mudcat25

Last year I cut my basjoo to the ground (not knowing of another method until I found this site last winter). Is it possible to cover the corm with a clear polybag to try and give it a head start on waking up? If so what kind of low temps would I have to have before I started this.

Thanks for any info,
Bob

bencelest

I second.
I am very much interested also if it can be done.

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Banana Nut

bigdog

Sure! I'm going to be laying out some 6 mil clear plastic very soon to warm the soil up for planting. Any advantage I can gain, I will try. Just make a good seal where the plastic meets the ground (bury the edges in soil), and leave a little slack underneath so it will have a little room to grow. I imagine you could start doing it a little before the threat of last frost. You could even do it a little earlier, but be prepared to protect against a late frost. Once it gets going, I'd remove the plastic to avoid fungi.

bencelest

Since this is possible, I think I will go one knot further. I am going to lay on the ground a string of Christmas lights to warm up the soil at night under the plastic cover. I will put this C. lights on a timer from 8 PM to 8 AM. This clear miniature Christmas lights can raise the soil tempt 10 *F from my own experience .

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Banana Nut

bencelest

I just did that last night!
I got me 3 banana plants from Joe Real and planted them right away. I put a string of 100 Christmas lights around the base of each plant and cover them with plastic bags from the steer manure that I used.
I also did the same to my other two banana plants that I planted before the Winter came.

Thanks guys for the great idea. I am sure my bananas will thank you for the warmt soil.

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Banana Nut

mrbungalow

I have heard you need to cover a fairly large area with translucent plastic for this method to be effective, maybe 6 X 6 feet at the very least. Remember, there is alot of moisture in soil and it takes alot of energy to heat up a given volume. And heat travels. Taking it a bit far, it could be compared to heating a small area in a swimming-pool; The energy will travel around the volume of water. The energy will also in this case be absorbed into the soil around.
Still, since the ground is more solid, it is possible to heat a portion of the soil. Big, dark rocks under the plastic will help as these act as reservoirs for heat, taking up heat during the day and giving off heat during the night.

I have also heard covering an area with dark plastic is no use at all. The top of the plastic will get very hot, but not much energy will be absorbed into the ground.

Erlend

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mudcat25

Thank you all for your advice. The bags I have are used to cover skids 48X48 and are about 5ft tall I'm hoping this is enough area. I may even try using some christmas lights at night. I've already tried this with some smaller bananas in my basement. I put bananas, some alocasia and colocasia bulbs along with them and raised the temp 10degrees. Maybe more with some good sun this week. Hope I'm not rushing things too much.

Thanks again everyone,
Bob

man with the yellow hat

I have a temporary greenhouse made out of a pool solar cover attached to cedar studs, filled 2' high with mulch. Its approx a 4' cube. We had a very cold Feb and my temp sensor in the mulch has hardly dropped below freezing. This also does a great job warming the soil in early spring.