siege2050

I have seen a lot of info on how to overwinter bare root, but nothing about waking them up, so basically I just tried it and found out. These are my tall Orinoco that slept in the crawlspace all winter, I took them out about April 15th after danger of frost, dug a hole and basically dropped the root ball in (staking or bracing was not necessary). We experienced a very wet may, the wettest on record with flooding everywhere (Texas below us had enough rain to cover the whole state in 8 inches of water) and at least for the Orinoco, there was no rot noticed, I cant say other cultivars would tolerate as much water while rooting. This is the only one I tried besides Ensete Glaucum and Maurelli which re rooted and did well. Leaves started emerging 3 weeks after planting on the tallest one, but it was cooler than usual and cloudy. I suspect they would be much further along if it had been sunny with normal temps. The tall one has a stem height of 10 feet, and the second leaf is now trying to pop out since the sun came out.




Back in April

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RRedBBeard

Which of your plants have produced edible bananas for you?

Thanks,
Rick in CT
banana wrangler
wanabee. ...

siege2050

None so far lol, I have only had these for a couple of years, I am hoping the 10 footer will fruit this year, but at the same time I dont want it too as it will start the dying process and leave me with shorter pups. I mainly grow the Orinoco because I like the shape of the plant, the leaves seem tougher than the ornamentals, is very clay tolerant, the leaves dont burn in full sun, and the rapid rate of growth. The tall one with leaves included reached about 18 feet last fall, and was about 4 feet at the start of summer. I have 6 or so others ranging from 3 to 6 feet that will replace it though.

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siege2050

It still amazes me you can take a 100+ pound 10 foot banana trunk with no leaves, no roots, toss it under the house for winter, and the next spring dig a hole and drop it in, and you have instant banana. Starting to really put out leaves now that the rain stopped. Thats half a year with no sunlight or water!

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Akula

Seige2050, did you chop back the dry top top or pull them apart a bit to help release the new leaf or just plant it and let'r rip?

I'm bringing my nanners back from winter dormancy (some wintered in the ground and a few in the garage) for the first time and worried about growth, choking, etc. The growth rate has been really slow so far but I can only compare it to last year's active growth rate when they were cranking out a leaf a week. Temps have been upper 60's in the day (now mid 70's) and lower 50's with mostly cloudy weather. Last couple days we have had some good sun.

bushwack

I was wondering the same thing... have some orinoco's also , ( so I have been told), stored for the winter, I guess I'll just cut it until I see green in the center



plant them and see what happens.
this pic is pretty well right after I dug them,, but they still look about the same right now, none of the outer layers are turning brown at all, even at the very top

Iowa

When I wake mine up I will cut some off and watch for growth. Usually they all pop up something but watch them, some will stall. Cut back some more, repeat till they push out a leave. I used to be afraid to cut off to much, but some will spilt near the bottom and pop out the side. Now I cut till they grow, even if it is to the ground.

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Growing Musa Orinoco since 1993 - Added 2018-Basjoo, Zebrina' Rojo, Ensete Red Abyssinian - Added 2019-Goldfinger - Added 2020-Kokopo (Short Cycle), Double (Mahoi), Highgate, Super Dwarf Cavendish - Added 2021-Pisang Ceylon(Mysore), Musa Margarita, Ensete Ventricosum - Added 2023 - Siam Ruby