Zacarias

Hey all,

I'm a little confused about cold hardiness. There must be levels of hardiness (such as damage to leaves, loss of leaves, loss of plant). For instance, I live in Western WA where a Basjoo is for hardy...but will it lose all the leaves or does it depend?
I'm in an apt with a balcony filled some dwarf cavendish varieties, an ensete, and two basjoos.
I'm planning on leaving the basjoos outside on the balcony but protected from rain...same with the ensete. I'd like to keep them with leaves just so next season I get a head start. The smaller cavendishes, I will bring inside...the mites I'm sure will attack though.
What can I do with the basjoos and the ensetes outside? They are close to the apt wall so hopefully that will help. I am wondering if christmas lights is the most viable option. Any thoughts? Do you use the large or small christmas lights.
I'm sick of having lived in apts for the last couple years and not having a yard for plants and space for a small greenhouse.

Thanks all.

Zach

marksbananas

i myself live in zone 9 and when winter comes my sikkimensis loses its leaves but other than that it is fine and it starts again from where it left of, with no protection. If i was in your shoes i would cut the leaves off the basjoo once the first frosts have arrived and wrap it in fleece, amybe with some straw, to protect form more sever frosts, then when spring comes i would unwrap and it can carry on growing from where it left off last year, the fleece will just protect the stem. I have a few that i do this too as well as they are not as hardy as my sikkimensis or my basjoo. Hope this helps

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Just Bananas about Bananas

RobG7aChattTN

The moment you get a decent freeze all bananas lose their leaves. Basjoo seems to take a few degrees below 32*F, but not much. The leaves are so thin that the water in them quckly freezes, expands and explodes the cell walls so when it thaws the leaves turn to mush. The stems vary by species, but most will get some damage at least on the surface or to a varying degree down the stem. Also, they are always less hardy in pots as plants in the ground are insulated by the earth and mulch will help greatly as well. In pots, I'd probably even bring the basjoo inside.

winsorw

Hi Zacarias,
I live in Auburn, WA and have basjoo but it's in the ground. During winter, I leave the trees the way they are and all the leaves are gone while the pseudostems are all brown but they come back in late spring. They are about 20 feet at the moment. I used to cut them down and covered with hay but not any more. I also have small ensente and plan to leave them in an unheated greenhouse just to see if it will survive.

Winsor

norteno

I second what Rob says. The first frost will start to blacken and destroy the leaves but the pseudostem is hardier, and the roots even hardier. I have basjoos in the ground in Portland and there are more in the neighborhood which I observe. Most of us hack off the leaves after they start to go. I personally wrap my pseudostems because I a retentive gardener but my neighbors do not. My pseudostems always survive and start to grow again in late winter. My neighbors may lose some stems but they always are root hardy.

In your situation I would also suggest bringing them inside as they will be safer. Potted plants (especially potted in metal or ceramic) are not going to like a prolonged freeze if we have one of those winters, and you may lose them outside. If you must leave them out, I would wrap the pots or pile mulch around them.