Reviving for Spring
 

Hello,

This is the 1st year I've tried overwintering by letting most of my bananas go dormant. I got a lot of helpful advice here on how to do it and am hopeful & excited to see what I'll end up with.

I would be very grateful if I could now get some advice on how/when to revive them. :) I imagine I must need to do a good bit of something before it's time to start planting anything outdoors again.

Also, my dwarf cavendish was SO huge, I didn't have a dark, cool place to let it go completely dormant. Advice I got here was to just pot it up & leave in my 70 degree (because of the furnace) basement & water sparingly maybe once a month or so. I'd cut off all leaves except the center, but everything at the top has now dried up. I thought it might be hopeless, but one of the pups has just sprouted a leaf, so there is life SOMEWHERE in there! If the pup has life, does that mean that mom does too even tho there's no green from her?

Also, the bottom 4 ft. or so of mom's p-stem feels solid, but the top 10-12" is dessicated. Does this mean mom is toast? I mean, can you just whack a foot or so off the top, plop it in the ground after the last frost and ever see leaves come from the flat top where I cut it? If not, do I still need to drag 200 lb. mom outside and plant in order for the tiny pup that does show signs of life to survive?

Sorry to badger with so many questions, but there's always a big learning curve on your first time trying something before you can then start "giving back" with advice to others. I'd be grateful for any suggestions.

Thank you!
Andrea

Re: Reviving for Spring
 

Annie,

You shouldn't need to do anything overly special to your plants. They have genetic coding that tells them when to "wake up". All plants basically respond to environmental conditions, such as warmth, moisture, and light. The most important thing for you to do is to make sure that you are past any danger of frost before moving your babies back outside. You may want to slowly adjust them to the light again, but if they have no leaves, this may not be necessary. However, be aware that any leaves that have grown inside over the winter will most likely either break over or burn (or both). They will need to be reaclimated to the sun and wind.

Once you place them back out (either in the ground or potted) give them a light watering. Let the plant give you your cues as to when to water more. Once you see some growth begin to resume you can slowly start watering and feeding again.

As for your plant with the withered top, just cut it off below the dessicated portion as you mentioned. Look for healthy center tissue. If it looks brown in the center you may have to remove more, but most likely the mother plant is fine. Good luck!

Re: Reviving for Spring
 

On your DC would just cut the mushy stuff off and move into indirect sunlight, water a little, then see what happens! The rot will just keep traveling down the P-stem.

Re: Reviving for Spring
 

Good advice above. Follow it and your plants will bounce back quickly. Good luck. Red

Re: Reviving for Spring
 

Thank you SO much for your kind and quick advice! Much appreciated.

Ok, so I hope I didn't make a big mistake in the way I interpreted it, as I bit the bullet, got the only thing around I could think of -- a hacksaw -- and cleanly took of the top of the cavendish last nite ... about 18" to get past the desiccated parts. OMG! It looks like the headless horseman!!! Of course, the raw cut is browning now, so I hope I didn't blow it.

I must admit I'm worried about it shocking mom & the tender baby that's sprouted a leaf in their already-delicate "overwinter" condition, but I knew the comment was absolutely right that the desiccation would only get worse by letting it go. I was told last season that the dc's aren't the best for my area, but I had to go ahead & at least TRY to overwinter it -- it was SO beautiful last year. I have also taken the other advice of purchasing an orinoco, as that was suggested it might fare better for me here, and expect it to arrive soon.

On the dormant ones, I will follow the advice to introduce slowly to light again. Would the best idea be to try to pot them up at some interim point between now & when I can replant in the ground, or wait until after the last frost (which isn't until mid-May or so here) and just put the dead-looking stalks back into the ground and see what happens?

Thanks so much again for your kind assistance ... I'm very grateful.

Annie

Re: Reviving for Spring
 

You can either pot them up and get them started, provided you have a really nice warm place and bright light to put them into. I'd guess if you had that, you wouldn't have stored them dormant though.
So you might as well wait. If you pot them up and water them in and they're not in a good warm place with plenty of sun, you'll just kill them anyway. They'd most likely just rot.
When it grows new leaves after being put outside- they will be accustomed to whatever situation they're being grown in. If you have a greenhouse to start them in, the leaves won't be used to the outside, so they'd have to be hardened off like a tomato plant, etc.

Re: Reviving for Spring
 

Thanks very much, Sandy. I appreciate your input.

Just wanting to ask, was there something I should have done or put on to the "open wound" after cutting off the desiccated portion of the p-stem? Or any advice about what might help to avoid shock from doing that?

Thanks again,
Annie

Re: Reviving for Spring
 

Just wanting to ask, was there something I should have done or put on to the "open wound" after cutting off the desiccated portion of the p-stem? Or any advice about what might help to avoid shock from doing that?

No, there is really nothing special you need to do. As long as there is some air circulation, it will dry on it's own and should be fine. If the plant is trying to resume growth any at all you should see the new growth starting to emerge from the center soon.

Re: Reviving for Spring
 

Bananaman, I've been SO worried since cutting that 2 days ago, I can't thank you enough for taking time to come back & answer that last question for me. I really wanted this one to make it thru the winter & was elated at the pup's leaf indicating signs of life – but, after seeing how much I had to cut off, what it looked like after, and not really knowing what I as doing, the worries were back. Thanks for putting my mind at ease – I'm really hopeful now.

And, thanks to everyone that helped me out here – I'm grateful & your time is much appreciated.

Annie

Re: Reviving for Spring
 

No problem. That's what we're all here for...to help each other out!