trying to figure out the right amount of wood chips for musa basjoo over winter
 

last year i believe i did not put enough wood chips on my basjoos in the backyard
in years past i had bought some straw bales which i used to insulate the stone retaining wall which also helped in making the pile high without spreading as wide
the bales eventually decomposed and i tried just piling chips against the wall instead last year but i think because i used so much on the sides that the pile wasnt tall enough
this year i bought some new bales and i also got a whole truckload of chips dropped at another front yard a couple blocks away and brought trailer loads of chips to a bunch of different locations with basjoos
it was a big pile and i moved half of it on one weekend and the other half the following weekend and when i was moving the chips the 2nd weekend the main pile of chips had started composting and had gotten pretty hot
it was steaming as i was moving them to the trailer on a cold day
so there is a ballance somewhere between too little chips and too cold and too many chips and too hot
i havent disturbed the piles on my basjoos to see if they are cooking but hopefully i have a good amount
i will let you know next year how it turned out
about a 6'X10' trailer load per mat ... a little more on the one in the backyard
i also waited a week or so too long to cover them and some cold weather affected them and the stems were already a bit mushy when i cut them down
it would have been better if i had buried them before they experienced those cold (-5c and snow and wind) conditions

Re: trying to figure out the right amount of wood chips for musa basjoo over winter
 

That's a lotta work mate but worth all the effort, I've just trimmed mine to about six feet tall and a double wrapping.

Re: trying to figure out the right amount of wood chips for musa basjoo over winter
 

I got tired just looking at the amount of work you put into that. LOL. Oh, also I think you got the right amount.

Re: trying to figure out the right amount of wood chips for musa basjoo over winter
 

Seeing that the roots can't go dormant and will rot, is there any advantage of leaving it in the ground opposed to digging it up and placing it in dry storage?

It seems like it would re-root earlier next year if kept indoors in dry storage.

Re: trying to figure out the right amount of wood chips for musa basjoo over winter
 

Looks like a good haul of trimmings.

Re: trying to figure out the right amount of wood chips for musa basjoo over winter
 

i havent had much luck with dry storing thus far
it may be that i have not kept the right and consistent temperatures and humidity
humidity has probably been my biggest issue as each time i attempt this
by the end of the winter they dry and shrivel up
the cold season is 7 + months and in that time they go from looking great for the first while to eventually shriveled up
that was always with varieties other than basjoo i have not tried dormant storing it
basjoo i have found to not like to be kept under lights in the basement for the winter and do way better outside for the winter

but probably the #1 reason is space
since they can survive outside it is one less thing to bring inside

it is also like set and forget
i think most people who want banana foliage up this far north would like to do a bit of work in spring and fall and not have any effort all winter to try to keep the plants happy

i probably will try dormant storing again some day when i have the right space to store them

Re: trying to figure out the right amount of wood chips for musa basjoo over winter
 

Our climates are very different but when I put a rhizome into dry storage it's exactly the same as if I was potting it except I don't add water and I store it in a cool dark area. Because I use clean coarse sand as the medium it'll limit the aeration from becoming excessive and when I'm ready to get the plant growing again I'll just need to add moisture.

Even though the majority of the time the rhizome will go dormant sometimes it will produce leaves even though it has no roots. In that case I'll need to add moisture and let the plant grow.

Another interesting thing can happen where the rhizome after it's been in storage for a while will produce what initially appears to be new offshoots but instead of each having just one growing point they'll produce hundreds of growing points.

Re: trying to figure out the right amount of wood chips for musa basjoo over winter
 

oh ok you are storing just the corms
i was trying to keep pstems as well
it was the pstems which were shriveling up
maybe i needed to have them in coarse sand when i planted them out but i have not had sucess yet

amazing info about creating many plants through that process

Re: trying to figure out the right amount of wood chips for musa basjoo over winter
 

here is what the basjoo mat in the front looks like right now


and in the backyard.... the taller mound is the bbq.... basjoo mat is the pile behind that on the far left of the picture