51st state

Not sure about you guys over in the U.S., Canada and mainland Europe, but, It's been a tough winter here in the U.K.,(worst in 20 years). Whilst we're not 'out of the woods' yet, can I throw it out to the Northern Hemisphere growers to ask; what is your vote for 'banana of the winter' 2009? I'm sure there is a way to set this up as a poll, but it's beyond me, if you know how to do this (moderators?) then please move this thread.

Can I ask members what their, 'banana of the winter 2009', is please?

I'll start:- My #1 is; Ensete Ventricosum 'Montbelliardii'; the most upright form of the Ensete Ventricosum 'red form', has barely stopped growing, in a big 'half barrel' tub, barely watered, in a frost protected (Min 4 C) poly tunnel. It will be a massive plant for zone 8 this year , maybe 4/5M,(to leaf tips) with big, big (3m) leaves... not strictly a banana (Musa) but what a star plant (Musella Lasiocarpa great too!).

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tony palmer

Hi Kev,

So far the Musa that has surprised me the most is M.itinerans (Indian form) its in my cold green house with 4 Sikkis, and 1 Tibet, they all have frost damage but the Indian form doesn’t have any

damaclese

hey 51st State sorry to hear its been a tough winter for you it looks like its a world wide problem this year with one exception and thats been the desert south west of the US which incidentally happens to be were i live we have had pretty mild temps and for us hardly any wind o only have one Banana out side and that is a 1 year old Ice cream it frosted back to the top of the P-stem and lost all its leafs but didn't rot a bit and is already pushing out a new leaf all be it a bit slowly we are having a some what unexpected cold snap right now but i think its probably the last one but not to bad lows in the 40s next week sunny and 70 every day I'm hoping any way I'm rather excited got all the seeds for the summer growing season in the germinater just waiting to go out side trying some new and fun stuff for this year going to try my hand at one of the gigantic Atlantic pumpkin that will make for some cool pictures don't you think I'm Jealous of your EvM both Scot and i want one really badly LOL o Well i already have 30+ varieties best to not get Greedy LOL o i forgot i lost 2 Ensete Ventricosum to rot but that was my fault they were inside and i over watered them they also got mites which i am afraid to say i didn't notes for quite some times its like a jungle in my plant rooms and i didn't see them building that Green house is priority number one for this year!

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51st state

yea I had mites last fall. little bstrds..... i used just about every chemical i could and i think it was the cold that finally sorted them out. I also didnt notice them until they were a real infestation.

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bigdog

Hmmm...hard to tell here yet. Nothing's moving! I can tell you what isn't the banana of the winter for me, and that's Ensete gilletii. I germinated 24 seeds, and had some good plants going for awhile. Then they all started rotting in the greenhouse. I am down to 6 now. Out of those 6, two look pretty good, the rest are touch and go. Not really happy about it, but what do you do. I'm going to tissue culture a pile of them this summer though. As long as I can keep one alive until then.

Frank

51st state

keep 'em going and put me down for one

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bepah

Timing is everything. The first new leaves on my ICs came out and were immediately thrashed by the wind. So sad....

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John Case
Rookie Gardener, Veteran Drinker

Jack Daw

I think Musa basjoo 'Sakhalin' as it survived winters of -12°C here in Central Europe last year in the Botanical Garden, some Pstems did survive as well! To compare, Musa basjoo had to be cut at the soil level, cause it wouldn't survive temps like this.

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Thnx to Marcel, Ante, Dr. Chiranjit Parmar and Francesco for the plants I've received.



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musa_monkey

The one that suprised me most was my Helens Hybrid. It seemed to shrug off the winter and continued to grow in an unheated greenhouse. Its now around 6ft tall and pupping like mad.

mushtaq86

Hi Alan
did you keep it dry over winter,or did you water it once a week.

sbl

I had 4 large Orinocos pseudostems (identified here) that made it through our mid 20 F winter without being cut back--we had several cold spells that hit mid 20s. I had wrapped 2 of the pseudostems to try and protect them --the other 2 were left on their own. I was pretty sure the ones that were wrapped would make it, but I was really surprised when one of the others put out the first leaf--ahead of the ones I wrapped. I was even more surprised when it started blooming.

musa_monkey

I never water the bananas stored in the greenhouse over winter. In our damp climate it just encourages rot. I just remove the leaves late September and store them in their pots.

Eric

Good point . I lost a 10' Blue Java that way (and a few others). When I started removing leaves & leaving the plants dry, the 'rot' problem ceased.

YAKUZA

hey experts, please give a reply on my last tread put bananas to sleep for winter. How banana survived without soil under house storidge thanks

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Jack Daw

They go dormant, YAKUZA, they don't need water, soil or pretty much anything. When you plant them to soil the next year, they will simply wake up, start making new roots and then grow again.

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Thnx to Marcel, Ante, Dr. Chiranjit Parmar and Francesco for the plants I've received.



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winsorw

Hi,
Has anyone tried the California cold hardy (not CA Gold) that has been sold in eBay?
Thanks.
Winsor