vaindioux

Hi

I am north of Atlanta zone 7a. My home is downhill at a bottom of a hill and I assume cold going downward that I hit zone 6 often in the winter.
Anyway I have had bananas for 10 years in the ground. I have been very successful with Musa basjoo, Musa grand nain and Musa rajapuri.
I got fruits and flowers 3 years ago from grand nain and rajapuri and my basjoo were 9 feet tall (No fruit/flower).
I used to keep my basjoo inground and they always overwintered fine but 2 winters ago I lost 70% of my mat and the ones that came out started from scratch as pup. They reached about 4 feet last summer and I dug them out and put them in my unheated garage in plastic bins standing up (I did not want to lose the rest of my basjoo mat).
I planted them mid April and I have a 3 inch pup as of 5/22/11 for my efforts.
The grand nain and rajapuri are not out yet. It hasn't been warm that's for sure.
It is getting frustrating to do all that work for nothing, my grand nain were 2 feet tall last summer LOL, might as well not bother. My rajapuri did quite ok at about 6 feet with thick trunks.
What annoys me in all this, is I dig them all up in late fall, place them in my basement or garage and when I plant them back instead of starting where they left off, they grow new pups and I never experience huge growth.
How can I remedy that?
Place a heater in the garage close to the bananas in the coldest of the winter?
Or maybe keep the corms in dirt and potted in the garage, no matter how awful they might look in the winter?

I would appreciate tips especially from people in zones 6 or 7 that are experienced in growing/storing bananas.

I join some pics from the good old days 3 summers ago.

Banana Gallery - Musa grand nain

Banana Gallery - Musa rajapuri

Thanks

Patrick

bananimal

Patrick ----------- I once lived in Charlotte, NC with weather similar to yours. The only way I got my naners to give fruit planted in the ground, before the late Oct frosts, was to dig out the biggest pups.

Stick them in big pots and grow them out in the house where it's heated. Kept them in a room with the orchids with a humidifier and a small fan circulating the air. Water sparingly with a bit of Peters 10 10 10.

Dan

vaindioux

Dan

I appreciate the post, I might try that in late fall.

Patrick

sib

I keep all my bananas in pots in our garage during the winter and water very sparingly. mThey all start growing in the spring where they left off the previous year. They usually loose most of their leaves during the winter.
Sib

RobG7aChattTN

I think basjoo does better overwintering in the ground. They just don't seem to overwinter indoors very well. Two winters ago was a very harsh winter and a lot of Musas struggled back very slowly and probably had some rot on their corms so when they eventually did come back they were quite small and never got much size. A lot of my Musas did not get much height after the '09/'10 winter.

vaindioux

Sib and Rob

I appreciate the answers. Sib do your bananas ever go in the ground? I am trying to find a way to store my bananas, but they all go inground in the hot season.
Rob your zone is probably the same as mine and you seem to have the same results as me.

Thanks

Patrick

sib

This is the first year I planted a banana plant in the ground and it has done nothing but rain ever since, hope it's not rotting!!! It is a Thai Black....my new favorite banana tree. I am trying a comparison by planting this one in the ground in a sunny spot and growing one Thai Black of equal size in a pot. I am trying to see if the one in the ground does better and grows larger than the potted one.
Sib