Cpatrikis

hey guys, i have a 10-13 foot nana plant (i believe musa basjoo) in a pot on my patio that shot up this summer and is lookin real great. unfortunately the ceilings in my house are too low for it now so i have to put it in the garage. basically no natural light enters the garage, but the temp stays around 45-55 even in the middle of the winter. i figured i would simply set up a couple plant lights on a timer over head to keep them goin all year, and help keep em warm.

also, i still have the plant outside to soak up as much sun as possible before winter, but its starting to get colder at night (i live on Long island NY, i believe zone 7). when should i bring it in for winter, (what temperature could it comfortably withstand without hibernating itself).

thanks guys! ill try and post some pictures asap!

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Chris

saltydad

Hi Chris. You should have no problem with the setup you describe in your garage. Be sure to water very sparingly to avoid rot. You should probably prepare to bring it in soon, depending on when you have 1st frosts. Don't want it to get fried.
You are aware that next year you should plant it outside, and if indeed its a basjoo it will come back each spring after the winter dieback.

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Bob

Very cool Chris, it should be fine at those temps even withough any extra light I'd bet but if you provide it so much the better. It should also do well as Howard said planted in the ground next year and grow even larger and probably flower for you at that point. Keep us posted.

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stumpy4700

Hey Chris, Last year I left mine in the garage with no lights. I watered it once in the middle of winter very lightly. I would definately move it in before the first frost.....Good luck.

palmtree

If you a musa basjoo then you can definitely get away with planting it in the ground next spring on Long island. You are definitely a zone 7 (some areas of Long island even seem a little zone 7b ish to me). I overwintered mine in my basement closet with lights on in the closet. I lost the mother plant, but the pups continued to grow and they pupped like crazy. This year Im going to keep my bananas by a bring sunny window and let them continue to grow. Bananas need at least 60s to grow. If temps dont get into the 60s, they are pretty much going to sit there and maybe even get a few yellow leaves after a while. My bananas are all still outside and some are getting yellow leaves, but they are all still slowly pushing up new leaves (except for my musa velutina which isnt skipping a beat even in the fall weather!!!). You can keep your banana plants outside right until temps get into the mid to upper 30s which shouldnt be until November sometime on Long island. If you let a frost get to them the leaves will brown, but the stem usually doesnt until temps get into the upper 20s or so (according to the species). I let my banana plants see a frost and they didnt grow indoors for about 2 or 3 weeks, but then they started to grow again.
Sorry for all the writing! Good luck! Post some pics 'cause if its Musa Basjoo, Im sure a lot of people would easily ID it for you!

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Location: New York City, zone 7b

Cpatrikis

thanks guys, some good stuff. i think ill leave it outside for a couple more weeks, depending on the weather, i figure it likes the fresh air and could benefit from it before the long winter months.

on another note, you mentioned pups, how exactly do they form? i havent seen the slightest sign of them at all. and also is there a way to "force fruiting" like you can with other fruit plants? i know its not old enough yet (it only just finished its second summer) but i would like to know for future reference.

thanks guys!

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Chris

David Harritz

The temperature looking to be quite higher there and need to be controlled and require that around 40 so the the plants do not die and you will have the desired results.

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