indoors to see if I cant get pup formation before spring.

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pitangadiego

You can cut the corm up like a potato and plant each "eye" and get another plant. Does require warm temps, either outdoors, or in a greenhouse.

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Lau

That's amazing. I have a few reds that don't like to be cold at all.

siege2050

Thats reallllly cool

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siege2050

Not all nanners will store that way of course, but Orinoco is very good at bare root storage. I hear some people have success with Namwah, Icecream (Usually Namwah anyway so not sure if the real Blue Java will) and Raja Puri

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nph

Nam wah is (in my view) even better than Orinoco.
To add to the list also Sweetheart, FH3. Brazilian is ok in this regard but the problem is that it takes longer to flower than Namwah so it tends to want to flower after a second season outside just when it is time to dig it up again for the winter.

siege2050

That is good to know, I have been wondering about other types. I probably wont get much fruit here, but I like growing them to look at.

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Kat2

I've just discovered an unlimited source for spent corms. (Okay, not infiinite but a lot.) I've got 2 and am going to test planting one whole and slicing up the other. These very possibly are just plain Orinicos so not terribly valuable here. But if I succeed with either, I'll update my results pictorially. (This accountant never experiments with "real money". )

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