wxman

I'm toying with this idea for banana storage this winter. Tell me what you think.

I have basjoo, ensete maurelii, and orinoco.

In the fall before the first frost, I'm going to dig them up, wash all the natural soil off the roots and corms. I will cut all leaves off except two plus the emerging leaf. Then I will stuff them in the smallest pot possible and fill it with potting soil, perlite and wood chip mix to make a light, fast draining mix.

I will then put them in my basement laundry room which has a small window. I will hang fluorescent tubes above them and run these 12 hours a day for supplemental light. The basement will be kept around 65 degrees F.

I will water only when the soil is dry. I will mist the leaves weekly and treat with neem oil as necessary to minimalize spider mite infestations.

I want to keep them someone active/growing in the winter to minimalize pseudostem loss and slow spring startup. I know I could overwinter the basjoo and store the maurelii and orinoco dormant but like I said I want to minimalize problems and/or loss.

Pics of the nanners in question.

Maurelii and basjoo:



Orinoco and another maurelii:

LilRaverBoi

Sounds like a decent plan. Why are you cutting the leaves off, if I may ask? I don't think it'll really hurt them, but I don't understand why you are doing that. Beyond that, why the 'smallest pots possible?' The only forseeable issue I see is light. They will need a good source of light such as a bright south-facing window. Fluorescent lights might help, but metal halide would be better if it's within your price range.

__________________
BANANA RAVE!
Feel the beat from start to stop, dancin' and movin' from bottom to top!
lilraverboi@genxglow.com
RIP Tog Tan. We love you and will always remember you!
I'm Bryan with a Y! There is no 'I' in BRYAN!

wxman

Cutting the leaves off is because roots will inevitably be destroyed and will help combat the spider mites. Metal halide is out of the price range. Small pots to prevent corm rot.

With the temp being kept at 65F the fluorescent lights should be sufficient as growth won't be extreme.

LilRaverBoi

Here's my rebuttal (LOL)....too small of pots will simply not limit growth of plants (which, I guess could be a good thing). I would say 7 gallon pots would be sufficient for overwintering plants of that size when dug up. As far as lighting, having insufficient lighting will just result in leggy growth (thin/tall/weak). Not really what you want. It's better to have excellent lighting so the growth is lush and strong. Spider mites will be an issue regardless.....they always are LOL. I hate those little bastards!

__________________
BANANA RAVE!
Feel the beat from start to stop, dancin' and movin' from bottom to top!
lilraverboi@genxglow.com
RIP Tog Tan. We love you and will always remember you!
I'm Bryan with a Y! There is no 'I' in BRYAN!

bomber628

The conditions you are considering sound similar to conditions I had when I fruited 2 trees after winter several years ago. I was just discussing this with LilRaverBoi hehheh, small world. At the time I just wanted to have full size trees to plant in the spring so as to avoid waiting for new plants. I was quite inexperienced about the best way to store them and I had not discovered you guys yet so I got lucky, and here is what I did. I dug up my 2 tallest and the bigger one went in a 55 gallon garbage can full of regular soil/compost mix, (I thought more dirt was better). My garage is actually half of a one car garage turned utility room/salon(for my wife). The temp probably averaged between 60 and 65 deg and I had a lite fixture w/ 4 fluorescent bulbs, (4ft), and little outside light from a west facing door. I figured the corms would be ok if I kept the soil pretty dry so I only lightly watered 2 or 3 times, maybe 4 or 5. They did grow 1 maybe 2 leaves during the winter even though I didn't expect them to have enough light or water to avoid dormancy. I just thought it was a bad idea to let the soil get really dry. So I don't know what factors made it happen and I have tried once to repeat the process without success. This year though I'm gonna try again and I have good candidates for this winter.