Southern-Grower

just wondering if you colder zones have your game plan ready ??

if yur in 10 it's a no brainer, for us in 7-8 a lot of work..

maybe this will help some..

i separated three 5' pups last year from mom.. these didn't have a full corm, only 1/2 to 3/4. they only put out half and smaller sized bunches..
what i'm thinking is that full corm is essential for good bunches..

my game plan is set and ready to go..

so many decisions that need to be made soon for us.. which plants to keep and which to send to mulch pile..

do you have your plants close to fruiting size, for next years fruit?

__________________
Happy Growing,

SG

Enjoy Life as it's too Short

bigdog

SG, I'm getting my game plan ready. I scheduled vacation for the first week in November just for that! I'm hoping nothing else decides to bloom this year, but I've got 2 more tall orinocos that could at any time. One's 8 1/2 feet, the other just a little shorter. Assuming that they DO bloom this year, I should still have at least a dozen plants set to bloom next year. Hope they don't decide to wait until September, like one did to me this year. Raja puri is set to bloom next year also.

I need to start thinking about making ID tags, or ribbons, for each variety for when they all go under the house.

I'm leaving all pups on the corm this Fall. Last year, I did as you did, and separated large pups from the corm. First bunch was 13 bananas, so I think there's a lot of merit to what you are saying. The problem I'm going to run into is my crawl space door. It won't be big enough to fit the largest corms through! I do have a friend with a larger crawl space that will let me use it this year, and in turn I'll give him a plant or two. Another neighbor has a larger door also, and has volunteered space in exchange for a plant. Nice to have friends and neighbors with bigger crawl spaces than me ! When I do end up buying a house, I obviously need one with a full-sized basement!

Oh boy, just thinking about this makes me tired. Talk about lots of work! This year should be quite a bit harder than last, because of corm size and sheer volume of plants. I still haven't managed to throw one plant onto the compost pile. Just can't bring myself to do it.

Fall is in the air here. Air is drier, and skies are clearer. No more oppressive humidity, and the haze that hangs over Nashville and much of the South seems to have left for now. I actually saw mountains on my way down the Cumberland Plateau the other day, on my way to Knoxville. Usually air quality is so bad this time of year, you can't see them from the Plateau. I'm looking forward to cooler days and nights after this hot Summer. On the other hand, I kind of wish Winter would hold off until mid-December, so I could ripen this last bunch of orinocos!!

bananalover

Somehow, lol, we will move all mine that are in pots and are too big to go into the greenhouse, into the back shed and I will hope it is warm enough for them there so they can make it through the winter. Even if they can't the ones that are too big this year are mostly unknowns that I got from a neighbor and they will come back from the corm even if they die all the way down. Still I am hoping they make it because I would like to see them fruit so I can maybe find out what they really are. All of the named varieties I have should be able to fit into the greenhouse, it will be a squeeze but I will get them in somewhere. I only have two bananas in the ground on either side of the back porch and those I will probably just let die down and come back again next year.

Racer968

I'm in Milwaukee and am leaving the pups on too. This is my second year doing this. Has anyone tried to leave more than one leave on the main psuedostem to help them get a better start in spring?
Or would that reduce the chances of survival during winter?
I have a Blue Java and a Orinoco that are both over 6 feet of psuedostem. Do you think there is a good chance of blooming next spring? They've grown almost 4 feet this summer.

Southern-Grower

you got it going on !!

gotcha in that thinking mode..

racer @ 6' now on orinoco & i.c. i bet ya get 7' by nov..

which you'll need app. 2' - + for bloom.. my i.c. fruited under the house at 7 1/2.. tall orinoco 2 has fruited at 9 1/2'..

fingers crossed you should be blessed next season..

