Do you have to protect musa basjoo?
 

I was curious.. this is my first year growing musa basjoo. I got my plants from amazon. They were very small.. like 4 inch pots with 3-4 leaves.. took them a little while to adjust but they got to a decent size ranging frim 2-4 feet of stalk and the leaves go up further.. my question is:

Do you have to protect and insulate the stalk in order to get big plants or can the plants be cutdown and every year get stronger and bigger starting from the soil if i chop them down and cover with mulch?

I was thinking of trying to cover 2 with insulation and bubble wrap.. any suggestions would be appreciated.. thank you!! Hope your gardens are going well.. :)

Re: Do you have to protect musa basjoo?
 

Basjoo plants have been know to survive sub-zero temps and are very cold hardy. But from the description of you plants, I think the plant & roots may still be too young & tender for freezing temps. I suggest bringing them inside in pots or as bare roots just to insure they will make it to next spring.

Of course, you can cut the pstem back, mulch very heavily & cover mulch & all with plastic and hope they will come back next spring.

Just my 2 cents worth ....

Re: Do you have to protect musa basjoo?
 

Thank you for replying ! I didn't realize you could bring them inside. I don'5 know if my family will be cool with a big banana stalk in a pot in the house lol. I may just cut t down and then mulch heavily so the root system can establish itself since it is the first year. One of my plants got big leaves in the firs yeat several 3 foot leaves by a foot and a half or so.. and there are several pups starting to emerge from the base of the plant..

Re: Do you have to protect musa basjoo?
 

Eric,
Are your plants in the ground or in pots? IF the family is ok on bringing them in you could transplant the plant to a pot and if you have a grow light or a good south window the plant will survive. IF its in the ground you can mulch it, bubblewrap, hey and bags. That's what I do with mine and have pictures on another thread. Another idea of what you can do is dig them up and put them in a warm dark place to rest. I do that with my elephant ears, cannas and red banana plants.
Mike

Re: Do you have to protect musa basjoo?
 

Hey thank you for the advice. Yes they are all in the ground. I think bringing them indoors will be an issue but the bubblewrap hay and bag trick seems like a good idea. How much bubblewrap and hay do you need ? I have 3 main musa basjoo plants im trying to save through the winter. I heard bubblewrap is problematic? I just want them to live so badly lol

Re: Do you have to protect musa basjoo?
 

Erik.
Your hardiness zone is zone 7....if you can remove your zip from your profile and inserted your zone 7 would be awesome.
So.
If you dug a great loose well draining big hole slightly elevated from the rest of your garden your small plants should be fine with a heavy layer of mulch/organics /bags of mulch or leaves and whatever else to choose

Anything you can put over the corm that will add distance from the freezing temps above the soil line will help your plant.

Here is a link to help you make a decision..

Generally, In July/ August no matter what you choose to do with your plant to overwinter it, the height will be the same.

Re: Do you have to protect musa basjoo?
 

you need to cover and insulate the corms enough to keep from freezing, thats most important, then in case we get a warm spell at some point, you need to keep them from getting light and moisture so they don't start to grow in the middle of their dormancy, i put a final covering of black plastic over all with some kind of weights on the outer edges.
good luck and if they don't make it i have tons of pups not far from you in the spring. we all get better at it and more addicted to it each year.

Re: Do you have to protect musa basjoo?
 

To expand on my early post and scottu's post: ... Long Island appears to have a soil frost/freeze depth of 18 to 20 inches. So I think the mulch should be as thick or more to allow for settlement and extend aprox. 24 to 36 inches around the corm/plant to prevent freezing from the outer edge. The plastic is to kept the mulch in place and freezing rain out as well as giving a greenhouse effect for heat. ... If you keep the young/tender corms temps above freezing, they will survive the winter. ... When the leaves die cut the pstem to the ground.

Re: Do you have to protect musa basjoo?
 

As the other guys said ....Pile it on.:woohoonaner:
In the spring rake it back.
.

Untitled
by Hostafarian,
on Flickr

Re: Do you have to protect musa basjoo?
 

So covering with mulch and nothing else works just fine?

Re: Do you have to protect musa basjoo?
 

So do you think this is suitable? So far i went around each stalk and piled soil along the trunk to make a mound around the corm to encourage rain to go to the sides instead of settling on the trunk area. Then i want to buy bubble wrap and rap up the stalk well and cover with mulch or hay and then buy a plastic garbage pale and cover it with that and put a rock on top of the lid to keep the pale from being blown over

Re: Do you have to protect musa basjoo?
 

Don't ever put any kind of plastic against the banana plant! Use another source. no moisture barriers against the plant, Other than that, that could work.

Re: Do you have to protect musa basjoo?
 

This is what comfuses me because i have seen and heard ppl who have used bubble wrap and they say it works just as well? Then some ppl say you don't have to do any winterizing and their bananas come back every year and grow 10-15 feet no problem. I just wanna do the easiest method and while preserving the height. Decisions decisions lol

Re: Do you have to protect musa basjoo?
 

Well......... ask yourself this question.

How much do you want to spend annually for a ten dollar plant.


A link is supplied for some pics

https://www.flickr.com/gp/hostafarian/Bt71u4

Re: Do you have to protect musa basjoo?
 

interesting on the no plastic. I'm a little confused here, like Eric. I have been using the bubble wrap since I saw it on you tube. I get the stuff at work that is basically trash so no I'm not stealing from work :) I think Ill just use my method this year since I have so many resources already. I will continue to learn about this. Heck we are all green thumbs and have learned by trial and error. Thank you for your experienced advice Cincinana!

Re: Do you have to protect musa basjoo?
 

How far down to the ground do you cut the plant?

Re: Do you have to protect musa basjoo?
 

What is your method?

Re: Do you have to protect musa basjoo?
 

use a blanket or on old pair of pants first, then bubble wrap it.

Re: Do you have to protect musa basjoo?
 

yes, that's to the point, no moisture barrier/plastic against the plant!
Though you could get a little more creative with the insulation!

Re: Do you have to protect musa basjoo?
 

yes and also use a piece of plywood or particle board or a large piece of Styrofoam to keep the sun off it. plastic when the sun hits when its on the ground pulls moisture.