JuniPerez

This is my first year digging up my bananas for the winter. Summer of 2008 was their first year and growth wasn't that great a deal, so come fall, they were cut down to about a foot and heavily mulched over. This summer of 2009, they grew to about 8-8.5 ft tall and had lots of pups. So this fall, I decided to separate the pups and the remining plants were dug up and put in the cellar where temperatures keep within the 40-50's range. I'm panicky and start to worry though... in-ground I don't see what happens to the plants, but this time I can see everything that happens to them.

So can someone go over what happens to the plants once you cut and put away? What is okay to ignore and when should you panic?

So far, my plants have lost their rigidness, they're sort of going limp, the roots are drying up, and the stalks are starting to yellow out. I want to know where to start panicking and when to just sit back and relax.

Eric

I've been over-wintering Blue Javas for 3 years now. Main thing to remember is to keep them DRY. Also, I Never over-winter below 50 degrees F. That may be why they're yellowing & going limp. Anyway, that's what mine do when they get too cold. If ya left the leaves on, they will slowly die over the winter. Main thing is to check the corms & make sure they dont have any soft spots. I leave mine in pots of dry dirt so I'm not familiar with the bare-root method. But from what I've read, here at the org, dried roots won't keep the corm from coming back to life in the spring.

If anyone else does bare-root over-wintering, please join in on this thread .

JuniPerez

Thanks! So dry roots are okay then?

I'll have to look into the yellowing of the stalks, it's very light, but I notice it. Hmmmm...

cactus6103

I just dug out my banana plants this weekend. All I do is remove excess dirt, then place the plant in a plastic bin, cover the base of the plant with dry manure compost and put them in the garage near a window. I do not water them at all. It works fine and they take off as soon as I plant them back outside.

Red

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Family, Friends and Bananas

Abnshrek

<-Hoping we don't have a freeze til the middle of next month. :^) Then I'll be digging the day prior.

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I'm a Nannerhead :^)

tikifarmer

I store several varieties bareroot in my basement here in PA . I have successfully done this with red abbyssinian , orinocos and musella lasiocarpa . I am trying a musa zebrinus and a bordelon this year in pots . The basement stays 50-60F and is almost completely dark . You didn't mention what you are trying to overwinter using this method but , I don't believe all bananas store as well as some . The bigger the psuedostems are the better they seem to stay . Some of the smaller ones do get a little soft by the end of the winter .



I am kind of curious why you dug up a plant that has been successfully overwintered in the ground in the past ? If they are musa basjoo , I was under the impression that there hardiness would increase the longer they were in the ground and from what I have seen with mine they have gotten progressively taller each year . Another thing I saw with mine this year is there seems to be little difference in height at the end of the season between ones that I was able to save pseudostem on and ones that rotted back to the corm .

The clump on the left started out with one psuedostem that was about 2 ft. tall and the one on the right started out at ground level . They ended up essentially the same height . The one on the left has been in for one winter (this will be it's 2nd) and the one on the right has been in for 2 , (this will be its 3rd ).

JuniPerez

Hi Tikifarmer... thanks for responding.

The problem with this year is that both the musa basjoo and the musa sikkimensis had lots of pups. Four plants (two of each kind) produced a total of 28 pups. Everyone was in line for the pups, especially those folks who called me crazy for having bananas growing up here - now that they saw how they survived last winter. So for removing the pups this late in the season, I didnt want to cut pups all around the plants and leave the mothers in-ground to "heal" in the cold. I didn't know if it'd be right. So I decided to just dig them up. The musella lasiocarpas I just got this spring, so I've never overwintered them and wasn't willing to risk leaving them outside.

Your picture of the bareroot plants helps a lot. That's how mine look, dry roots. The stems are holding well, but I was starting to get concerned about the smaller ones and of temperatures in there... it's sometimes in the upper 40's, sometimes upper 50's.

tikifarmer

Now that's a problem we can all live with ...

I am not sure how the pup removal would affect the mother over winter if left in the ground . I have removed one or two pups in the fall in the past with no problems but , not that many .

I don't think the 40s and 50s will be a problem for storage . I would think it's about perfect . Is it dark there ?

In the spring I cut off the long scraggly dry roots before planting . It's probably not necessary but , that's what I have done .

Good luck with the banana storage ...

austinl01

Rick, your plants are yard are looking awesome!

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Austin
Arkansas River Valley

Average January Low: 31°F, Average August High: 92°F
Extreme Winter Lows: 5-15°F, Extreme Summer Highs: 100-112°F, Annual Precipitation: 52 inches

plantguy

Great pics. I found what you said very interesting. Either way they both grew to the same height. My question is why dig them out if the corms have been surviving.

tikifarmer

I only dig out the ones I know will not survive the winter here in PA ...

plantguy

Gotcha. My basjoo I keep in the ground also & covered. This past spring when I uncovered them they were rotted to the ground. Now they grew back stronger it seems. Like you said, they must get hardier over the years.
I dug up my 3 IC nana's this year for the first time. I'm going to store them in a basement & pray they come back next spring. We'll see...