mjc

I had been hanging around here for quite a while...several years back, but got busy and stepped away from most forums for about 4 yrs. Now I'm back to visiting the gardening/plant places again.

Currently I am banana-less and am trying to figure out what to get/grow. I'd rather something other than Dwarf Cav.

HMelendez

Welcome back to the banana gang!......

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wolfebc

Welcome back. I also was away for a few years and just recently started
using this site again.
I see you are in a banana unfriendly zone. Was saddened to hear you
were banana-less.

mjc

Yeah...unfortunately, I know that I don't have a huge number of options.

wolfebc

I used to live in a similar zone as you but I didn't let that stop me. I
grew Basjoo, Sikkimensis red tiger, Musella lasiocarpa, Ensete Maurelii
and Enano gigante. I grew them outside when the weather permitted
in spring until fall. I then put them in my cool dark basement to winter over. Some I grew in the ground and others I grew in pots that were placed
in the yard where you couldn't see the pot.
I also grew some of the more tropical varieties like Namwa, and Tanee,
because they were the only variegated ones I could get. those only went
outside during the hottest times of summer and grew indoors the rest of
the year.

There are options, but in a colder zone it becomes more work.

cincinnana

Welcome to our Jungle!!

Have fun here.

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Snarkie

Welcome aboard the Banana Express.

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Doug (D.A. Hänks) http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2955582/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1


The Only Eastern Redwood Forest in America




"Nuke my 'nanners, will you?!"

sputinc7

Welcome back. Look into short cycle bananas like Veinte Cohol and take a pup in fall and pot it. Baby it and try to get it to grow thru the winter and plant it in a well prepared bed outside when frost is impossible and you might get a bunch before frost. Something more cold hardy might stay out longer, but will take 2 or more years to fruit, if it does. Heat loving varieties like Cavendish only make it harder.
If you only want them for looks and not fruit, get Basjoo and stop worrying because they will survive your winters without help. They will die to the ground in winter and come back in spring like many other plants.
If only someone were working on crossing basjoo with Gros michel...or Paggi for me... An edible variety that can grow most anywhere...

__________________

If you lose your head and give up, you neither live nor win.

https://sputinc7.wixsite.com/covwc

Varieties I supposedly bought: Manzano, Cavendish, Blue Java, Sweetheart, and Gros Michel.
What it seems I actually have: Brazilian, Cavendish, Namwah, Dwarf Red, Gros Michel, Pisang Ceylon, Veinte Cohol and SH 3640, and American Goldfinger. FHIA 1, Paggi and FHIA 17... Always room for one more.

wolfebc

If you want to try Musa Basjoo, it really is a very hardy banana. I am
a bit confused about your zone, it seems to have quite a range.
If you are more in a zone 5a, Don't try and leave your Basjoos in
the ground over winter, even heavily mulched, they are more likely to die.
If you are more in a zone 6b you can risk leaving then in the ground
over winter but they should be heavily mulched and protected well.
it still will be a risk on weather they survive or not, so I would expect
the worst and hope for the best.

I used to live in zone 6 where it was really hard to get them to overwinter
in the ground.

sputinc7

It looks like you are on the line between 6a and 6b.I think Cinncinana grows Basjoo outside in Cincinnati, Ohio... If so, ask him as I am sure it gets colder there. My guess would be plenty of sand to keep it dry in winter.

__________________

If you lose your head and give up, you neither live nor win.

https://sputinc7.wixsite.com/covwc

Varieties I supposedly bought: Manzano, Cavendish, Blue Java, Sweetheart, and Gros Michel.
What it seems I actually have: Brazilian, Cavendish, Namwah, Dwarf Red, Gros Michel, Pisang Ceylon, Veinte Cohol and SH 3640, and American Goldfinger. FHIA 1, Paggi and FHIA 17... Always room for one more.