tastyratz

I wanted to share my experience to help others overwinter.

I purchased a bunch of healthy plants from Sandy last year and they looked great when I got them!

I overwintered in my basement near a small window and with a tube light on a timer. I found gnats to be quite the problem, but I thought I would share my results. I know the lighting was inadequate but was hoping it was "enough" for mild dormancy without death and paying through the nose for electric... I guess not!

I had 2 musa basjoo, 4 darjeeling giants, 4 lasiocarpa, and a 5ft texas star (I think). (Also had my trachycarpus and alocasias you see in the photo) Everything but the texas star was tiny and first year after buying from sandy. The basjoo was late in the season purchase, the other 8 were in puts in front of my house doing fairly well last season.
Here is a photo of their seasonal home:


I have a very warm insulated basement, All of the smallers were stored on a shelf under the window along the edge. I had a small fan to give them airflow, none had mold issues. I sprayed the leaves to keep them from dessicating whenever they appeared dry.
Bugs were a big bummer though so I do not know how much to attribute to bugs.

My results though?
Most everything that survived at minimum lost all of its leaves (except the texas star which has about 1 3/4 left).

Both of the Basjoo died pretty fast! I expected the hardy banana to be the most... hardy but it was the first to go. Both of them completely to the ground and gone in a few months never to be seen again.

Texas star and its pup slowly was losing leaves but held up fine to last the year. I expect full recovery

Lost 3 of the chinese yellows, the leftover is not pretty and very set back.

The darjeeling giants actually did awesome, probably the best. I have one that kept one of its leaves and when I took it to a sunnier place this early season it's been skyrocketing. My assumption was be that these were not as hardy but I would try some anyway. Glad i did!

Non bananas:
Alocasias both most likely did not make it, but who knows maybe there is hope...

trachycarpus fortunei seems to really not do well also btw with the low light. Almost all of the spears appear dried out, I had to cut off a few beyond recovery.


Maybe this could be taken as a lesson in shade tolerance?

saltydad

How about the windmill in a sunny location and regularly watered? This is how I treat my C. humilis, B. capitata, and, and they do well inside. The windmills stay outside during the winter planted in the ground.

__________________
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


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

tastyratz

Your lucky with 7 you can probably get away with it more. Since I'm in z5, if it stays out side it's going to end up getting wrapped up and not see any sun.

Unfortunately in my small house sunny windows are a premium and these plants are big.

I *thought* that maybe this might be a better way to keep last years growth originally and get a start on next years but learned the hard way that probably is not true.

saltydad

True, the 7a zone helps. I used to be in Westchester County, NY, and would never had tried a windmill outside. I haven't yet toted up my indoor failures. I know the zebrina, dwarf cav, ensete glauca, and a few others are still alive, some even pushing new leaves now. It's the brown ones that I never know until I plant them again outside. Good luck.

__________________
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


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

saltydad

My basjoo clump in the front bed has just started to push up. The momma clump in the back still is asleep. That's spring for me!!!

__________________
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


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

eric27

Good news Saltydad! Great to hear.
My basjoo is growing very well. I didn't lose any p-stems OR any of the height. EVERYTHING made it through the winter-they are growing right where they left off in the fall. My new covering works very well. My only problem now is it won't stop raining/snowing and stayng warm!

Your other clump should wake up any day I'm sure!

tastyratz

awesome...
What should be a safe night time temperature to leave the pots out side at this point instead of lugging them in? What do you think the night time low needs to be before I risk slowing them down and should take them in at night?

has a dream

do you live in the midwest because it sounds like it

__________________

eric27

Kurt I would leave them out for good-in pots anyway-mid Mayish. That is when I do it here, after May 15th. Then I feel safe as far as the cold goes. I looked over your list again and they all look like they can take lower temps, unless I missed something. Keep them fairly dry at first-even if the pots drain well the rots can rot quickly in cool wet weather. However if you have started to harden them off by this time, I would think in NH about mid May you can leave them out. Although this spring here in Milwaukee has been bad. Last year I got things out earlier. If you are going to put them in the ground I would maybe wait another week or so, depending on your ground temps and weather. My basjoo has been in the ground for 11 years, so any cool/cold weather from here on out (I always uncover it end of March beginning of April) it just shrugs off. In fact it does much better than any bananas I haul in and out of the house every year. I think it prefers to be in the ground all the time, and doesn't need to be aclimated. The biggest problem I have had is keeping the leaves from getting sunburned, which you will have coming from your basement. Once your lows are mostly in the upper 40s to 50 (or so) I think you can leave them out. In the fall, pull them in when temps regulary get toward 40ish.

