bencelest

they are inside my enclosed patio with clear plastic.
I might add Christmas lights if the tempt goes below 32* F




Noticed that I cut most of the leaves and let them hang to protect the p-stem.
Remember this is just my idea and I don't know if it will work or not.
I will also install Christmas lights around the tree if the tempt goes below 32*F.
Meantime I'll cross my fingers and see what happens.
My purpose is to have my bananas to survive the winter without turning their leaves brown. And to go with it as cheap as possible.
Because the more wattage you use the more expense on electricity.
Christmas lights only use 4 watts per bulb. My thought.
I am also thinking to run a gas line all the way to my patio so I can install a gas heater but that's in the back burner in my plans.

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Banana Nut

momoese

Where are you located Benny? It seems like the warmth from the house should be enough to keep the temps up.

bencelest

Mitchell:
I live about 15 miles from Monterey and 45 miles south of San Jose.
The problem is I don't turn my heater on at night. We all sleep on 2nd floor and it is comfortable without any heater on.
From past experience, all of my banana leaves dried out every winter if I leave them outside. 2 died last winter without any protection. But if I tuck them in inside my patio they are OK including my citrus.
If I open the sliding door then the cold will come inside.
There's about 10 degrees difference inside/outside tempt.
You live in an area where you can plant mangoes or guavas. Not here. We have about 3 or 5 frost every winter. I don't recall we have that while I was living in San Pedro years ago.

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momoese

We get some frosts here but not a true hard frost. We get just enough to make the grass a little crunchy on top and that is usually only a few times each winter. Last winter I had to make a small greenhouse over my mango and pineapples or they would have been toast! We had temps in the low 30's and I didn't loose any p-stems. The only one I protected by wrapping was my Ae Ae but it still killed all the leaves right before it flowered and it eventually just fell over and died leaving behind one surviving pup.

I can't imagine San Pedro ever having any frosts being so close to the ocean.

Next year you need to build the patio up to the second floor so the house heat can keep it warm!

JoeReal

If we just get down to the low 30's, I would not lost a single leaf on all of my bananas unprotected.

We have been consistently in the mid to upper 30's and dipped down to 30 deg F one night, so far and all of my banana leaves are still green, only shredded from the wind.

When it gets down to the mid 20's that's the time I will do some tricks to save the leaves. I don't worry about the p-stems, not even last year's arctic blast can kill them.

marco

I'm very new to this site as of just a couple days ago, but for about 2-3 years I've been bringing banana trees into the landscape, and back in to my house in the winter to condition them for use as house plants.

How much if any sun light does your cold frame get?
If your answer is "limited", as an educated guess, I believe that if you were to apply an anti-desiccant (an anti-drying agent) to the banana's leaf top side like I do, it would help to 'hold in' much of the winter moisture loss from the plants.

(See my notes on this technique in ' ? on overwintering in the house' in this forum)

Your situation is slightly different than mine in that you're storing yours in slightly lower temps, and I'm 'showing' mine in my family room & breakfast room at 70 F room temps and regular home humidity produced by a heat pump. But from what you've described, you've going down the same roads I've been before I started thinking about ways to preserve moisture:

1) First I did the 'mist bottle' bit, with just water, with little help...
With the addition of (hidden) 'water pans' to help increase the % of
humidity around the plants... but all that did was make the cats mad!

2) I later experimented with the commercial anti-desiccant product 'Wilt-Pruf' for one winter, but I discovered that the product didn't hold up well for longer periods of time in warm indoor conditions, especially when 'routine' water misting is done.

3) I then turned to horticulture oil, which in fact is not a true anti-desiccant, but is rather more accurately is a petroleum-based extremely-refined insecticide, used by landscapers for both dormant and active control of insects for their exterior plantings. But in effect I've found it does have the same 'moisture holding' effects as other anti-desiccants, and it holds up better indoors!
So long as you're careful not to expose the plant you're trying to protect to the sun too much and possibly cause the sun's rays to magnify onto the cell walls of the tissue, and damage the leaves.

mskitty38583

that is great! made the cats mad.mine dont like the spray bottle either! this is why all my nanas are in their own room. im sorry, just had to laugh.

