Christine1950

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Will my mother zebrina survive over wintering like she did last year in my apartment with all the pups that have grown over the summer? I did remove all the pups seen in the small pot in the spring, they grew over the winter. Any advice will be a big help to me, I'd hate to loose her. Thanks Christine

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crazy banana

Why are you even concerned?
With the same treatment it should be fine.

Christine1950

I am concerned because last year I didnt have the pups to worry about, I only had the mother plant to worry about. Thanks for your reply

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cincinnana

Your setup looks awesome....
You have a nice window to shed light and winter warmth to your vast collecttion of plants,
.

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Kat2

I understand your concern about the pups potentially draining strength from mama. It's been some time since I raised plants in pots and often mine were cramped though did just fine but if I were you I'd either put the entire group in a larger container or remove the babies. Just to be safe. Your lighting appears adequate and your plants seem happy so you obviously fertilize as needed and pay attention to their needs. Perhaps pot up the extras and sell them on CL?

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Christine1950

Cincinnana, Thank you for your complement, I love all my plants and there are a few like the nanna that are near & dear to me.

Kat2, I think I'll get a larger pot and pot up momma & pups, rather than try to separate the pups now. Thank you so much for you input...

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chris_zx2

It is a really nice setup! Does it get cold near all those windows?

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--Chris
So far:
Dwarf Cavendish -- Basjoo -- Bunch of Truly Tiny

Christine1950

Thanks Chris, that is my screened in porch that I can only use until the end of October when we usually get our first hard freeze, it makes a great place over winter for all my perennials that are in containers. My nana's, and other house plants come into my apartment for the winter.

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siege2050

I started with one Zebrina a year and a half ago, and have like 10 of them now lol. They overwinter just fine with pups. Growth slows down quite a bit indoors overwinter for the whole plant due to lower light, etc., but thats a good thing, at least for me anyway.They do stay smaller in containers, mine have about 4 feet tall pstems, and overall about 6 1/2 feet tall, but in the ground I have seen them get 10+ feet tall. Some bananas can overwinter bareroot like a giant bulb, but I have read posts that say that zebrina will usually die back this way to the corm unlike some others. I am going to try to experiment by wrapping the whole stems in plastic to keep them from drying out, and storing them bareroot under my house this winter with the rest of my bananas that can store this way. After awhile you get overpopulated with them, and either have to give them away, sell, or discard them if you live in a colder Environment, and I would rather not discard, Zebrina is one of my favorites. Zebrina is pretty tough, I had a small one in my greenhouse last winter that died down and I though it was dead so I set the pot off to the side. 5 months later after being completely dry, and in 120F degree temps, I noticed it was sprouting and quite alive. So they can at least be stored as a corm, in the same way as cannas are, they just would not be as tall by the next fall. An interesting new one I have called Bordelon seems to be a bit more robust growing than Zebrina is, it is a hybrid between Zebrina and another banana, maybe Ornata. I just got it 3 months ago at around a foot tall, and it already has 3 pups and is as tall as some of my Zebrina, and it is more cold hardy. It will be interesting to see how it does indoors this winter.

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Christine1950

Great information siege2050, you've given lots of advice. Good luck with your nana's over the winter...

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