Kingfish

Greetings

I live in Northern Virginia (Zone 7). Last summer I bought an 3 foot Ensete maurelii from Home depot. I planted in a large pot and it grew all last summer very well. I moved the pot to the garage last winter and reduced watering.. All the leaves died but the stem came right back this spring.
In the spring I put it in the ground. It is on SW side of house and protected from winds. It has grown very large since this spring. Do you think I can leave it in place this winter with protection in this area? I would rather not dig it up and move it since I have limited space. It is in my gallery to view. The stem is over a foot and the leaves are 5 foot long now. I still have at least 8 weeks of frost free weather left this year. Anyone in Northern Virginia
can give advice.

Thanks
Kingfish

Bob

You are definitely a warm zone 7. I get down to Ashburn a few times every winter and it always seems 20* warmer than up here in zone 6 NJ. Still, E. Maurellii is only reputed to be hardy to zone 9. These plants do well stored dry see:Time to put the bananas to sleep for the Winter. and:Bilder von Familie End aus Jöhlingen
The 2nd link is in German but the pictures tell it all and is well worth a look! I think this may be a better option for you. It would be a shame to see such a nice plant lost to the cold.

__________________

Taylor

Welcome, fellow Virginian!

I am in z8a of Virginia (Virginia Beach) and I tried to protect mine and it died anyway. I have a feeling that it might have done even better without as much protection, but I wouldn't even try in z7 Virginia, especially with the wetness we experience in winter. I would try my hardest to put yours in the basement or garage even if it takes a couple people to accomplish. I tried protection as "the lazy way" and I lost a fair amount (over half of my collection). This year I am not risking anything that is rated z9 of warmer unless I have proven it can survive with my methodology (Washingtonia robusta, for example).

Keep us updated either way. There have been people in the Pacific Northwest that built a wooden frame around their E. ventricosum 'Maurelli' with styrofoam interior and a heat lamp. They even experienced growth, having to open the frame because it would get too warm! The member's name was similar to "Las_Palmas_Nortes" or something.

LilRaverBoi

Bob...thanks for that link to the German site. What a great story the pictures told! That Maurelii got SOOOO MASSIVE! Looks like it didn't survive the next winter though (if you click on the link at the very bottom)

__________________
BANANA RAVE!
Feel the beat from start to stop, dancin' and movin' from bottom to top!
lilraverboi@genxglow.com
RIP Tog Tan. We love you and will always remember you!
I'm Bryan with a Y! There is no 'I' in BRYAN!

Kingfish

Thanks for the advice Taylor. I will go ahead and dig it up. I have an unheated garage I will use. We can get quite cold in winter. I overwintered it in the garage last year, as well as 2 quite large tropical hibiscus. Do I just store the corm in a large empty pot?
Thanks for the links Bob. They were quite informative. I will take picts and let you know if it worked .

Thanks
Kingfish

Bob

Bryan and all, this guy in Germany is kind of my cold weather growing idol. There were several other members here of course who through conversation or pictures really inspired me to do what I've done over the past 11 months and who ...................I should graciously thank but true to form I'll just say I'm down a couple of grand due to my "addiction"........THANKS A LOT!!!!......

__________________

LilRaverBoi

LMFAO....oh STFU, you like it!! TEE-HEE! It's always good to have inspirations, though...even if they cause you to spend thousands of dollars on things. I find a lot of inspiration from all you experienced members here on bananas.org, so thanks!

__________________
BANANA RAVE!
Feel the beat from start to stop, dancin' and movin' from bottom to top!
lilraverboi@genxglow.com
RIP Tog Tan. We love you and will always remember you!
I'm Bryan with a Y! There is no 'I' in BRYAN!

Lagniappe

Kingfish, I'm always going on about Maurelii's hardiness. Leave it out, don't cover the stem (just cut off the leaves after they brown), and I'll replace it if you lose it.

Bob

Good man ,Pete. It would be interesting to test the limits.

__________________