wxman

Hey Eric -

What is your protection method again? How do you keep them from rotting with the cold and snow that is persistent for 3 months. I'd like to leave my basjoo in here, but I'm always too scared of losing them so I waste electricity on grow lights in the basement all winter.. LOL.

eric27

Hey Tim, Yeah the grow lights get expensive don't they. Next year I'm cutting way back. This past year I expanded on something that I experimented with the previous winter, and it worked so well that year that I covered the whole thing this past winter the same way. The funny thing is you know our winter was worse this past year-my basjoo did better this past year than it did the year before when it was warmer!

I took bales of straw and instead of breaking them apart like I normally did I built a wall around the whole mat and also stuffed bales in between the pstems. Any gaps were filled in with lose gaps. I only cut down one pstem, the tallest one, the others I was able to cut to about the axis so I didn't cut inot the growing tip. I put a fence all around to hold it gether, loose straw on top of the pstems, then plastc/tarp all over to keep rain out. I then put burlp over it adn then black fleece over that to soak up the sun. Sound like a lot of work? I got it all done in about 5 hrs. The hardest part was getting all the straw bales, which I'm now covering and hoping to keep for next winter.

I'll get pics up soon of what it looks like now. Like I said this was the first time in 11 years that not only did I not lose 1 single pstem, I didn't lose any top growth on any of them. They are all growing from where they left off in fall. I had to uncover them because they were growing inside and pushing against the cover.

Eric

wxman

Hmm... I may want to try that. Are you only doing it with basjoo? I also grow ensete maurelii, orinoco and thai black. Also are you leaving them uncovered now even though we're only getting in the 40s most days lately? I planted mine April 10th (that nice 80 degree day) and then had them under buckets and tarps until today. I uncovered everything today, planted more and hoping this is it until fall!

By the way, do you have IM like Yahoo or AIM? I'd like to compare notes sometime. If you do, just shoot me a PM and I can add you.

eric27

Yeah this last year just with basjoo, to see how it worked with this newer method. I am so impressed with it I'm going to try it with some others this fall. My yunn. didn't make it this past winter but they were smallish and I only covered them with loose straw and leaves. So my plan is to try a few different ones this fall with the same method to see if it will work with ones other than basjoo. I think it will considering it worked so well during a much colder winter than our previous warmer El Nino winter.

Yes that 80 degree day Tim! What a distant memory now hey? Well yes we both now how it has been since. Yes I have had it uncovered since. After all these years it is really tough and hardened off. Plus if it gets too warm while covered than it will rot from being too warm and wet. But with that cool/cold wet weather we have had since that 80 degree day, I have had plastic and a tarp to keep the cold rain off the ground around the plant. And one night I wrapped the pstems in fleece and burlp to keep it warm. But other than that I have kept it uncovered. The most important thing was to keep the plastic on the ground around the plant to keep the cold rain off the ground, then when it was sunny I would take the plastic off. I normally don't have to do this. This spring has been a bit of a pain as you know.

A few things I have found from keeping it in the ground all winter, assuming you don't lose the pstems. One is the it seems to take off very quick when even the slightest hint of warm weather/stronger sun light hit. Second, with it being in the ground it already has a root system built up. And third it is already hardened off. So it grows much better than any plant I have ever over I overwinterd indoors and brought outside in spring. In effect it is acting like a perrienal (sp?) here.

You could always try one and have a back up to bring in just in case?

I'll PM you later!

wilson1963

May 13, 2011 pics.

Musa 2011 pictures by wilson1963 - Photobucket

deruo

Greetings from Toronto!

I uncovered the naners that I overwintered outside this year, back a few weeks ago. Everything was mush. Winter was pretty harsh here this year so I figured "well, thats that - they're gone".

Today I was out inspecting my black hale bamboo (that is sprouting 6 new culms so far :-) when i noticed a very pale, very, very small new banana poking out of the soil on what seemed like the outside edge of where the plants were growing off last year. Not where I'd have expected it at all. I'm hoping one of the bushy tailed vermin (squirrels) don't eat it or it'll be open warfare in the front yard.

So even if you think your plants have died off, there's still a chance you'll get something from the corm!

__________________

Funny how the more I enjoy growing my banana plants, the less enjoy eating bananas.

wilson1963

DERUO: Mine did that for the first 3 years in the ground, the secret is keeping them dry during the winter, they will come back, hang in there and be patient.