should I dig it now?
 

Good evening folks. I would like to know if I should dig my ensete maurelii now. We've hit 40F twice last week. I'm very impressed that my ensete didn't complain about it. This week, I see nights with an average temp of 53F.

So when should I dig it and lay it flat naked in my unfinished basement?

Thanks!

Re: should I dig it now?
 

id dig it now but id keep it in a pot for the winter they don't take that much light

Re: should I dig it now?
 

Yeah, I'd be digging now or very soon just to bear on the safe side. And I'm with Paulo...I'd just pot it and keep it by a window. I'm not much for the cool basement 'dormant' overwintering. I've always just kept mine in a pot by a south window and kept them growing all winter. They do just fine indoors.

Re: should I dig it now?
 

When I lived in a cooler climate, i'd overwinter my bananas in pots near a sunny window. Worked great! I would dig them up as soon as I saw 30's in the forecast.

BTW Paulo, have we even hit 75 as a nighttime low yet? ;p

Re: should I dig it now?
 

Last year, it was in pot and I placed it in south but it gets few sun. I don't have enough windows. When I received it, it was 42 or 48 inches tall. By the end of winter, the final was around 30" tall. LOL. I was thinking that if I put it in the basement with few leaves removed, I'll be able to keep the height and I will have taller ensete by next season.

What do you think folks?

Re: should I dig it now?
 

Check out what this guy in Germany does.
Bilder von Familie End aus Jöhlingen

Re: should I dig it now?
 

What ya did with the window & all sounds great. Don't get how it would lose height cause my Ice Creams never do. But I'd go with that link Bob has (hope they got that in english).

Btw, anyone know where that "record breaking chat" thread ended up?

Re: should I dig it now?
 

Here is the English version of that link that Bob posted. I'm going to read it now. :D

Translation result for http://www.bananenhobby.de/Maurellii%20doku.htm

Re: should I dig it now?
 

Ah, so horizontal position for a dormant banana is very bad! Glad he shared that experience. It actually makes sense. So when I do it, I have to make sure that it's in vertical position. :)

Great link!

Re: should I dig it now?
 

Ensetes are better to overwinter in the dry and dark as possible, in my personal experience. As you can see in the above link, once they are too tall to stand upright, it will begin to grow "sideways". I have tried to overwinter dry and in pot, but the ones stored in the dry like in the link, out performed the ones that I tried to overwinter in a pot. Just my personal experience, for what it worth. BTW, I had a couple that I stored in the dry standing erect and one or two lying on the ground. The ones on the ground turned on me and the ones stored upright took off in the right orientation...
The gentleman in Germany sure did do a great job with his!!! Thanks for sharing the link!!!

Re: should I dig it now?
 

yes two days ago it was 74 at 4 am but that was on the heals of that big hurricane/tropical depression that blew in from the gulf of Cortes i think we are back up in to night time 80s don't worry we still have 2 really good months of growing if not 3

wow thats sad that his EVM died I'm still sticking to my original advice to keep it growing all winter i will say iv had similar experience with rot they don't like to be wet in the winter I'm so happy i can leave mine out side

Re: should I dig it now?
 

Thanks for confirming too!!! :D

Re: should I dig it now?
 

Here are some updates for today: :D So am I correct that we really don't need to water them until they're back to the ground outside? Also, do I need to remove some of the leaves?

Here are the pics.















This is the best corner I found in the basement. It's cool but there are some light. I've already covered the windows but I don't have anything to cover them totally. Hopefully it works. Wish me luck folks! :)


I wanted to make sure they're protected by the Matrix! Hahaha! :D

Re: should I dig it now?
 

I found another thread and it says to cut all of the leaves but leave at least 2 new leaves. Then invert the banana so water will drain. Is this true?

This is where I found it:
growingontheedge.net :: View topic - Overwintering Ensete Maurellii and Montbeliardii dormant

UPDATE:
After reading tons of different overwintering testimonies, I went ahead and cut the leaves. Thanks everyone! :)

Re: should I dig it now?
 

Just would like to update my thread. I almost forgot about my e maurelii in the basement. I gave them light water almost 45-50 days ago. It's just today that I saw them again. They grew!!! LOL. Hopefully, they'll make it next year.

Re: should I dig it now?
 

I dug up my Ensetes already. The glaucum is bare root, the maurelli is potted and in my living room and still growing. I water pots very sparingly in the winter.

Re: should I dig it now?
 

You could always bring them inside the house and water them like houseplants. It's only mid-November and your Maurelli look pretty bad. I wouldn't expect them to pull through to spring at this rate, if I were you. Just trying to help...

Re: should I dig it now?
 

Awesome! I hope mine makes it. I gave them water yesterday but slight. They don't get any sunlight and I'm amazed that they're still growing. The old leaves are dying though.

I tried them in the living room last year but they grew shorter. LOL. I this I have a post of it last year at this site.

Re: should I dig it now?
 

I dug it September 7 I guess and it's in the basement for 2 months now. It gets water barely and no sunlight.

Re: should I dig it now?
 

I'm curious about this, too. I've been leaving my plants out when it dips into the upper 20's, 30's, and 40's here. The farmers here will usually irrigate overnight when a frost is expected to damage a crop. Wonder if that helps for banana plants.