Basic care question
 

Hey there everyone, I'm pretty new to the whole banana growing thing, and I just have a basic care question. I inherited my plants from the previous occupants of the house; we've had the house for about 2 years now. I live in central Texas, and every year after the first freeze, the plants quickly turn brown and die. The first year after we moved into the house and this happened, we waited until spring to cut them down, and new shoots appeared pretty much right away. However, is it best to wait until spring, or should I cut them down right after they die?

Thanks in advance,
Kevin

P.S. Just from glancing at this forum, it seems there's many different varieties of banana plants. To be honest I have no idea which variety I have, but I can post some pictures if that will help.

Re: Basic care question
 

Hey Kevin,
Welcome to the forum!
It is most likely Musa 'Orinoco', because it is the most common, but I could be wrong.

Also, do the stems die completely or just a few of the outer sheaths? Typically a few sheaths will die but the rest of the pseudostem(stalk) will remain in tact, and will resprout from that. I would cut them down in spring, but if you need it to look good, I assume fall would be fine. The reason I say this is because if you cut off the sheaths (IF the whole stem is dead) then you might increase the chance of rot when cutting when cold and wet.

And yes, there are tons of varieties!
Taylor

Re: Basic care question
 

If you want it to fruit and have a big banana right away next spring, I would just wrap the pstem with cloth or something that is breathable or dig the whole thing and let it hibernate inside your garage in the winter time. The main thing is to protect the pstem from frost.
Scroll down in this forum and you will find pictures and advices that will suit your needs.
Cutting it down to the base each year I would not advice it, as Taylor said you are inviting root rut to the corm. Or just leave it alone or protect it .

Re: Basic care question
 

Thanks for adding about the protection Benny.

Like Benny said,
For fruit, you must protect the stem in some way shape or form, meaning Basement(pull up mat and place in basement dry with no dirt, not cutting stem) or Wrapping(as said above). These are the 2 most used methods.