Alberta Banana
 

So i made a post back in november. My musa basjoo this year i took in for dry storage. Next year i plan to protect it. It is already shooting a new leaf out so is the pup. Whats your guys thoughts. its zone 4a

Re: Alberta Banana
 

You have to tell us more about what you did
I assume it's not back outside yet in Alberta, pretty chilly up there
How did you overwinter it? If it's inside and making leaf I assume it has lights and water?

Dave

Re: Alberta Banana
 

I dry storaged it. Now I have it by the window. Wondering if I should separate the pup yet.no I haven't planted it yet. Still Alittle cold. Although it has been in the 50s and high 60s this week. Next week we might even get in the low 70s.

Re: Alberta Banana
 

I'm a total rookie so don't listen to me but if it were mine I'd get it in the ground and let it get going before I tried to divide it. Others with more experience will chime in and give you better advice than mine.
That's quite a feat growing bananas in Albert, got any pics?

Dave

Re: Alberta Banana
 

I would definitely wait at least another month to plant outside, until after expected last frost day. I would just seperate the pup when u take it out of the pot, so u can see what ure working with. Remove a little dirt from the top so u can see where pup attaches to mom and then cut through to seperate. Should be pretty easy to tease the pup loose after this with basically no damage to eithers roots since its not in a pot or the ground. It is definitely possible to overwinter outside in Alberta, there is a thread somewhere of a guy doing it in zone 3 Alberta. That being said it will take some serious protection the first year to keep it alive. I just uncovered one of mine today that was a first year mat and it was pretty much mush, I'll be lucky if it throws a pup up. One tip for planting....plant deep!

Re: Alberta Banana
 

Re: Alberta Banana
 

Nice, did you manage to keep all that size in dry storage? Those will be prime to overwinter after another years growth on top of that. Just thought of a second planting tip...when overwintering basjoos, keep a pup indoors for security. I didn't do that this year because I thought I was golden with a handful of mats now. After uncovering one of the mats today that I was pretty confident would make it, I quickly realized this was a dumb move. The whole thing was mush as far down as I could feel. Hopefully I planted this one as deep as I think I did.

Oct 1, 2014

Today

Re: Alberta Banana
 

Fingers crossed for you

Re: Alberta Banana
 

Can u post some pics of yours?

Re: Alberta Banana
 

sure

Re: Alberta Banana
 

do you mean the one in dry storage right?

Re: Alberta Banana
 

Re: Alberta Banana
 

what kind of temps and light did that have over the winter?
I can overwinter basjoo outside here with no problem but I'd like to try some other varieties that would need to come in from the cold.
I have a basement but it stays around 60F in the winter so I don't think bananas would go dormant. I guess I could put some lights on them. I'd just like to hear what others do before I strike out on my own

Thanks for the pics,

Dave

Re: Alberta Banana
 

I had it in a room that stayed around 55 fahenhite

Re: Alberta Banana
 

i got the banana planted today. for the 14 day forecast it is showing no frost. and 50s and 60s every day

Re: Alberta Banana
 

i planted the corm a foot in the ground then mulched about 3 inches

Re: Alberta Banana
 

Your good to go now.....:08:
The depth you planted it and with the additional mulch you will be giving it will pretty much guarantee success.
Of course it will die back every year .......but each year your mat will become larger and taller.:)

Re: Alberta Banana
 

We got a frost last night so I covered it, seems to be fine