Re: Time to put the bananas to sleep for the Winter
 

I've mulched and will be putting down more mulch, and fertilized with a 0-0-15 with Mn and Mg. But now I notice that the Pitogo and FHIA 2 are showing Flag leaves! I hope they make it but they may not, only God knows!



:2239:

Re: Time to put the bananas to sleep for the Winter
 

Good luck with them ;)
They will make it!
:woohoonaner:

Re: Time to put the bananas to sleep for the Winter
 

Caloosamusa,.... once I found you on the map, had to admit I sure like your site name, a combo of clever, descriptive and rhyming as well. I'm on Vancouver Island, and have to ask what kind of problems do you anticipate with over-wintering musa in Florida? Would seem to be more or less an easy go, compared to more northern climes. Understand, I'm new to the whole banana thing, and just curious naturally..:bed:

Re: Time to put the bananas to sleep for the Winter
 

I had to put a bunch of nanners outside as I have a soil bug problem. I am going to store them in my storage closet outside. Which is attached to the apartment and we are 15ft off the ground,maybe that will help with warmth? Anyhow as follows - Ice Cream,Brodelon,Sikk,Cavendish which will die,Laterias. Now these have been in the house for three months and were growing great. We are suppose to drop down to the 30's tonight. SO I need to get these guys into my storage unit TODAY. So will I loose these plants from the temp change,living in 70* temps for months then living in cold temps? They sat outside in the upper 40's lastnight. Where we are located is near a large river and the ocean on the other side so we stay warmer by about 5* compared to the weather report. Zone 8 NC. This is a completely closed up storage unit just like a closet in your house. Now all these nanners will last here in the ground all year around so they should be fine being stored bare root instead of the pots. Correct?

This is my list of plants-
Basjoo
Sikk
Yellow
Laterias
Velutina
Brodelen
Ice Cream
Oricono
Would they over winter better being removed from there pots with the roots not in dirt? Thanks !!

Re: Time to put the bananas to sleep for the Winter
 

I love your advise on storing in the crawlspace. Your space looks just like mine. I have two thai black,ensete glauca,ensete ventricosun and maurelli
I will try this with. the thai is about nine ft if you count the top leaf. The maurelli is over six feet with a super fat Pstem.
So, just want to say thanks in advance of me wrecking the yard. I am definitely giving this a shot. Raggedy:ha:

Re: Time to put the bananas to sleep for the Winter
 

Maybe this is just the moderator in me (I help run other forums)
but this thread is super informative and helpful. To make it a better reference for those of us in a cold zone, what would a moderator here at bananas.org think of weeding all but the most pertinant and helpful posts out of this thread?

Its a wonderful conversation string but at 13 pages it could be easily be knocked down to 5 pages if someone just weeds out the fluff and off topic posts ("thanks", "its getting warm", posts with just emoticons, etc.)

Doesn't have to go formal but would make it less of a bear to go through for the meat and potato's of it.

Re: Time to put the bananas to sleep for the Winter
 

Has anyone tried storing apple or praying hands inside over the winter.

Re: Time to put the bananas to sleep for the Winter
 

Maybe it could be a separate post but I'd be cool to see who has had success with this technique and with which bananas....

Re: Time to put the bananas to sleep for the Winter
 

Two years ago, I tried overwintering in the garage. No luck. (not cold enough I think)

Last year I overwintered indoors and after making it into the New Year, spider mites got the better of one plant and the other died off, but put out pups. A LOT of work and really cuts into your winter vacation plans! (Others I know take short vacations because of the dog... here I was not taking two weeks away because of the bananas)

I transplanted the pups outside in the spring and though they didn't do as well as I'd hoped, they're still growing and I'm thinking I'm going to leave them and try overwintering outdoors.

I haven't separated them as I figure the less I disturb them now, the better they'll survive winter. (Toronto, Canada)

I was just wondering if others here felt it was good to add some heat to the soil via heating cables, or light under all the mulch etc, or would that heat promote rot - meaning it would be better to just mulch and protect and see what happens? I'm not worried about losing p-stem as I think thats pretty much a given considering my climate and yard factors.

Re: Time to put the bananas to sleep for the Winter
 

Does this thread win the longest lasting thread contest?
Or maybe most useful.

