Bananas.org - View Single Post - Best ways to overwinter these different varieties?

bigdog · 08-27-2008, 08:40 PM

Greg, I have found that 'Ice Cream' will appear to overwinter fine under the house, only to find out in the spring after planting that the apical meristem has rotted out. Never fails. I have kept Ensete ventricosum and 'Maurelii' under the house with no problems whatsoever. All Ensetes that I've tried in this way have been super easy. If your Musa basjoo is in the ground, just leave it there. Even a small one should do just fine in zone 7, just give it a few inches of mulch for protection. Bring your other 3-footers inside, they are too small to store. Haven't tried 'Brazilian' under the house, but 'Dwarf Brazilian' did fairly well, even at a pretty small size. I don't have any experience with the others, other than M. basjoo, and it was a large corm. It dessicated some, but came out Ok.

08-27-2008, 08:40 PM	#3 (permalink)
bigdog ******* bigdog's Photo Gallery** Location: Gainesville, FL Find me on the map! Zone: 8b Name: Frank Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 2,003 BananaBucks : 748,285 Feedback: 7 / 100% Said "Thanks" 213 Times Was Thanked 1,788 Times in 503 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 131 Times	Re: Best ways to overwinter these different varieties? Greg, I have found that 'Ice Cream' will appear to overwinter fine under the house, only to find out in the spring after planting that the apical meristem has rotted out. Never fails. I have kept Ensete ventricosum and 'Maurelii' under the house with no problems whatsoever. All Ensetes that I've tried in this way have been super easy. If your Musa basjoo is in the ground, just leave it there. Even a small one should do just fine in zone 7, just give it a few inches of mulch for protection. Bring your other 3-footers inside, they are too small to store. Haven't tried 'Brazilian' under the house, but 'Dwarf Brazilian' did fairly well, even at a pretty small size. I don't have any experience with the others, other than M. basjoo, and it was a large corm. It dessicated some, but came out Ok.