Jananas Bananas

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Jananas Bananas

MediaHound

Thread stuck just now btw.

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elgordo

Hi everyone. I was wondering if anyone knew if I would be able to grow a Dwarf Orinoco in White Rock, British Columbia, and if I can, where would I get some roots to start it?

saltydad

Just to put in my 2 cents here-my Musa basjoo survives well with no protection. I left the leaves and all and they fried in the hard frosts but acted as mulch. I also had a lasiocarpa come back, although it looked rather tiny and forlorn. It was under a foot of straw. Sikkim failed to survive.

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bananarama2

I've been led to believe that the short season of coastal B.C. is the limiting factor on banana cultivars ability to set and ripen fruit. Given adequate sunshine hours and heat, the time is the problem. It would seem that if someone was really determined to pick fruit from their own plants, the only recourse would be to have well started plants indoors, to be moved outdoors, all for the status of picking fruit that is $0.39 a lb at the local grocers?
On a slightly different but related topic, I'm on Vancouver Island (east side) and have two bananas, one musa basjoo, one chinese yellow flowering. The basjoo burst out of the ground once I cleared back some of the mulch and winter covers, while the chinese yellow taunted me until just the last week or so, (I thought it had not survived our past very rainy and cool spring), but it is close to unfurling it's first leaf now). I noted somewhere else on the site that people were using a large size mulch, which may explain my situation with the Chinese yellow. I used fine peat moss, which may have absorbed too much moisture, keeping the soil too cool. I'll be switching to wood chips the coming winter to reduce the risk of delaying earlier growth and some stress.

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elgordo

Yeah, our weather has been awful. But we had a decent winter, so I guess we can't complain too much.

ragmop

Alright, are you guys talking above zero?
I am lucky if we get that in the summer!
Leslie
Gone Bananas

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Markku Hakkinen

This is very clerly M.yunnanensis not M.itinerans.
Markku.

Markku Hakkinen

There is not a species called Musa yangtze. They are all M.yunnanensis varieties collected from valleys along Yangtze river. Some of those varities are quite cold tolerant and I have seen them up to elevation 2.25 Km. Due to cold tolerant of these varieties farmers grow them for animal fodder as they can survive over the winter and their leaves can stand some snow too.
Markku.

Caloosamusa

Thank you Dr. Markku!!

bananarama2

This is a late response to Ragmop in Rimbey, Alberta. And yes, I've actually been there, about 7 years ago! I'm impressed with anyone trying to grow bananas in this part of the world, where the climate is more known for killing plants than nurturing them. Again, late, this is an old thread, but welcome, and kudos on trying bananas in Alberta,(I'm a former Albertan (Calgary)). If it hasn't been pointed out yet, a large number of the members are in the States, and talk in Fahrenheit, not Celsius, so you have to read between the lines a bit, and not get bummed out by their griping about temperatures. After a while, I check their zone first, and location, then read the entry. Those in less favorable climes just suck it up and do the best they can. Like folks in Rimbey! Best regard, Rik

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lwabirds

I have 3 different plantings of musa sikkimensis. They have been in the ground for 5 years now. They are slower to start growing in the spring when compared to basjoo.

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castawaykev

I grow Musa basjoo outside in PEI, Canada (zone 5b/6a). The worst thing here is wind...not so much the cold. I am currently growing 10 types of banana for test in winter and to sell ( i set up a small ornamental nursery). Honey Tree Nursery My website will be finished with prices etc by March. I love growing banana's,. I want to know a list of cold hardy types to try and a list of great indoor ones, and a list of fast groiwing from seed ones.

Thanks,

Kev

Honey Tree Nursery

saltydad

I know this is bananas, but just wanted to add that my European Fan Palm (var. cerifera) seems to be holding it's own outside so far this winter. I decided to try this with one of the two I have. The trachys and needles are also looking good, although we've definitely had lots of cold weather.

__________________
Men In Nursing- "A Few Good Men"

"Gardening is the purest of human pleasures." - Francis Bacon





"If by a liberal, they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind; someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions; someone who cares about the welfare of the people, their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, their civil liberties; someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicion that grips us; that is what they meant by a liberal, I am proud to be a liberal."
John F. Kennedy, September, 1960


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http://community.webshots.com/user/saltydad
http://s751.photobucket.com/albums/xx151/saltydad/

EuroBanana

Good morning,

I was considering the following cold hardy list coming from the very interesting website webebananas

California Gold
Thousand Fingers
Monkey Fingers
Orinoco
Brazilian
Golden Rhinohorn
Dwarf Orinoco
Dwarf Brazilian
Misi Luki
Mysore
Namwah
Raja Puri
Manzano
Ice Cream
Gold Finger
Dwarf Namwah
Sweetheart (FHIA 3)
Namwah Pearl
Praying Hands
Saba
Cardaba
Williams
Belle
Valery

Would you agree with it ?

Phil

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Phil

In the ground outside :
- Dwarf Brazilian
- Tall orinoco
- Rajapuri
- Manzano
- Tall namwah aka "US-ice cream"
- Dwarf orinoco.

Waiting to be planted :
- Goldfinger
- Mysore
- Pisang mas
- "Figue family"
- Dwarf namwah.

Just for fun in pots :
- Basjoo
-Sikkimensis red tiger

caliboy1994

That's Jon's (pitangadiego) website, and I'm pretty sure that list was based on growing experiences by JoeReal, who was a member here from (I think) northern California, which would be 9a or 9b. Your climate is probably fairly similar to that. I don't agree entirely with the list though. I certainly think that Namwah is more cold hardy than Mysore, for example, but both do fine in my zone.

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lkstapleton

I am a little south of Joe, whose list is based on his experience near Sacramento in Northern California.

In the San Francisco Bay Area, the list seems to be pretty accurate. I have seen people harvest Sweetheart, Ice Cream, Orinoco, Gold Finger, Blue Java and California Gold from their yards. I have not seen anyone harvest actual ripe bananas on anything other than these in our area. It is relatively easy to flower a banana here, but getting it through our frosts with ripening bananas still on them is tough. We are in a Mediterranean climate, so we have a wet season and a dry season, and our nights are almost always cool, even when the days are nice and warm.

Lisa

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shawndac1

wow this is awesome!!!! So what state are you in I'm in tn zone 7b and I to have a musa basjoo that I'm planning on leaving out but wasn't sure because we had an awful winter !!! ) yayayaya

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Abnshrek

Considering we got 7b temps where I have one Orinoco planted.. It survives well w/ heavy mulch and frost cloth.. A heat-tape would guarantee it in a raised bed unless you had a power outage.. Even a small one survived last year w/o any frost cloth.. :^)

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a.hulva@coxinet.net

Your best source of information is "Cincinnana" who lives in Cincinatti. Great guy!
Thanks to everyone for all the good info.