bikoro child

HI everyone ...today was the d day for protecting my bananas .First freeze is coming so you can see what i've done here/http://gardenbreizh.org/photos/ryan/album-5397.html

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Ivan

mcollum83

this is a very imformative thread...thankyou to all of you putting all this imformation down. I have a question for you all. I live in zone four...can I plant mine outdoors as long as I bring them in to winter dormant in my basement when temps are near freezing? What if my basement gets above 55 degrees because a heater duct runs down there? Any information to help me would be great. Thank you all

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Help me, I've gone bananas!

D_&_T

Depends on variety of bananas you have, if you know what kind try reading about them on other threads or in the wiki.

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stumpy4700

Thanks bigdog, While searching on how to winterize my bananas is the only way I found this must-have site! This post should be a must read for anyone who is thinking about growing bananas, so for the entire group of newbie's I "Thank-You" . I too live in the Nashvile area and last year I brought my 2 Bananas in the sunroom. They were only about 2 ft tall so they didn't take up much space.They did survive that but I put one out too early and 1 died. So far this year I'm up to 6 Plants so I might have to try the garage. There is no telling how many banana lives you have save but I just want you to know that your time was well spent posting this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

douglas gray

Joe, Big Dog, that is great info'. I killed the only nana of size last winter. now I have lots of little ones I want to keep. do you still suggest bare root, dry & dark if they are small for overwintering. I do have a greenhouse for option....thanks again both of you excellent for novices !!!

bananoloco

Seems like this thread has been going for years and I must say that I wish I had had this information when I first started...it would have saved alot of years of trial and error. Great work big dog!

I started doing the crawl space thing and quickly realized that I was breaking my back. So now, I cut mine down to fit my 9 ft garage and store them vertically against the wall. It makes it easier to roll in and out on a dolly.

In terms of temperatures... I put a cover over the windows and keep it as dark as possible. The temperature rarely goes below 50 and seems to stay in the low 60's for the bulk of winter. In fact, sometimes at the end of Feb and in March it will even go into the 70's. At first I was worried about the temps being too high but it seems that the mysore, orinco, raja's, and ice cream have no problems with it. On the other hand, I can't seem to get the dwarf cavendish to overwinter well and have all but given up on this type.

mikevan

A 16' trailer would work too so you don't have to cut your taller nanners back as much. Let it hang over some and you can keep 20' nanners even. If you have room in the garage, of course. Knowing most nanner-heads, we'll park the BMW outside and put the nanners in the garage over the winter.

It's good that the DC doesn't get very big - you could probably put that in a large pot and in a greenhouse over the winter.

Be well,
Mike

JCDerrick

I just read through the whole thread for the first time, and I agree this is one of the best threads on the forum. I hope this one keeps going - full of good info. After doing a lot of reading on this forum I've decided to dig up a lot of my larger bananas this year and preserve the full p-stem. I figure I'm young and might as well do the grunt work on saving them while I can - and it'll pay off in the spring with a nice full p-stem growing again.

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Malama 'Aina



Normal Jan. Low: 34°F, Normal Jul High: 92°F
Coldest: 16-20°F, Warmest: 98-103°F
Annual Precip: 48 inches

Franklin

Hi everyone. I'm hooked. I grew my first Musa basjoo this year and it's now at least 7 feet tall. Here's were I need help. The tree is in the ground. I'm in zone 6 along the Connecticut coast. The catalog where I bought the sappling claims the plant can withstand -20 degrees F. It seems hard to believe. What should I do to protect this beautiful banana tree? I was able to get one of the pups transplanted to a pot that I could bring in just in case. I know you folks will be able to guide me. Thanks!

JCDerrick

Lots of good methods are discussed here on the forums, do a search to find the best method for your area.