I live in a ranch and don't think I will be able to maintain cold enough temps for the winter. I am going to cut mine all back to one leaf and pot them up in small pots and leave them in a big south facing bay window...
They will most likely get 0 water maybe once if needed.

I grew one DC last winter inside it put out 3 leafs, but ended up losing a couple inches come spring.

I just hope my thick plants will not rot, I figure my chances are better this way then bare rooted and dormant at maybe not so ideal temps..

I think the soil out of the bag might even have to much moisture in it.
Do I want the plant to root in or does it matter?

I think I remember someone talking about climate controlled storage facilities, do they get cold enough?..

Thoughts?

Re: Time to put the bananas to sleep for the Winter
 

Has anyone tried this with a musa basjoo? I know they are hardy but i would love to start off next spring with a 9 or 10 foot plant and not have to wait all year for it to get this big again...

Re: Time to put the bananas to sleep for the Winter
 

Yes and it worked well for me last year .

Re: Time to put the bananas to sleep for the Winter
 

i have read all of these pages a few times and my head is spinning. i have 2 different bannanas and a red abysinnian i need to get ready for winter. some of the banana i left in the ground and mulched over after frost. one made it, on didnt. i have 3 others now to deal with. i have others which have stayed small in pots that are reddish i usually keep them as house plants for the winter. i have to many plants to try to keep as house plants now so im thinking i need to store them in my basement for winter. im mostly concerned with the red abysinnian. do have to remove the leaves? this winter my 1 year old is just a little too active to have these plants all over the house. so i guess im looking to stick everything in the basement. i have a lot of non banana plants/trees to deal with also. small lemon tree, a few of those twisted up hibiscus trees, oleadner, 2 plumeria, and a bunch of bird of paradise. some of them are cheap but it all adds up and id like to save all that i can.

Re: Time to put the bananas to sleep for the Winter
 

Jamesdart,
I just finished digging all my banana plants up and potting them [just wish i hadn't waited till dark]. That included 2 red Absynnians [about 3 1/2 feet each], 3 Ice Creams, and 1 dwarf Cavendish. If you want them to be dormant [about 50-65*F] then you should prolly cut most of the leaves off and keep them in the dark. I read that light can cause them to come out of dormancy. I'm gonna leave mine warm [70-80*F] and not cut leaves off. One thing is certain, Absynnians get corm-rot very easy so I def wont water mine cept maybe a tiny bit once a month. Another thing is that Absynnians can get eaten fast by spider mites in the winter. If you think they might have mites, get them treated fast. And never put water or fertilizer directly on the corm. Anyway, it's def not a good idea to water or fertilize in the winter. Good luck and keep us posted on your progress! :)

Re: Time to put the bananas to sleep for the Winter
 

i picked up that Absynnian this year about 3' tall, i put it in a big pot and it is now about 10' including the pot. i have been after one for a long time but never knew they grew that fast. i have plenty of room in my basement and it stays above freezing, im not sure about putting that sucker in my living room.

Re: Time to put the bananas to sleep for the Winter
 

well i have had my fun for the day i got started this mornnig i dug dwarfcavendish dwarf reds red-greens bananas 30 in all it was easier than last year the dirt was dry just brush it off then i cut off all the leaves now just lay them out to dry for a few days. when it gets colder i will dig my apple and prayning hands and saba calfi gold .

Re: Time to put the bananas to sleep for the Winter
 

yep yep spent the better half of the day digging up the nanners and other tropicals. Sad that it had to be so early.

Left out the Basjoos and Orinocos for a later date.
I under potted mine, hope they make it.

Re: Time to put the bananas to sleep for the Winter
 

Well the kids have been moved in to the spare bedroom and of course the temps will be in the 70's this week with upper 50's at night. We had a frost on Saturday morning temp on the deck was 31.6 so glad we moved them in early evening Friday. They are too big to take in and out so.....they are in a time out in their room until spring:waving:

Re: Time to put the bananas to sleep for the Winter
 

I would welcome anyone to extract the useful parts and insert that in our wiki as more of a formal document to reference.
:2738:

Re: Time to put the bananas to sleep for the Winter
 

I like that idea, Jarred. There are a lot of impertinent posts in this thread now, but at the same time there are still some newer posts that stay on topic. I'd like to keep the thread going like it is.

Frank