Should i put it in the ground now ?
 

Hi,

My spanish Orinoco is growing verry fast : 1 leaf/6 days

I don't know if i schould put it in the ground now, or if should keep it in pot for one year.....

If someone can help...

Re: Should i put it in the ground now ?
 

I am no expert, but I put mine in the ground when they were that size, they are growing very well.

Re: Should i put it in the ground now ?
 

You can always pull it out of the ground and out it back into a pot. If you out it in the ground it will grow faster.

Re: Should i put it in the ground now ?
 

Here is one of my Orinoco that was a little bit larger than yours ( But not by much) in May. On May 1st I put it in the ground, and this is a pic of it now. It has gotten much larger, if not doubled in size.

Re: Should i put it in the ground now ?
 

Orinoco should go in the ground.. Mulch heavy never have to move it again.. :^)

Re: Should i put it in the ground now ?
 

Thanks, :bananas_b

I will put it in the ground on the next week end.

I just hope to have a great pup to pot before winter.

Winters are quite long and very wet here, so there is a lot of chance for him to die.

Re: Should i put it in the ground now ?
 

I have not had an Orinoco die in the ground yet.. So I doubt that..

Re: Should i put it in the ground now ?
 

Orinoco is hardy to zone 7b at least, cover with lots of mulch, probably be fine.

Re: Should i put it in the ground now ?
 

Here in France, USDA zone doesn't looks like your's.

I am located on the same latitude as South Canada(50° north) .

So the winter temps are not very low. Usually, it goes down to 30/15 °F in the night during a week or two. But the temps are low (35/50 °F) from late october to march.
In the summer, we don't have heat, but an average of 65/80 °F from mid may to mid september.

It rains a lot from october to march.

As you can see it's not the same conditions that you have in South states of the USA.

The growing period is quite short (may to september) and i think that an orinoco may be injured by the cold damped soil we have here in winter.

For exemple, the washingtonia and phoenix canariensis have grown for 2/3 years in my garden before they die by rot.

I know that Orinocos are drougth résistants, but are they cold wet soil resistant?

Sorry for my bad English.

Re: Should i put it in the ground now ?
 

I strongly advice against leaving in the ground during winter, despite your (apparent) USDA zone. I haven't even tried leaving the mine in ground in winter and I'm definitively in an hotter place than yours. The problem is as you already know, the cold damp soil.
To be perfectly honest, I'm even unsure about putting it in the ground in summer. I have been in normandie about 15 years ago, so i may not recall well but I remembered the summer as pretty cold up there. Now, this isn't a problem by itself - as long as the plant grow, the big problem is that everything is really slowed down. Plants grow really well in full ground during summer, but after you pot them for the winter they stop for recovering for about a month for me (possibly more in a colder environment). So the time gained in growing them in ground should be > than the time lost at the end of the summer (for the potting stress) to have a net gain.
Moreover, plants in ground become bigger and harder do store for winter (but i admit that i don't know your setup).
Growing in pot you can, instead, take advantage of all your growing season.
I would do as follows: try to grow them in pot, then as soon as you have your first pup make some experiments.
Or do some experiments now - it's unlikely you will kill your plant, but also it's unlikely that you'll see the good result that some people have here with their plant in ground.

Re: Should i put it in the ground now ?
 

Thank you for advicing.

I think you are right, but i also think that you can try the inground Orinoco at your Location. This pup comes from a "savage" clump which grows well in ground in Spain.

I already put a dwarf brazilian in ground this year. This one is gonna be the test.

I will built a great protection with a "wire heater" on the stem for winter.

I'll see...

Re: Should i put it in the ground now ?
 

I think I'll try with a dwarf namwah (or maybe a dwarf namwah & a dwarf orinoco) sooner or later. Overall, at my place, it looks like it can outshine dwarf orinoco on cold hardiness. Dwarf namwah seems to keep a good growth consistently even on low temperatures, has big bunches seems to ripen faster, so to me looks like a winner even on dwarf orinoco. But i must admit that i have yet to try them side to side.
Maybe next year.
I don't have many illusion. Central Italy is consistently colder than Spain, expecially if far away from the sea like my place. Even in souther italy (from Naples to the southernmost points) there are "wild" bananas, but they stop just at the south of Rome. In my place they are unheard of (except for the basjoos, of course).

Re: Should i put it in the ground now ?
 

Where I live the weather is insane lol. In the winter it gets down to -5 F, and in the summer it gets up to 105+F. Extremely humid in the summer time, tornados, and high winds are very common. One day it can be 50 degrees, and the next it can be 90, and this happens a lot. Never know what it will do. Yeah cold and wet is not good, I have planted a few things that are easily supposed to be hardy here, but because they were in a damp location, they rotted over the winter. Perhaps you could try digging them up before first frost, and storing them in a cool basement, under the house, or in a garage that doesn't get below freezing, and then planting them back out when it is warm enough. I stored my Orinoco with leaves over the winter in a pot, in a cool place, and only watered it once the whole time, but they can be stored bare root, then planted back out in when warm enough. But like Panrcrazio said, experiment with a pup when you get one. I have several types that are supposed to be root hardy in my zone (Black thai, Saba, etc.) But I am going to sacrifice a pup before trying them outdoors.