TrailGaiter

The "indoor" and "outdoor" leaves is a good way to describe it. I was horrified last year when that happened to me...now I'm prepared! They didn't miss a BEAT being inside. Some store them dormant. I really didn't have a cool enough (but not too cold) place to store them for the winter, so I kept them awake and growing. My basement is partially exposed, so they spent their winter right next to the patio door. I hacked them off, so the P-stem was about 18" tall, and potted them. Gave them water only when they were very dry...because rotting could be a problem. I swear, they grew two, three inches in TWO DAYS after hacking them off. It was noticeable, just between morning and night. Didn't take long before it looked like a mini jungle down there....spitting out leaves all the time. I had to spray 'em for spider mites a few times while they were inside...and when I watered them, I'd spray the leaves with a spray bottle filled with water just to keep them from being too dry.

Once the weather got nice, I put them outside in their pots....slowly at first...then leaving them out all day. If the nights weren't too cold, I left them out then too. Now, they've been in the ground for a week. The leaves are drying up, but now I know to expect that from last year. They grow so much faster in the ground, so it won't be long and I'll have a tropical paradise off my deck! I have a maurelii out there too.

So...basically, the bananas did well over the winter. Have to watch for spider mites...which could completely take over the plant. My maurelii got it bad, but recovered. The leaves also browned in some spots over the winter, on all of them, because they just weren't getting as much sunlight as they wanted.

Good luck!