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dpren3275
Junior Member
Registered: December 2006
Location: Sunshine Coast, BC Ca
Posts: 44
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Mon May 5, 2008 9:02am
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Rating: 10.00
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Thanks for your great summary with the picture of your shelter. How did it do for over wintering your palms this past winter.
When I saw your signature about growing bananas in AB I knew I had to check out your photos. I'm on the BC coast but we had a cold winter here with frost for many, many days and have had below normal spring temperatures. Old timers to this area say they have never seen it so poor. Anyhow, my nanas made it through the winter. I kept the nanas, palms etc in the cabin around 60 F. I lost one nana, probably too dry, and 4 palms - again too dry. I did not want to have them too wet that the roots would rot but I went too far the other way. Hopefully I can do better next winter. Donna
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AllenF
Junior Member
Registered: February 2007
Location: Edmonton, Alberta
Posts: 151
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I left the soil dry and that hurt the Butia Capitata. The potted palms and sagos didn't get watered in time and suffered badly. It is still too early to know how many will die. While they needed little water during winter when the shelter temps were between +5 and -5, as winter ended the shelter temps increased to +10 the pots dried out quickly. That last blast of winter resulted in most palms and yuccas getting sunburn when I opened the top. It had been open before. I had to close it for 3 or 4 days due to the cold. When I re-opened it, the sun reflecting off of the snow was much stronger than I expected.
The Livistona chinensis in the unheated shelter died back to the ground as expected. But the rhododendron that was in the shelter with them sustained about 30% leaf kill. It was supposed to be hardy to -20*C. The shelter temperatures got colder than I expected and I doubt that the Livistonas will come back from their roots.
The shelters will have to be redesigned to allow more light, easier access to water the palms and a venting system to get the heat out without letting a lot of sun in.
But the Palms survived being in the ground outside when the temperatures reached -38*C.
The cost was pretty reasonable. Our power cost increased $20~ despite having our niece and 2 small children live with the 2 of us all winter. This was offset by upgrading our old clothes dryer to a modern efficient unit.
I let my bananas die back and stored them inside last winter. I also lost 1 dwarf cavendish and my Rajapuris took quite a while to break dormancy. I think that they will come in before the first frost this year and will be stored in the basement at about 65*F with some light.
Allen
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You don't have to be crazy to grow Bananas in Alberta, but it helps:2727:
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