Quote:
Originally Posted by pitangadiego
What is damage? Fried leaves? Dead pseudostem? or just loss of vigor that is never recovered from, tat leads to less fruit or smaller fruit? If the latter, for many varieties, esp. in the Cavendish family, probably 50F. It also matters how long it is cold, and if it is also wet (raining). Cold and wet (above freezing) is more damaging than cold or wet by themselves. A couple nights at 38F is different than two weeks at 45F, but possibly not a damaging. Soil temp probably makes a difference, as well.
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For my purposes, I consider a dead pseudostem to be the worse case scenario. I keep my DC potted and indoors so that my plant does not have to regrow the p-stem each spring. In theory, over-wintering indoors means I will harvest bananas sooner. From Nov. 2011 to Mar. 2012, my plant was able to produce 8 new leaves indoors. Furthermore, I suspect the bell is now inside the p-stem just waiting for its moment in the sun. If the leaves are killed by frost, then more should regrow, but if the p-stem dies with the bell inside then I've nursed this banana 1.5 years for nothing. I would have to wait for my smaller DC plants to mature before I ever harvested my very first raceme of bananas.