Sam g

I'm looking for people experiences with wild bananas growth at low temps. There is numerous threads about cold hardiness which are great but I am specifically seeking information on growth in cool temperatures. My climate is relatively mild as a zone 9b however even during the summer months the temps rarely go over 80 degrees Fahrenheit and consistently drop into the 50's at night. So I am looking for wild bananas that grow vigorously at low temperatures? All experience welcome!!

cincinnana

Are you looking for a plant that will give you great foliage for most of the year?

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Sam g

That's not my biggest concern, I'm just looking for a species that grows well at low temperatures. I have heard that sikkimensis grows well even at 60 degrees. So I am looking for peoples experience with sikkimensis, yunnanensis, formosana etc. Even in the middle of winter we have 60 degree daytime temps. I have heard rumours of sikkimensis growing at temps as low as 40? I'm just looking for peoples experience

Tytaylor77

My best cool weather one during my cold/humid part of the year (early spring/late fall/winter). I would list them in this order:
Basjoo
Mekong
Bordelon
Sikkimensis
Milky Way
Blue java
Orinoco
Namwa

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Sam g

Thanks Tytaylor that is very helpful! What temps are you getting during those seasons?

aruzinsky

in my experience, Sikkimensis grows faster than Basjoo but dies outdoors during winter in zone 6a. It's also a better looking plant.

Gabe15

Probably the most similar area where wild bananas grow are the higher areas of S. China and N. Vietnam, N. India, Nepal, and Bhutan. The most common species in these areas are M. balbisiana and M. itinerans, but also you can find others such as M. basjoo, M. sikkimensis, M. yunnanensis, M. acuminata subsp. burmannica, M. splendida, M. lutea, M. coccinea (and close relatives) and a few other newly discovered and obscure species. Its hard to say exaclty what would do well as all of these species are normally having considerable variation with different populations thriving at different locations, and whatever you can get on the market is just a very very tiny sampling of the diversity out there.

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Sam g

Thanks Gabe that is really good information! I did see whole mountains in banana plantations in yunnan where day time temps where barely above 40. Interestingly many of the bananas we ate had one or two seeds in them and were adjacent to wild bananas that I can only guess to be M. Yunnanensis

Josh92

Hi, I am relatively new to here, and to growing Bananas, only been doing it for the last year. But I am in a similar situation where I live, summer average high is only 23 c (73 f). But I have noticed that my Musa Yunnanensis, Sikkimensis and Cheesemani in particular did quite well, all averaging about a leaf Evey 10-14 days with average temperatures in the high teens or low twenties. I got Itinerans India form and Burmese blue late in the season, Aug so can't comment much but they did both put out new leaves in September. And at the moment my Sikkimensis is growing, the cigar leaf (what has survived) from last year has started to unfurl and daytime temperature has barely gone past 8/9 c over the last few weeks.
I hope some of this helps a bit.
And do be patient, I have noticed that the bigger a plant is the faster is grows.

Josh92

Sorry to double post but I wanted to update. Musa Sikkimensis is doing very well, growing quite well despite it only being May, it has put out about 5 new leaves now at quite a rate, and I see a pup growing.
Musa Itinerants 'India form' is also doing quite well, on its 3 leaf. I probably wouldn't bother with Burmese blue, very slow at the moment.
Musa Yunnanensis is also one to choose, I can see the cigar leaf of its 3rd leaf coming up, they're about 40cm long at the moment.
They all seems fairly frost hardy also, all surviving the dozen frosts over winter and this spring with only blackned leaves last winter, no damage this spring.
Again hope that this helps

AaronTT

Maybe I am wrong, but isn't that climate good for M. Ingens? I would grow that one if I could.

cincinnana

Bump....I would move orinoco up 3-4 notches with a mild zone 7 winter.

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peterentwistle

We have pretty cool summers here in the north west of the England. In the day I'd say our summer temps were mostly around 16-22°C (~61-72°F) and could drop to as low as 8-13°C (~46-55°F) at night. I have had some good growth on my Dwarf Orinoco bananas this year. Basjoo and Sikkimensis tend to do well outdoors here too. I kept all mine in pots, but will be planting some in the ground next year. Our winters also tend to be quite mild like most parts of the UK, but not warm enough to leave any unprotected.

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