Uncovered my basjoos in Pennsylvania!
 

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to share a small success story! We will have warm daytime temps for the next 2+ weeks and no night time freezing so I unwrapped my musa basjoos to see how they survived.

To overwinter them, I used some attic insulation R30 with a bit of straw around the plant's stem to keep the round shape. I covered this 'mess' with a few trash bags. I did have foam insulation around the base but didn't have the heart to chop the stalks down that low.

Looks like it all survived, I was shocked at how much stem was saved considering there was no heat source and we had several cold and windy days when the temperature didn't get above 24F.

Hope everyone else has similar success!

Erik G in Pennsylvania

Re: Uncovered my basjoos in Pennsylvania!
 

Congrats!........looking very good!.....they will re-grow in no time (very quick)!....

Re: Uncovered my basjoos in Pennsylvania!
 

How big did your musa basjoo get in one season? How long have you had that plant ? I just got 4 baby ones from amazon and i was curious how big i could get them in one growing season. I like the idea of using insulation - makes sense.

Re: Uncovered my basjoos in Pennsylvania!
 

Thanks HMelendez!

Eric, my plants were about 1 foot at the start of the year and grew to a pstem of about 5'. The plant was about 8' tall when the leaves were pointed upwards....

Re: Uncovered my basjoos in Pennsylvania!
 

WOW, that's awesome
even if you still get a cold snap it should only get the top of the leaves
did that foam around the base not have a cover?

Re: Uncovered my basjoos in Pennsylvania!
 

It did have a cover with a big hole in it to allow the pstem with insulation wrap to pass through.....

It seems like it was perhaps 'overkill' since we had a mild winter, but was good insurance!

Re: Uncovered my basjoos in Pennsylvania!
 

here's an ensete I just dragged out of the livingroom
it would never make it outside in the ground but I'm wondering if it could covered in a foam box like that.
this is it's 3rd year and it's getting pretty big to haul in and out

Re: Uncovered my basjoos in Pennsylvania!
 

Wow so they grew like 4-7 feet just in one growing season? Did you feed it a lot of fertilizer and was it in full sun? Just curious.

Re: Uncovered my basjoos in Pennsylvania!
 

My plants get full sun in summer but will get some shade from a tree early and late in the season. So on hot summer days, the plants look really 'beat' from too much sun actually...

I used some fish emulsion or banana fertilizer maybe once a week when it was growing fast. My soil is full of clay and rocks, but somehow these things grow great!

Erik

Re: Uncovered my basjoos in Pennsylvania!
 

Looking good! I just checked mine, and one of the ones I put in a cage with sawdust has about three inches of growth that it didn't have yesterday!

I also stuck my potted basjoos out yesterday, as we're getting temps close to 80F here now. :08:

Re: Uncovered my basjoos in Pennsylvania!
 

Climate change has consequences!

Maybe not all of them are bad?

Re: Uncovered my basjoos in Pennsylvania!
 

It's not the climate that's changing; it's our location. We have shifted 15 degrees to the west, and 500 miles south, since 1940. This is why things feel warmer, why the sun is now shining in what used to be north facing windows. My property lines are all screwed up at my cabin (all off 15 degrees), and I have confirmed this with a surveyor, who also - interestingly - told me that our elevation has risen by 2" since 1929.

If you've lived in a location for thirty years or more, you should have noticed the same thing. North has shifted 7 degrees to the east in just the last thirty years. This is not magnetic north; this is physical north, which is why the sun now sets in formally northern windows.

When I first noticed this, after having checked old maps as well as my plot plan, I looked online and I have discovered that people all over the northern hemisphere are reporting the same thing. This also explains why one side of Antarctica is melting, while the other side is freezing over.

Think I'm crazy? Check it out for yourselves. Go back to your old homestead where you have a photo of a sunrise or sunset on a given date from more than twenty years ago. You'll see it's now in a different location. I checked a photo of the sun rising next door in June of 1896. Last year, the sun rose 7 degrees to the south of that location. In my neighborhood, the streets were laid out in north/south and east/west grids back in the late '50's. Guess what? They are all now off by 12 degrees.

I'd love to hear what some of you find in your locations once you check out old data vs. new.

Re: Uncovered my basjoos in Pennsylvania!
 

we shifted 15 degrees west last weekend when daylight savings time began
I'm not sure about the 500 miles south thing
you sure them's bananas your growin?
not makin muffins out of em are ya :bananas_b

Re: Uncovered my basjoos in Pennsylvania!
 

I just uncovered mine... this is the first winter with a basjoo in the ground here in Denver. I had left about 3' on the main stem. Sprayed it down with anti-fungal spray and let it dry before wrapping it in two layers of bubble wrap, then mulched about 2' around the bottom with leaves and grass clippings, and covered the entire thing in plastic.

It was mostly mush (as were a couple smaller stems), so I cut it down to about 4". It's rather firm where I cut it, and maybe 4-5" in diameter. So now I wait to see if anything emerges.

Re: Uncovered my basjoos in Pennsylvania!
 

