MJBanana

I am a 60 year old semi retired plant dad who has always had a green thumb so to speak. Earlier this year I purchased a Musa Basjoo banana tree or plant and it is doing quite well. I know there will be some challenges as to winterizing this and I found this awesome forum to help me and to further my interest in growing bananas.

I am currently in zone 5b or 6a depending on the winter cold since I am close to the great lakes. My one plant that I purchased last April is about 5 feet tall now and it has had 5 pups growing underneath it.

The first one I dug up was about a foot tall with an established root system. I am going to grow this, and further ones inside for next springs planting. I did cut off a pup with no roots on it but with part of the crom(?) attached. Hopefully this will root or not?

As stated eralier my main concern here is how to winterize this plant in the upcoming winter as things can get quite cold.

subsonicdrone

check out cincinnana's threads or look at the photo link found at the bottom of any post of his

last year i cut mine down to 1 foot and then piled 2 feet of wood chips on it and the corm did send up a new plant in the spring which grew very fast and big

Snarkie

Hi there-

Welcome aboard the Banana Express.

In your area, plant the corm a foot or so below ground for additional protection. Do you have a frost line at your latitude?

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Doug (D.A. Hänks) http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2955582/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1


The Only Eastern Redwood Forest in America




"Nuke my 'nanners, will you?!"

MJBanana

Our frost line is about 36" . I'm sure it can be a little deeper at times since we are close to lake Michigan and experience the lake effect snow at times.

Snarkie

Oh gosh, you'll need to dig it up then. I didn't realize it was so deep. I've gotten used to no frost line here in Dixie, and tend to forget how much of a PITA cold weather can be.

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Doug (D.A. Hänks) http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2955582/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1


The Only Eastern Redwood Forest in America




"Nuke my 'nanners, will you?!"

MJBanana

Ya I dug then up and brought them inside and transplanted them into small 4 inch pots. I placed them into the correct soil . Is there a special way to keep these growing inside through the winter so next spring I can plant them outside? Do I need a grow light or a bright indirect window light? Thanks.

Snarkie

Unless you have an old house with original windows, I would use a grow light. There are a lot of people that still tell you to find a sunny window, but these new insulated windows have Low E glass to help stop UV damage, right? What does a plant need to grow? UV light. Yeah, it will still get some, but this is why window plants don't do as well anymore, and why they still get sunburned when you put them outside.

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Doug (D.A. Hänks) http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2955582/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1


The Only Eastern Redwood Forest in America




"Nuke my 'nanners, will you?!"

cincinnana

Late to the party for this thread but I will toss out some terra firma knowledge to help you grow your basjoos to beast size.

Just a couple of thoughts.

Snow cover is one of the best insulators one can have for their basjoos....the deeper the more insulating r value it has.
Whaaaaat....snow has r-value?
Think igloo.
Check out this link.
.https://www.google.com/search?q=r+va...client=gws-wiz

Heavy mulch along with a decent snow cover will insulate your plants from the freezing temps ABOVE the soil line and actually move your freeze line closer to the surface of the soil keeping your bulbs and bananas toasty warm so to speak.

While your building and construction code frost line is 36 inches the actual average frost /freeze penetration line is much less than that.

If you are in an area with sugar fine sand is even better for quick drainage but it does requires some vigorous soil amending.

Your plants should do well in your area.

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