DebCA

I am so psyched looking at all the great plants you guys have. Really enjoy seeing when new photos get posted and am enjoying purusing the photo gallery.

Even though we don't have a backyard started yet, I do have an extra garage and the weather now is in the mid-30s to 40s at night, 50s to 70s during the day. We are getting rain. If I buy a few potted plants now, where would you guys suggest putting them? garage (with window) or outdoors (have a covered, but open porch). Do I keep them in the pot they come in and just hold off watering until pretty dry or not at all right now?? Do they need to be repotted?

If I leave the new plants in the pots, should I just leave them in the pots until before fall and then plant them then? We should have our yard done by fall and by then I'll know where they will go in the ground.

JoeReal

if you buy from eBay, chances are, those are tissue cultured plantlets and they would surely die when planted in the ground. Unless the sellers say they are pups, assume that 99.99% these are plantlets, and you should keep them indoors in a pot, half past springtime.

Leave them in a pot for at least a year or until at least the pseudostems are about 3 ft high before planting them in the ground.

If you are buying your banana plants like crazy addiction, chances are, they will be damaged during transport, especially from Florida sources, because these packages will stop over at Denver's unheated super-cheapo maintained for profit postal hubs.

Better to buy banananas in spring, past the time the snows have melted in the transport hubs.

DebCA

Thanks for the guidelines. I hate to start off on the wrong foot. I could use some clarification on a couple of points. I've started looking at places that sell plants and have seen comments like "some growers sell banana tree water shoots". Clueless as to what that means. Are they talking hydroponics?? I know the plants don't like a lot of water so doubt it. I've also seen comments about "tissue culture clones" which you mentioned in your post and don't understand what that means either. I thought plants either came from seeds or cutting off pups. Is this tissue culture some sort of grafting method?

I guess I'm also not clear on the reasons for pricing. I've noticed the pricing difference between short plants and those listed as 3 feet which I assume from your post means they are "ground ready". Since banana grow rapidly during the spring/summer if I buy smaller plants "now" won't they reach the 3 feet soon and exceed it and be ready to plant before winter (and after our hardscape has been finished)? I guess I'm trying to decide why I would need to spend more money per plant if I bought now. I could see if you were starting your garden late in the fall you might not be able to reach that height so you might want a ground ready plant then and pay for it. Is my thinking correct?

I do appreciate your feedback.

mrbungalow

I bet musa sikkimensis could be started outside in CA now.. They have the most cold-tolerant foliage I know of.

Also, NOW is a great time to buy small and cheap plants. Grow them in a 2-5 liter pot in a southern window, or even outside if the weather is warm enough. Light is just as important as heat. By the time Mid March arrives you will have gotten 4-6 new leaves, and the plant is larger, has more roots, and will be more ready for life outside.

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JoeS475

Now is a great time to get started if your temperatures are not going to get any colder than that. If I had those temps I would probably risk most of my plants outside! Sadly its 15 degrees outside... We really need an early spring!!!

It could be worse... I hope there are no members here in upstate NY currently under 6-10 feet of snow and still accumulating!!!

~Joe

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microfarmer

Tissue Culture is a process of taking samples from the meristem, pureeing it, and growing it as hundreds of clones of the mother plant. the 'babies' come with very little corm and so can die without extra care.

You are right that the TC clones don't like a lot of water, but the established, full grown plant will need alot of water.

I ordered a couple plants off ebay and am positive they are TC plants. They came out well even though the box was crushed. I got mine in about 4 days after I ordered in (frozen) December. I recommend ordering from someone that'll give a full return guarantee.

I planted mine in 2 gallon containers and am keeping them in my living room. They are putting out a new leaf every 2 weeks. I watered them in when I transplanted them upon arrival, but have not watered them since. Until the weather warms up and the light gets brighter, I'll keep them inside and won't water or fertilize them unless they look like they are asking for water.

After I harden them off outside, I'll put them in their permanant spots and will increase the water as the plants get larger. A full grown banana will require alot of water/fertilizer if you are looking for fruit. If for just foliage, you can hold back on the water/fertilizer, but the growth rate will suffer.

Since your yard (and the banana's permanent locations) won't be ready til fall, you can keep them in large (20-50 gallon pot size) containers for this year or plant them all in in a single out of the way corner temporarily til they're final home is ready.

Depending on the variety, if you leave them in pots outside overwinter, the cold and freeze may damage the corm, but in the ground, the corm will survive (if not waterlogged thru the winter) even though the leaves and stem may die back.

If you get good growth in pots thru spring and summer, and if you can plant in the yard in early August, you might be able to get away with planting out in your yard this year in their permanant spots and have enough time for the plants to acclimate to their final homes before they go dormant.

If the yard isn't ready til after that, it's prolly best to leave them in the containers til spring 08 when you put them in their final places. The other option, if you planted in the 'out of the way' corner is to do what Big Dog does to overwinter his, which is to dig them up in fall and overwinter in a sheltered place.

Also, for their final home, plant them in a raised location to help with winter water draining so the corms don't rot.

Good luck!

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My new hero...

DebCA

How interesting! It sounds like pups are the better way to go if you can get them and I guess I can see why people will trade them then. One site I was on said that they only use tissue cultures because it guarantees it won't spread disease, which I can see can be a real concern. Obviously who you buy from is a biggie.

I will talk to our landscaper about designing raised beds for my musas (and canna too I guess). The area I'm in is very clay-like and being a new development the ground has been very compacted also. Both of which I understand will cause poor drainage so we were expecting to have to do some real ground work.