cincinnana

I used to dig and dry but now I move the containers indoors.

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nexmp76

I actually think I like wrapping to the cage better after seeing this. I would think as long as you use clear plastic and maybe leave some space at the bottom for them to breath it wouldn't bake them but this is my first year trying wrapping of any kind. I saved some pups of each variety indoors just in case. Storing them in the garage for me and letting them go dormant has been pretty successful. I think the lights are a great idea in the garage too to keep them growing. It sounds like you have a pretty good setup. Just doing some experiments for possible in ground overwintering right now. I live close to the Charlotte area so I think our temps are pretty close. Looks like we're going to get some cold overnight temps the end of next so we'll see how that goes. I'll try to report back either way and let you know the results in the spring.

blownz281

Yeah cold weather everywhere looks like! I need to clean all my up in the yard and get them wrapped before next weekend.

beam2050

how many bananas do you have in pots? probably too many to count

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npk of wood ash 0/1/3 to 0/3/7

npk of banana leaf ash 1.75/0.75/0.5

cincinnana

I still have a few.

When I did dry store my plants my observation was all the plants stored the same way with no dramas.
I do think the bigger the plant the better chances of a successful overwinter because there is a fair amount of dehydration
Small pups usaully pulled back to the corm but were still viable in spring for propagation.

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cincinnana

The next week will be a great test if your in the freeze zone.

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beam2050

ya, supposed to be 4 days in a row below 40, with 2 days in the mid 20's.

i built one of my hoop coverings over a monthan with about 10 pups that i cut down a month ago that was displaying some problems. [probably over feritiliztion.] i also had 4 plants in pots that i put in the ground beside it, including the pots, just to see how that works.

last night i walked outside about 11 and saw frost on the wifes car, it got down to the mid 30's. surprisingly, today i saw very little leaf damage from the frost on the rest of my bananas.

Attached Images

PC160262.JPG (379.6 KB, 6 views)

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npk of wood ash 0/1/3 to 0/3/7

npk of banana leaf ash 1.75/0.75/0.5

blownz281

I always notice with frost sometimes it takes more than one. Also it takes some of mine days to show any leaves burned.

beam2050

still green with some showing blackish brown burn marks.

with 9 hours of frost and frost on the grass the next morning i would have thought i would see more damage.

what i am thinkin is, that as early as it frosted the bananas did not get that much dew on them. no matter, in a few mornings they will all turn a darker, wet looking green and be pretty limp. 24 degees.

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npk of wood ash 0/1/3 to 0/3/7

npk of banana leaf ash 1.75/0.75/0.5

nexmp76

Sorry I forgot to post results in Spring. Been a crazy busy year so far! The plastic wrapped bananas all rotted back to about the leaf level in the cages. They all survived the winter. I started out with 2 in the ground about 3 years ago. I've been using cages each winter with leaves and those have survived each year. Last year I was up to 5 in the ground. Tall Namwah, Dwarf Namwah, Orinoco, Dwarf Orinoco, and Blue Java. I plan on adding Praying Hands and Raja Puri to the mix here shortly and going to try a couple with the plastic to the cage this year. Anyway just wanted to report back for informational purposes.