nph

In Dallas (Plano) we now have a few days of mid to high 40's.
Does it mean that those night the Bananas I have (Ice Cream, Basjoo, Chinese Yellow and Gran Nain) stop growing?
Or would it only be for the few (most likely two) nights we have temps below 50.

Daytime it will be low 70s for 2-3 days while then it will go back up to mid 80s during the day and 60s in the night.

Thanks

sunfish

nph

Thanks but my question is if the plant stop growing just because the temperature goes down below 50 at night for a few hours and that affects the whole 24h of the day or if growth starts again as soon as the temperature goes above 50, during the day for instance?

sunfish

Some of my plants keep growing through the winter and it gets into the low 40's at night. I think it would take a constant soil temp. below 53 for growth to stop competely

bencelest

I think it is the soil temperature that governs the growth of bananas as Sunfish is saying. And it would take quiet sometime to reduce the soil tempt that low.

__________________
Banana Nut

nph

Wow, below 50F is for the soil temperature, then I have quite some growth left...!

Mar46396

All of my bananas are still growing in pots during the cold spell we are having, with daytime highs in the upper 50s and nighttime lows of 43-45 and it's been overcast. They still manage to add an inch to their cigar leaves a day. They are all small, though, at around 2 feet each (Thai Black, Kandarian, Ensete, Basjoo, Sikkimensis, Dwarf Cavendish.) Every one of them is still growing. The soil in the pots is pretty cold to the touch.

Willow87

Hi Nph, I'm in Plano too. Mine are still slowly growing. My Sumatrana has a leaf trying to open and its been several days. The only one that doesnt seem to mind too much is the musella. I have mine in partial shade so I can get them accustomed to the lower light levels so maybe that's why mine are growing slowly. The soil is still damp and I watered a week ago, so i guess thats a sign of slower growth

TommyMacLuckie

This is based on my experience from landscaping in New Orleans since 1994:

Tropical plants need a soil temperature of 70F or higher to grow actively (24 hours).

Below 70F they slow down, with the cooler the temp the less growing obviously. One could call that partially active.

Topical plants essentially stop growing when the soil temp gets below 54F. This is generally called inactive. They will respond to heat waves accordingly as the ground will warm up but growth is very little to none at these temperatures: one might get one frond a month from a banana.

So right now the best way to guess at what temp the soil is is to check how warm your tap water is. Unless you have a thermometer you can actually put in the ground that goes down about 2 feet.