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bencelest

I am not sure I get you Marco.
My ways are quiet different than yours.
First, I am not thinking preservation of moisture in my bananas. We have plenty of moisture. Maybe too much when the rainy season comes in any day now. The air is full of moisture here being we are close to the ocean.
But you are right that my bananas will be in the lower tempt area.
But they are protected from the wind and chills because they are inside my patio. I think my bananas will be OK in this situation. Less light and low temperature and of course less growth. But that's what I want. All I want is for my bananas to go through the winter without browning their leaves an. But from my previous experience, my bananas and citrus grew still even with the
night temperature on the low 40's but on the daytime it could reach up to high 70's specially inside my patio if I don't open the 2 sliding doors. I am trying to get my bananas and citrus to go through the winter the cheapest way possible.
So against all odds, my citrus flower and fruit and my bananas grow during the winter time because I think when the tempt (soil is above 55 *F ) the plants are growing during those times.
I am also not thinking how much light my plants get. I tried to put all my plants closest to the edges so they can get the most light available. But believe it or not, ALL my plants whether they were located at the edge or at the corner, they look the same. I don't think of if my plants get too much light they'd fry. I am trying to get as much sunlight inside my patio as it is and I just removed the cover of my skylight to get sunshine in.
I am against misting my plants. It is too much work and I don't think it will help any. In a few minutes all the vapors from your mist will be evaporated and be gone. So I think it's a waste of time. Unless you have a mister that you can control the time and duration. Sometimes in a great while when I see that all were dry, I turn my hose and Soak the surroundings including the floor so that the moisture will be all over the place and stay a little while longer. I found out my plants love that as if they just took a bath.
But what I want to know is the mixture how I can get rid of spider mites in case my papaya gets the abominable spider mites.
The last time I use hort oil in my papayas,all the leaves wilted and turned brown perhaps because papaya leaves were susceptible to hort oil.
I am afraid to use it again with my papayas.
And last thing: It would be impossible for me to put my plants inside my house because my WIFE says so (lol).

I would like to invite you to my website to see my plants in the past.

http://community.webshots.com/user/bencelest

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magicgreen

Bencelest thanks for the photos. Those cherries are beautiful. Is that netting to keep the birds away? I really didnt realize california gets as cold as it does. Boy i havent been anywhere! LOL

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(Started growing bananas July 2007)
(Zone 6)

marco

[quote=bencelest;23485]
First, I am not thinking preservation of moisture in my bananas. We have plenty of moisture. Maybe too much when the rainy season comes in any day now. The air is full of moisture here being we are close to the ocean.

Sorry. I suppose I'm just so used to the 'midwest' concept of when the temperature drops, the humidity drops with it. Moisture preservation has been my #1 battle, as I have plenty of 'living' space to grow them as 'house plants, but no cold frame set up like you have

I don't think of if my plants get too much light they'd fry.

I only made that comment because if a person were to use the hort oil, (what I call 'banana oil'), or any anti-desiccant for that matter, to preserve moisture and they left it on their banana's leaves coming out of my 'house plant' OR your 'cold storage' mode, that the leaves most certainly would FRY if they forgot to rinse it off thoroughly.

But what I want to know is the mixture how I can get rid of spider mites in case my papaya gets the abominable spider mites.

All of the 'exterior' chemicals for mites I just checked in my garage MSDS file are not labeled for use in greenhouses or interior.
But you sound more like an organic control person anyway, So.....In the past, when I've confronted stubborn mite populations, I would 1st 'blast' them with a hose to dislodge them, then spray the ENTIRE AREA with insecticidal soap. I would do this to 'lessen' the population to a reasonable level, and then I'd go to exterior chemicals (floramite, avid) if and when things go really out of control.
I've never tried this, but you might check out benemite.com
Using predatory mites like this sounds like a good idea, but from past experience, you'll lose the population of 'good' mites if you start spraying other chemicals in there.

Nice chatting with you!

bencelest

Thanks for the info.
I'll try that when the time comes.
Nice chatting with you too.

Benny

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bencelest

Magic green:
I did not think that cherries will grow in my garden since I did not see any cherry tree being grown in the whole city but I tried and am I surprised.it even fruited the same year I planted it. A few the first year but last year was its third and boy have I got a load. One major branch broke because it was heavy with fruit.
Yes those pesky birds love those cherries and started picking on them even when they were not ready when they discovered that last season. I had no solution at the time but I thought of the net. It worked.

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Banana Nut