HI ,

Looks like you have some good base material left and hopefully it will grow back soon!!

Did your bubble wrap go tight against the stem of the plant? I wonder if it trapped in moisture.

What I noticed was when I hybernated my basjoo, the base of the cut leaves continued to 'weep' water for a long time after I removed the leaves. Because of this, I only loosely stuffed dry leaves/straw against the banana stem. I didn't apply any anti fungal spray - although I did remove a little bit of mushy outer stem material in spring.

I had a plastic cover (trash bags) to keep water/wind out but I used it only as my outermost layer.

Regards

Erik G

Re: Uncovered my basjoos in Pennsylvania!
 

I would think that placing plastic directly against the p-stem would trap moisture and promote rot. Some sort of wicking material (I used sawdust and slash), and then waterproofing from the elements might be the best of both worlds.

Re: Uncovered my basjoos in Pennsylvania!
 

Uncovered mine in ohio a couple weeks ago. The center corm has no growth at all on all 4 plants. It is hard as a rock. Wondering if this is normal? Have about 6 pups coming up from each one though.

Re: Uncovered my basjoos in Pennsylvania!
 

Not trying to hijack here but I got a new basjoo pup about 10" tall. Should I grow it out in a pot before planting outside? I'm going to wait till may 3rd or later to plant either way to make sure it's frost free here in Montreal.

Re: Uncovered my basjoos in Pennsylvania!
 

Hard is good. Mushy is bad. Be patient.

Re: Uncovered my basjoos in Pennsylvania!
 

Hi Chris-

I kept my first ones in pots until I was certain frost had passed. I watered and fertilized just as though they were in the ground, so when they did go in, they were already ahead.

Re: Uncovered my basjoos in Pennsylvania!
 

Thanks for the suggestions! I didn't immediately cover it after the first freeze. I chopped off the leaves and let it dry for a week or so. But obviously it was still moist. So maybe wrapping with something soft/loose and then bubble wrap over that? All the leaves I had in there were still dry and loose, but the bubble wrap had been tight.

For Denver, this was a good winter temperature-wise. No crazy Arctic air and only about 3 times did we drop below 10 above. I think 6 above a couple nights was the coldest I had at my house. Now, I just wait to see if anything grows.

Re: Uncovered my basjoos in Pennsylvania!
 

One question for the experts... it's supposed to be cool and rainy this week, dropping to the upper 30s a couple nights. Should I put a pot over the cut down base? I'm wondering if cold rain wouldn't be good at this point. Looks like highs in the 50s, lows upper 30s.

Re: Uncovered my basjoos in Pennsylvania!
 

Personally I think high 30s is fine for a nite temp. I'd only cover it when it gets within a few degrees of freezing.

Re: Uncovered my basjoos in Pennsylvania!
 

OK, I'll toss a pot over it if it looks like any frost is possible. It's still very moist... not sure if more water (cold rain) would be helpful.

Re: Uncovered my basjoos in Pennsylvania!
 

My first winter over wintering them the mother plant was same way really hard but never came up. I think maybe I cut it to short that year. All the pups made it no problem. The hard brown mother corm is still in there 3 years later lol. Give it time it might push up and if not the pups will take over for you.

Re: Uncovered my basjoos in Pennsylvania!
 

Upper 30's are fine for musa basjoo.

Re: Uncovered my basjoos in Pennsylvania!
 

Well, I'll see. It's about 4" high and a 5" diameter, hard around the base. Coming from this low, how high could it get? I may buy another one and plant along-side just to ensure I have something big growing. I was very impressed with the growth I had last year. It was taller than me!

Re: Uncovered my basjoos in Pennsylvania!
 

My fingers are crossed so that it recovers for you!

I had 2 basjoo p-stems that were about 4' tall this spring when I uncovered them. Just for laughs, I chopped one of them down to see how fast the plant grows back from a stump. At the end of summer, I can see if there is a height difference between them.

Bascially I want to know if it was worth the extra effort to save the entire p-stem.... In the last 2 weeks, the stump has grown 1' of new p-stem with a leaf coming and the full 4' p-stem basjoo has pushed a leaf and is working on the second leaf.

The race is on! haha

Erik G



Stumpy:


My other plant with full p-stem after winter:

Re: Uncovered my basjoos in Pennsylvania!
 

It's worth the effort to leave them as tall as possible. My tallest one has been taller than me for a couple of months now.

Re: Uncovered my basjoos in Pennsylvania!
 

Hi, I am a newbie to this forum. My location is in Vancouver, B.C. and it has been a mild winter. I don't know the official name of the banana plant I bought from Costco other than Hardy Banana. I had planted it in the ground a few years ago and it has produced many pups. One of the them is almost the same height as the original, around 6 feet without the leaves. Last year, the banana fruits started coming out, although it did not grow to regular size bananas due to the cooler temperatures here. I wrapped them in the winter with bubble wrap and a material similar to burlap. They have survived the previous winters. This spring, after I unwrapped them, the younger plant has sprouted leaves like crazy. The original plant does not seem to be doing anything. The top of this plant is hard and dark. Am I suppose to cut back the trunk as I see in some of the photos in this forum or remove the top hard part? The trunk is 6 feet tall right now.

Any advice is appreciated. Thanks, Ernie

Re: Uncovered my basjoos in Pennsylvania!
 

They do that sometimes. I have had a few just stop growing and send all energy to pups. It has happened to me maybe 3 times. 2 after winter and one mid summer. Main "mom" that stopped growing showed no signs of dieing of problems. I think this is common but I'm unsure why they do this.

Re: Uncovered my basjoos in Pennsylvania!
 

Thanks for your information. So do I just cut it back or down to ground?
The trunk appears to be greenish still, i.e. not dead.
What's a person to do?
Thanks,
Ernie

Re: Uncovered my basjoos in Pennsylvania!
 

I always just left it hoping it would start back growing but it always just turns brown and dies back. I never cut anything green on mine. You will be suprized how fast the pup shoots up though. I would leave it all let it do its thing. Never know it may just be getting a late start.

Re: Uncovered my basjoos in Pennsylvania!
 

Most likely Musa basjoo.

Welcome to the forum, Ernie. Why don't you post in the New Members section and introduce yourself?

Re: Uncovered my basjoos in Pennsylvania!
 

Well, so far my "stump" isn't doing anything, but there is a green shoot coming up next to it. So I guess that means it survived.

I bought another basjoo to plant next to the old one, since I want all that tall growth. Maybe I'll bring this stalk in next winter, along with all my elephant ear bulbs.

Re: Uncovered my basjoos in Pennsylvania!
 

I had one do that over the winter as well. The mama died back but the corm sent up a couple of water pups.

Re: Uncovered my basjoos in Pennsylvania!
 

Since the pups are coming from an established plant, to the get very tall?

I think the problem with the stalk was moisture. I see the pictures where someone else had actual insulation wrapped around the stalk. Maybe that's where I failed?

Re: Uncovered my basjoos in Pennsylvania!
 

Moisture is a problem and causes them to rot. I never let the plastic touch the pstem on the ones I cover.

The pup will come up very fast because there is already a corm and roots to support it. The pup either water sucker or sword sucker will end up the same size in the end.

Re: Uncovered my basjoos in Pennsylvania!
 

Good to know, thanks! We do have a rather short growing season in Denver... mainly due to the crappy late April and sometimes early May weather. Last year it didn't freeze until the first week of November, so not bad on the Fall end of things.

I have a bunch of elephant ears I need to plant this weekend. I start them growing indoors in April, and they're rather out of control right now. I'll have my tropical garden going soon.

Re: Uncovered my basjoos in Pennsylvania!
 

About 3 weeks since my last picture and we've had several cold and not very sunny days lately so not much growth has happened.

Both my basjoos are pushing their second leaves and I'm surprised to see how much height my 'stumpy' was able to recover. Its gained back almost half the p-stem that I removed in April. Even better, the full p-stem guy is really rockin' some big leaves to start the growing season off.

In the back of the photo is my strawberry bed which has been enjoying all the rain and cool weather.


Erik G

Re: Uncovered my basjoos in Pennsylvania!
 

IDK. This is the first time it's happened. They are water pups though, so they will not be very big. I will most likely plant a sword sucker nearby.

Re: Uncovered my basjoos in Pennsylvania!
 

Those are looking great! I wish I'd wrapped mine correctly to save the p stem. Oh well, the new one I bought it doing well, maybe 4' high.

I cut off the smaller, lower leaves to promote growth at the top. If that works... my thought was that it would promote top growth.

Re: Uncovered my basjoos in Pennsylvania!
 

The old plant did push up a lot of growth around the dead p-stem, but all the new ones only made it to around 3' tall. The new one I planted is probably 6' to the top of the leaves. Doing very well, but I want to save this one!

Re: Uncovered my basjoos in Pennsylvania!
 

Good luck saving the p-stem. I think it can be done, this year I am just using leaves, burlap, and plastic.

Also, I am going to put a small thermocouple inside my winter shelters so I can measure the temperature from the outside. I am curious to see what the actual inside temperature is at ground level and also 4' off the ground. Comparing this to the outside temp should indicate how well my shelter works....

Erik

Re: Uncovered my basjoos in Pennsylvania!
 

So is it rare that you were able to save your p-stem in PA? My other option would be to dig the thing up after it freezes, put it in a bucket and leave it where I store my elephant ears in a dark corner of the basement.

When you do that, do you tend to get good growth the next year?

Re: Uncovered my basjoos in Pennsylvania!
 

I am not sure how rare it is, but I think it is quite possible to do with any healthy and large basjoo stem. That was my first year attempting outdoor storage and I didn't lose a plant either.

Your basjoo will start growing earlier in spring if you keep it outside in the ground. I don't see a reason to dig up a basjoo for winter. Lots of effort and no fruits from the labor!

Erik

Re: Uncovered my basjoos in Pennsylvania!
 

Good points! I already get lots of comments on my tropical landscape in front of my house. But I want to have a banana tree that will cause people to stop the car and wonder how it can be?