Wintering Bananas In the Ground
 

Hi guys. I live in central South Carolina (Zone 8b) and have Red Iholene and Raja Puri bananas that I would like to leave in the ground during the winter months. Both are said to be hardy in my area, but I am wondering what I should do to help protect them. Should I cut the plant back and mulch them like I do my canna's?

Re: Wintering Bananas In the Ground
 

If your goal is to keep as much p-stem as possible then I'd build a cage around them and fill with leaves,straw or mulch, and then cover with a tarp or something to keep out the water to prevent the roots from rotting.

Re: Wintering Bananas In the Ground
 

Thanks for your speedy reply stumpy.
I really just want to keep the root alive. I'm hoping they will grow a new stem next year. I planted them in mid august and they grew quite fast, right now the stems are bigger that a 20 oz. plastic bottle and they are 4 foot high. If I cut the stem down and mulch them will they grow new stems next spring?

Re: Wintering Bananas In the Ground
 

I can only speak to Raja puri since I have those.
Here is what I do in Charleston......










...nothing.

Don't cut it back unless it turns mushy in March...mine never did last year.

Re: Wintering Bananas In the Ground
 

Thanks porkpi.
Do I cut off the the leaves next spring? the last leaves that have grown in oct. look like crap.

Re: Wintering Bananas In the Ground
 

If the leaves wilt and fall down to the stem I would leave them as it will be one more layer of protection until spring.

Re: Wintering Bananas In the Ground
 

Then in the spring cut anything that looks dead or turned mushy.

Re: Wintering Bananas In the Ground
 

I leaf them on.
But in uncontrolled experiments have found it to make little difference.

Re: Wintering Bananas In the Ground
 

Thanks guys!! While its easy to find growing info for my area, wintering info is hard to find.

Re: Wintering Bananas In the Ground
 

There are lots of threads here on the website. just go up to the search tab and type in overwinter and you'll have hours of reading....Good Luck

Re: Wintering Bananas In the Ground
 

I already did that. Unfortunately the majority of the posts involve digging up the plants and storing them for winter because they are being grown in colder climates than my own. I'm interested in planting and keeping them in my yard year round. Thanks though.

Re: Wintering Bananas In the Ground
 

I don't do anything at all and only lost one plant , a Goldfinger, out of many Mats. All of my bananas come back without any problems and I'm in 8a. I didn't have time to dig up my Siam ruby tonight so It'll get its first taste of frost as well. :0493: Perhaps that'll be the second plant I lose.

Re: Wintering Bananas In the Ground
 

OH NO!!!!!!!!!!! not the Ruby. Keep us posted on how it reacts to the frost and cold. :waving:

:lurk:

Re: Wintering Bananas In the Ground
 

RayZer14u,

Care to give us some insight over here (?) : http://www.bananas.org/f9/explain-yo...name-5256.html

Re: Wintering Bananas In the Ground
 

I'll hopefully have several make it through the winter, so maybe we could trade this spring.

Re: Wintering Bananas In the Ground
 

Well the pup from your Siam is doing well, so it'll live to fight another day, just a few hundred miles away. If the worst happens to your Siam I can certainly ship one back to you.

Next year I'm going to have to be bold and try a bunch of mine outdoors like you do. I just want to make sure I have a pup from each as insurance :ha:

Re: Wintering Bananas In the Ground
 

When it comes to survivability, I have found that the thickest plants do the best.

Re: Wintering Bananas In the Ground
 

That should be good news for Saba, Praying Hands, and IC then.