Terri

As a Northener in zone 5, the bananas would probably have to winter inside. As a small woman in indifferent health, I will NOT! be carrying large pots up my front steps!

Then again, if I had the very dwarf plants, I think I could get them upstairs to winter over and then move them outside in the spring to, hopefully, fruit.

I have a hardy banana in my garden because the foliage is so pretty, but I would love to pick my own banans! And my hardy banana dies back to the root every fall.

Abnshrek

Even a super-dwarf is going to be in a big pot to maximize production. Even a 25 gal pot is something to lug.. w/ a hand truck. Might be able to put a super dwarf in a 18 gal pot.. :^)

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Terri

18 gallons, huh. That's....big.

Do bananas transplant well? Perhaps with a smaller pot I could plant it in the spring, hope that it fruits, and pot up any pups in the fall. That would be perhaps 14 months on the plants, from potting up to trasplanting to (maybe) fruiting?????

That sounds very quick for a banana!

Abnshrek

I have 3 banana's in 18 gal and it doesn't restrict growth until they get 3-4' of p-stem. A D.Red, Goldfinger, and supposed Haa Haa. Up there I'd say more like 3 years unless you have a good grow room. :^)

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Illia

If you can't carry around heavy pots or plants, personally I think your main only choices are growing bananas strictly indoors in pots (large ones preferably, and in the sunniest, brightest part of the house) or getting a good greenhouse erected. Preferably one that does not freeze, but one who's temps will not dip below 28 degrees is also good.

Another good idea is growing them outdoors then uprooting them carefully and storing them in a cool dry area over winter, but, bananas get HEAVY, even without the soil. It's all that water.

Terri

Oh.

I have never heard of that. I will have to look that up. The windows in my house are not the largest, and while I do set plants in front of them a LARGE banana plant will be larger than the window!

Illia

For growing strictly indoors, there are varieties that get a max 6 feet tall, and if potted you might be able to keep it shorter. There's also the seeded but edible "velutina" banana, small fruits and not the biggest production, but it gets a max 4 ft. in the pot and grows/fruits very fast. Other than that, dwarf and super-dwarf types might fit in your house.

amantedelenguaje

Perhaps you could wrap the pseudostem of your outdoor hardy banana with burlap or bubble wrap, cover it with a barrel or trash can, fill the barrel with leaves or straw to give your plant some protection. That way your plant won't have to continuously regrow the pseudostem thus allowing it to flower sooner. If the banana is not cool tolerant, you may wish to consider another variety that can tolerate cooler temperatures such as orinoco, ice cream, etc.

Or, if you have a porch, perhaps you can transport the potted banana via a hand truck from the porch to indoors. Leave the banana always on the porch unless it gets cool; then take it inside. At least you won't have to lug the banana up the stairs if you leave it on the porch.

If you opt for a greenhouse, don't forget that you need to heat it. I just built a rough greenhouse, and I insulated it some. Even so, I have to run a heater at night. I use a small 750-1500 watt heater that I keep on a timer to shut on and off every 30 minutes. When it is 28F outside, the greenhouse is usually around 40F. The bananas aren't happy, but at least they're alive.

If you are feeling really adventurous, when it gets too cold for the plant to be outside chop the pseudostem down to 3-4 feet, bring it in the house, and pot it up for the winter. Let it grow indoors until the weather warms and make sure to cut way back on the watering. When spring arrives chop it back down to 3-4 feet, take it outside and plant it in the ground again. The pruning is not ideal, but at least it will make the banana more manageable for you while conserving part of the pseudostem. You also won't have to lug a pot of dirt up and down stairs, only the shortened banana. If you decide to try this, I would keep a pup as back up. I don't guarantee that this will work, but since the plant is dieing back, you have have nothing to lose. Additionally, if you see the leaves start to stack up, you may want to think twice about cutting the pseudostem as this is a sign of an impending flower.

Else, I agree with Illia. Grow the banana indoors full time. I know you said you don't have that large of a window, so grow lights might help. Keep the pot on a wheeled caddy and push it in front of an opened door on sunny days (assuming you have a storm door).

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Illia

Personally I find if you want to save money with greenhouse heating, passive solar is the way to go. Either make sure the north side is a solid cement or brightly colored (white pref) wall or attached to a building/house. You can keep the day from over heating and the night much warmer with large tanks/barrels of water. I've seen some pretty good success especially with those combined, but even with water alone or water with supplementary electric heating.

LilRaverBoi

If carrying big pots is out of the question, and you still want fruit, then you basically have two options: a) grow outdoors during the summer and overwinter dormant in a basement, etc. or b) grow indoors year-round.

There really is no way around that....like others have said, even super dwarf cavendish, one of the smallest banana plants that produces legitimate fruit is 3-4' tall and needs about a 25 gallon pot to fruit.

Beyond that, you can always just enjoy bananas for their beautiful foliage! There are plenty of great plants to choose from.

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Gordonf

I know almost nothing about growing bananas, but I do know that in Eastern Canada, people grow figs and get fruit by uprooting the trees in fall, laying them down in trenches and burying them over winter. maybe that would work for bananas? Someone please correct me if this is a dumb suggestion!

Illia

For bananas, a similar method is uprooting them before the freeze each fall (or at the first freeze for slightly cold hardy ones) then cleaning off any excess dirt from the roots, and storing the entire plant (preferably cutting off the leaves) in a cool, dry area until next spring after danger of frost. Places like under your house, in your garage provided it stays cool and dry, or any other similar place. But like previously said, bananas over time get large, and dragging such a large bulb+stem is hard work.

You can also keep the banana in the ground and protect it, but places with zones below 8 are pretty cold, too much so for most banana cultivars.