lcweber69

I have a huge Ensete Maurelii currently potted on my deck. Last fall it wasn't too big to bring inside: I cut off all the leaves except the center one, dragged it into my studio where it got very little light, (window not tall enough) but it survived. It's now at least 15ft. tall and much too big to get into the house as a plant. Can I cut it completely off and store it in the pot it's in, in my basement?? Or should I pull it out of the pot, cut if off, and store it bareroot down there?? I also have a potted ensete ventricosum that may be too large now to overwinter as a house plant.

palmtree

Maybe you can just cut off all the leaves and put the plant on it's side over the winter. You will have to find a way to water it a few times a winter, but I think thats a great way to over winter it. Or you can just cut it back enough for it to fit in your house. I wouldnt cut it all the way back because then your almost starting from the begining! My Ensete died back inside because of bugs and now its a small plant comparted to the 7 feet it was last summer.

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Location: New York City, zone 7b

nannerfunboi

lcweber.. was my concern last yr as well..
my maurelli got huge too.. not 15' but near 13'..
i did as palmtree suggests.. i cut down all leaves except last one
but i did cut it 1/2 length..
i stored it in cool (50F) room in a bin of shipping peanuts..
i think it helped to keep good circulation around the roots
plus i sprayed the roots once a month with water with kelp powder mixed
in..
it survived great..then i potted it up in late winter..put it in my biggest
south facing window.. its growing great now..its planted out
in one of my gardens..
now..this fall.. same procedure..but its bigger this yr.. we "hopefully"
have another month and half of all the tropicals staying out.. so..thats more growth.. sigh..
what we do for our plants..

good luck to you !!!!

musa_monkey

The only way i have successfully over wintered this plant is to remove all leaves and roots then dry out in front of a dehumidifier for a couple of days.
I then sit the plant on the top of a pot of fifty fifty mix of general purpose compost and perlite and store in the spare room. The plant receives no water over the winter.

The outer shell will go crispy over time if the room humidity is low but this method avoids loosing the plant to rot which was my biggest problem in the past.

In spring the bulb starts to push out new roots into the compost.
At this point be very careful not to water to much. I use a small spray gun and just dampen the top of the soil once a week.

Once root growth starts to increase, i increase watering and the plant starts to push out new leaves. At this point i repot until new leaf growth is strong then plant out as normal.

blatta

At 15 foot high, I guess the plant could have starting flowering, which would complicate things if you cut it back.

musa_monkey, thanks for your advice.

I have a few small green E.ventricosum I plan to overwinter. Have you tried this with smaller plants? When do you do this? (im in the UK too, feeling very autumn-like already).

What conditions do you store them? I was thinking in a dry, cool but frost free place, either suspended with string or buried in a dry material such as dried coir or straw.

Andrew

musa_monkey

Andrew, Yes it also works with e.ventricosum. Not tried it with Musa yet but i plan to try dry root storage for cold hardy Musa this year.

The ensete go into a spare unheated room which stays frost free but may drop to circa 5c when it reaches -12c outside. I just press the bulb into the soil surface so it sits upright and that seems to work well. I suspect dried straw/coir would also work well.

lcweber69

Thanks Musa Monkey. Is there any way you could post a photo of the method you describe here? You'd said you remove all the leaves AND roots...?

musa_monkey

Sorry don't have any photos now, but will take some at the end of the season when i put them to bed.

Yes i do mean remove All leaves and Roots. It sounds harsh but just helps to put the plant into dormancy

lcweber69

Sorry to 'chase' you about this, but if I remove all the roots, is there a bulb there?

musa_monkey

Yes of sorts its actually a Corm rather than a bulb.

Corm - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia