jbclem

Last winter I overwintered an in-ground dwarf Brasilian by making a frost cloth tent around it (supplemented with large moving blankets on the really cold nights...26.5F was the coldest). In the late spring it looked alive but showed no signs of growth even with warmer weather. I later discovered half of the corm was rotted away underground, and I'm assuming this was from the winter rains...even though I covered the ground with plastic from the plant out for about 1.5 feet.

The only solution I can think of is to devise a way to keep the ground dry all winter, and I'm thinking of building a raised box(basically just 4 walls, no bottom) and planting a banana so it's 1-2 feet above the ground, in well draining soil that I can also keep covered with plastic. What I don't know is how wide/large this box should be. That's because I don't know much about the banana roots, how far they need to roam, and how deep they need to go.

The only success I've had with bananas has been growing them in the 2 cu ft plastic bags that potting soil comes in. I've overwintered them in these bags and they seem to do very well. The dwarf brasilian I mentioned above, was grown for one or two winters in a plastic bag and had some nice healthy roots circling around the inside of the bag (which was filled with good potting soil). It was easy to control the amount of water in the plastic bag/potting soil...I hardly watered it during the winters although it had a stalk and some leaves. So next time I plant one in the ground, I think the key will be controlling the soil moisture during the cold months.

Any suggestions about the size of this above ground box?

John