__________________
Happy Growing,

SG

Enjoy Life as it's too Short

bigdog

For those of us in colder zones, pseudostem height is usually a little shorter at bloom time than plants in warm zones that can stay in the ground with no stem dieback. This is especially true if something like center leaf (black death) rot occurs on a plant. Sometimes a stem will experience some degree of dessication while dormant under the house also, depending on storage conditions, overall health of the plant, and corm size. Absolute darkness, no water, very little humidity, and cool but not freezing conditions seem to be the best conditions for a plant to go dormant. I've read some posts on other forums about people occasionally spraying the plant with some water, but I believe that it is completely unnecessary.

Ice cream can go to 12 feet or more to bloom in ideal conditions, but I'd say 7-10 if storing under the house, depending on the size of corm also. Tall orinoco #1 bloomed for me at 8 feet, second bloomed at 7 1/2 feet. I have one that is still growing strong at 8 1/2 feet now, and another at 8 feet even. With my luck, they'll bloom in Oct., lol! Or under the house, like SG's ice cream .

I'm going to take lots of pictures this time, as I have an entire week dedicated to the bananas in November. I should have a post sometime that week, showing my methods.

momoese

You guys sure have a passion for Bananas! That sounds like a LOT of work. I don't know If I would be growing them in a colder zone. I guess I'm just not that hardcore!

Jeff

I wish I would have known I could grow bananas when I lived up in Pennsylvania!! I had a big basement which would have held lots of bananas in the winter. I would have dug them up and stored them for the next spring and my yard would have been filled with them all summer!
Unfortunately 11 years ago, bananas were not as popular as they are now. I didn't have a computer at the time either to learn from other people. I'm not even sure that most of the gardening forums were around that long ago.

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Jeff in Costa Rica

bananalover

Well, I have only found three banana forums. Afraid none of them are terribly active, this on is good and so was gardenweb until this one came about; that means still not too many people.
Ok, my question is that my bananas are going to be in pots in the back shed and will get some light, is this bad? I hope to not have to heat it as I will close them in on all sides and hope to have a manure base under the pots(where behind the rabbit cages used to be) so there should be some slight heat from the manure. I may add a heat lamp if needed. Anyone ever tried this, kind of a semi greenhouse idea, like a cool greenhouse?Low light not good light.

bigdog

I have a friend that tried this with a couple of smaller pseudostems in his unheated shed. They did fine until mid-January, when we had a good cold snap, and they turned to mush. I would worry more about freezing temps than a little bit of light. You could cover them with a sheet, that would keep out the light and provide some protection from cold.

Racer968

Thanks for the replies. I'm already looking forward to next year. Our usual first frosts in Milwaukee are mid-October so I don't have a lot of growing time left, but the way this summer is going, they may be pulled out of the ground in November if I'm lucky.

bananalover

It is possible that I could put a shop light or two out in the shed and wrap the plastic around my plants, like I said none of them aren't fairly hardy. Thanks for your input though, I will probably try to supply some sort of heat on the worst of the cold anyway.

Southern-Grower

bananalover,

i put 3 5-6' tall orinocos in unheated garage and they lost half of stem on 2 and one just didn't make it..

if i were you and had a less hardy banana plant, i wuld be looking to keep that plant above freezing..
i know the d.o. and rajas can handle down to 27-28F.

the ones in shed may look into xmas lites to wrap around it for below 32f, but no guarantees..

*if the plant is going dormant they don't need light, short days are what starts sleepy time for them..

__________________
Happy Growing,

SG

Enjoy Life as it's too Short

saturn

I am still working on my game plan. It always seems to be changing.

I was just going to dig and pot up a few naners, and bring in all the potted ones. Now I am thinking I need to replace the soil on all the potted ones.
As always, I have to scrounge up soil and pots.

And I hate having to decide whether to leave the pups on or remove them. I have usually removed them, but last year I left some on in an effort to reduce the number of pots to overwinter inside.

Yeah, a lot of work!!!

saturn

Southern-Grower

i here ya..

i like to get 5 gal. buckets from like walmart bakery, sub sandwich shops,
so on. they usually will give or sell for dollar to two each..

this is what i thought of when i saw scrounge.. cuz that's what i do here also.. especially the soil part LOL

__________________
Happy Growing,

SG

Enjoy Life as it's too Short