FranH

Hi I wraped up and put some mulch on my ensete ,but now I am thinking I should have dug them up. They are planted at my shore house in wildwood nj which I believe is zone 7. What do you guys think? This was my first summer with bananas.
Thanks
Fran

caliboy1994

In your zone, I think it would be a good idea.

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stevelau1911

There's a few youtube videos on how to do it. It seems like the most important thing is to cut off the leaves, the roots, and let the entire clump dry out completely before storing it in a cool dry place.

They also talk about using sulfur around the roots to help prevent root rot which can kill an ensete over winter when they are supposed to be dormant. I failed to over-winter them last year, but I'm trying again with new plants.

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I'm in zone 6 upstate NY, specialize in growing temperate cold hardy bamboos(mainly phyllostachys) and starting to get into bananas.

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saltydad

I always dig my ensetes (Maurelli, glauca, ventricosum). Trim the leaves, shake off as much dirt as possible, and carry ot use a dolly to put them in the basement. I'm also zone 7a.

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FranH

Do you do the whole sulfur thing? How many years do these plants last?

RobG7aChattTN

It won't make it in the ground. With most bananas (Musa) if the old pseudostem dies it will re-sprout from the corm. The Ensetes don't do that. You would have to protect the pseudostem at least up to the growth point to save the plant. I have been tempted to just let mine die...but it is really getting a good size. I guess I'll probably dig it up this year as well. I did overwinter it in the ground last year, but it was smaller (easier to cover) and had the mildest winter on record (basically zone 8).