figerama

Been so busy researching my new plants coming this spring I forgot about my banana plants. The past owner of the property told me they die down each year so I wanted to try to save them to see if I could get fruiting next year. I've seen two techniques, 1 where you put mulch around the plant and 1 where you put the plants in a place where the temps are around 45 degrees. Since a freeze came in last night I had to guess at the best technique so I decided to put them under my home in my 3’ crawlspace. The little information I could find says not to water them, just leave them alone till warm weather comes back when I can plant them again?

Anyone done this before and anything I can do at this point for better success? I left some leaves on and some dirt around the roots and double bagged the roots with garbage bags and loosely tied the bags and laid the plants down hill where the roots are 5" higher then the leaves.

geissene

Looks good. Its always good to try different storage methods. The only suggestion I have is check on the plastic bags every few weeks to make sure nothing has mold or rot.

I kept an orinoco dormant like that on my garage floor for 5 months and it grew again in late spring.

Erik

smeash

I think the plants ive seen stored this way just had bare root, no bag. Im thinking the bag may cause some rot?

LaBananaGwr2018

Always good to read about new ways of how to take care of bananas.

Zalin124

I live in Ga Z8 and what I do is use 24” Burlap bags for the root ball with a heavy duty trash bag over it. I leave the trash bag open though. I’ve never lost any Bananas that way and so far Dwarf Namwa, Dwarf Brazilian, and Raja Puri survives that method. All of them fruited the following year.

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Backyard Banana Joe

Those definitely look like Orinoco. They also look to be in the middle of a field/yard with no protection from the cold. In spring, plant them right next to the south facing wall of your house or shed, with PLENTY of wood chips, and other organic material. If it gets full sun they will be ten feet next spring lol. David The Good successful grew Orinoco in North Florida (8B) along with key limes, black pepper vines, a guava, and other things on the south side of his house. Get the book ( Actually, get ALL his books!) called Push The Zone where he talks about different methods of protection against the cold for tropical plants. Oh another thing.... He never protected them from cold or dug them up further than just planting them on the south side. Keep us updated on your plants!

figerama

That good to hear, thanks.

edwmax

It depends on the variety of banana plant you have. Many banana plants will do ok left in the ground for the winter in zone 8b. Some may die back to the ground; these can be mulched for added protection of the corm. .... In the spring where the pstem froze cut off the upper soft dead part of the plant. Then new growth will soon show without having to regrow a new pstem. ... For very cold sensitive banana plants you may want to store them for the winter or move to a greenhouse. .... As usual, young banana plants are much more cold sensitive than mature plants.

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figerama

I finally pulled the banana plants out from my house crawlspace and planted them. Most leaves died. The soil was moist and I seen no mold or rot. I never watered the plants while they were under the house.

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figerama

All the plants are growing but never set any fruit? Does that mean these are just ornamental plants or does it take more than 2 year to fruit?