nph

I have for several years over wintered my bananas in my garage. Most of them survive but a few rot.
Got some fruit also but since some of them go bad so I was thinking about changing my process but wanted feedback.
I cut off all the leaves, dig up the root ball and the p-stem, shake off a little soil and the. Put them up against the wall in the garage and 3-4 months later I plant them again outside.

Would it make sense to clean off all the roots and soil so it is just the corn itself?
I have seen some but they have been small pups. Would it make sense for these four to six feet plants to have just the bare corm in their winter storage?

edwmax

You are in USDA zone 8. I don't think you need to dig up the bananas. Winter them in-ground with mulch. The frost depth for your location should be about 6 to 8 inches and usually do not last long. ... Also, I would not (and don't myself) cut the pstems to the ground in the winter. Cut the tops off, then next spring check the stalk and cut off the mushy up stem (frozen) at the point the pstem is firm (didn't freeze). The plant will start growing earlier and not have to rebuild damaged roots.

Of course this recommendation is based on the assumption your plants a cold hardy for zone 8. For zone 10 & 11 plants, these may have to be keep in a heated greenhouse or storage.

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nph

If I want bananas I have to dig them up I always leave a few in the ground if the winter is really mild but it needs to be extremely mild for that tactics to work.

edwmax

But your garage method make the plants go dormant. They can be dormant in the ground just as easy and have an early growth the next spring. If you get fruit on the plant stored in the garage, then you should get fruit on the same plants if they were left in the ground.

Actual time from pup to fruiting is (# of required growing days: about 250 to 300 +/-) plus (# of days dormant: ie cold days less than 50 deg F). During this time, the plant needs to grow a stalk of about 50 leaves (+/-) for size & strength with about 10 to 14 leaves on the stalk at the time of fruiting; AND 2 or 3 new pups to feed the corm after the main stalk dies. All of this varies by plant variety.

I'm in zone 8 too and I get bananas on my plants every year but about every 24 months for each stalk without digging up the corm.

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nph

But if I leave them outside they tend to freeze even if I cover them so I only dare to leave a few out every year and keep the rest I the garage. Much more survivors I the garage.
But when they go dormant should I remove the roots first or not? I haven't in the passed but they might not be alive by spring anyway and just take up space if so. Remember seeing bananas being sold 5 feet long with just the corm.

edwmax

What type of bananas do you have?

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nph

Dwarf Namwah, Sweetheart, Brazilian etc So in essence no Cold hardy ones.

edwmax

You've had these to fruit in your location?

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nph

Absolutely! Dwarf Namah lots of times, Brazilian once but it never ripened properly and same with my Sweetheart who didn't have a chance to ripe either.
But Dwarf Namah has been consistent. Also had Orinoco which was ok and managed to ripe but the plant itself got bugs and the fruit was so so. Hence i gave away men last pup

edwmax

Your description of the Brazilian & Sweetheart (FHIA 3) is the point I was getting to. The Brazilian (dwarf for reference) takes 5 to 8 months for fruit to ripen. Even if it fruited as early as June it would freeze before ripening. There is not a lot of info on the Sweetheart but it was breed for very large bunches (100 lbs plus) which would require long growing time for the fruit. Growing zones and fruiting zones are different; and the nurseries don't tell you this. They sell plants.

Most standard size fruiting banana varieties do so in zones 10 & 11 (some zone 9 ??). These same plants are considered as 'ornamentals' (aka: NO Fruit) in colder growing zones. ... For our zone 8, we need short season type bananas like your Dwarf Namah. Other types are Dwarf Orinoco (aka: California Gold); Carolina King (Cavendish variety ?); and the Dwarf Cavendish with fruiting time 4 months & less.

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nph

Yeah I keep experimenting g w new varieties every year. I hope to keep my Tigua alive through winter to see how it does. Cavendish has never worked well for me here.
I know Sweetheart is unlikely to ripen but I just love how the plant looks!