Update on my first dry storage, replanting attempt:
Things were a bit touch and go for awhile. After replanting the two plants, the one in this pic with 3 main pups (I didn't separate them, I just dug and stored the entire schmozzle as one plant), and the other separate plant you can see in the wheelbarrow pic above, I learned that over wetness is still definitely an issue even with hot, dry weather. I didn't remove all of the soil from the corms at the end of the season, that may have been a mistake.
I put the single plant (not pictured in this post) in a pot with recycled potting mix and it started growing nicely but then stopped and succumbed to rot, even though I only watered it once. I am pretty sure it was fine when I pulled it out of the garage, possibly rot had already started, but everything looked/felt dry and firm.
The plant in the pics here was put directly in the ground and started pushing immediately but then slowed down and started limping. The pics below are from today and I am now confident they pulled through, however its been 2 months since I planted them, so the situation is not ideal.
The stem on the left side, below, is a bit of an enigma to me. It looked for all the world like it was going the way of the dodo, the stem became softer and more flexible over the 2 months, I actually had to support it, but over that time it was still, slowly, pushing leaves. I was expecting it to just stop at any moment and collapse, but so far it has pushed out a healthy looking half leaf, a new large leaf that is looking good, and another is on the way behind it. The funny thing is that while it was pushing out these healthy looking leaves, it was looking more and more like it was going to hit the ground. Ironically, the pup in the above pic, on the right and in front of the pup with nice leaves, is as firm as can be but still has only pushed a small portion of it's first leaf.
And, a lovely little tenant has taken up residency.
Take homes for next year:
1) For any large pups, separate them at the end of August, beginning of September, giving them a month to heal, so they are appropriately sized to go into large pots the following spring.
2) Remove the soil from around the corm before storing (probably a good idea, but I am still not convinced its an absolute necessity)
3) Don't put them directly into the ground in the spring, give them a chance to re-establish growth in a pot
4) Use an EXTREMELY well draining/aerated mix, like coarse sand and perlite (just so the pots aren't so damn heavy), until they are growing well again, then transplant them.
5) and I noticed this when planting carrots - Don't use coconut coir in a winter mix - I didn't realize just how much, and for how long, this stuff holds moisture - I used some of this to plant my carrot seeds into and I found I only had to water them every 3 days or so (carrots need constant moisture until germination) even in 30 degree weather -- crazy - everything else was drying out in 3/4 of a day. I have been using coir instead of peat in my potting mixes and I now suspect it may be part of the reason I have had such a challenge over wintering bananas in my house/garage.
If anyone has any wisdom they would like to add, I am all ears