You probably will need to mulch a good bit heavier than we do here for basjoo if you want to keep any of the p-stem alive. If you're not concerned about the p-stem, but just want to keep the banana alive in general, you could probably just put a few inches of hay/leaves on the surface and it'd be fine. Basjoo are pretty tough and can survive very cold temps. How much you want to keep above the surface is up to you - the methods I use always preserve as much of the p-stem as possible.

Edit - here's another good page with photos:
Protecting cold hardy bananas

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Malama 'Aina



Normal Jan. Low: 34°F, Normal Jul High: 92°F
Coldest: 16-20°F, Warmest: 98-103°F
Annual Precip: 48 inches

v1rtu0s1ty

Good evening folks. I read bigdog's first post about how he does his overwintering. Looking at his pictures, the leaves are still very healthy. So am I correct that even if they're not dormant yet, you can start digging and knocking the soil around the roots? When you do this and put them in a cold free-frost dark area and not even a single drop of water, that's the time the banana tree will go dormant. Am I correct?

Oh, I also couldn't visualize how to plant them in spring if they are like 7 ft tall since their roots are short or are dead. How will it be able to grasp the soil? Do you stake it?

Thanks!

ktbown

Hello All...... just dug up some banana plants 2 fairly large ice cream , and a bunch of EV's .....going to store under the house as bigdog has been doing.. kinda nervous about 6 months with no water.....this thread is really informative..... thanks again for all the info

Patty in Wisc

Virtuosity (sp?) & Kent, don't worry! Yes, you can dig up a healthy growing nanna & shake off all/most dirt on rootball & it will just go to sleep in a cool dark place. It will know that winter is around the corner. It won't need water. I was leary too, but it works.
You are both in warmer climates than me, so maybe it's a little soon for you to dig them up? I have one still inground but will dig it up tomorrow & pot it to go in sunroom. This year, I will keep it potted for winter. I figure the more time it has growing, the sooner it will flower.
Last year I laid it on cool sunroom floor to sleep & covered it to keep it dark.
I potted it up in late March or April (in sunroom) & gave it a little water & it sprung a leaf very soon....it just woke up & had a early start for summer. Then after letting it get used to outdoors, I replanted inground end of May & it took off. I sure am hoping for a flower next year!
Patty

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v1rtu0s1ty

Thanks Patty.

What about my second question, can you please share how I would plant them come spring assuming they're 7 or 8 ft tall? Do I bury the pstem 1 or 2 ft below so that wind won't be able to take them or blown them down?

Patty in Wisc

Good point. The stem on mine is now 5ft & overall height is prolly just over 8ft. Going out now to dig it up & pot it. They do have shallow roots but the rootball is heavy. There might be some concern when you first plant it if there is a big wind storm ahead. I didn't plant any deeper than just above root ball.
How about a big stake next to it when you plant next spring!? I had no problem with wind taking it down this year, but I may put a treated 2X4 next to rootball & tie onto it next summer. Thanks for the idea...better safe than sorry!
Patty

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Patty in Wisc

Here's a pic of the freshly dug up I.C. nanna. You can see the pup still attached (leaf unfurling) & the rootball is sitting on the dolly. The tree in center is a pup I chopped off about 2 months ago. The one on right is Dbl Mahoi. The big IC is now in pot & in sunroom for winter.
If this doesn't flower next year, it will take more than just me to dig & pot it!

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v1rtu0s1ty

Ah, I wasn't aware before that folks here stake it when they replant their bananas. Thanks for the tips!

Patty in Wisc

I wasn't either, but it sounds like a good idea!

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Heater

Dug up my bananas and put them under the house for the winter today. I hope it wasn't too early, but we've had our frosts start here in NC. This is the first time I've tried the digging up so I hope and pray it works. The biggest (which was a bear to move) was about 12-14 feet tall.

Normally, I just cut them down and mulch them big time. Man, I hope this works.

Before


After


Nestled for their winter slumber

Patty in Wisc

Don't let the rootball get wet. And, maybe cover it to keep it dark & keep frost out.

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Patty in Wisc has sadly passed away 9/05/11. We will miss you Patty.