I am so tickled! A friend just gifted me with a big old banana tree. I would like to sink it in the ground with my cannas and EEs but I'm not sure the best way to go about it. It will have to be brought in next fall so should I just bury it pot and all? If so should I cut the bottom out of the pot to give the roots more room?
As you might guess I'm quite inexperienced with bananas. The only other one I've had was purchased on clearance last fall and the poor thing never made it through the winter. Any advice or tips would be most welcome...thanks so much!
BTW I don't know if it makes a difference but I have no idea what kind of tree it is. The tag simply said 'Banana' and it stands 3'-4' tall. Some of the outer leaves are dead (I assume I should remove those?) but otherwise it looks quite healthy.
Planting a Banana
Your banana will grow much larger if you take it out of the pot before planting. I would sink it in the ground a couple inches lower than the soil surface in the pot, especially if some actual stem (leaf scars) is showing. Bananas are heavy feeders and like plenty of water too, as well as sunlight.
Hopefully others in either your zone or a zone nearby will chime in with help on how to handle it during the winter. I don't have that problem down here where I am.
LariAnn
Thanks LariAnn. It's pretty big already (overwintering is going to be fun with this one) but the bigger it gets the showier it will be. I'm worried about the roots though when digging it back up in the fall. Such dilemmas, LOL.
I grow the banana Musa Basjoo in the ground all year long here in Yonkers NY (zone 6) These trees get huge when they are planted in the ground. Mine reached about 15 ft tall and was surrounded by 5 to 10 foot pups all around. Basjoo is probably the most hardiest of all bananas (if not the hardiest) and the common name is Japanese Fiber banana. I covered the trees in the winter (a feat in itself) using burlap and tarps. You have to keep the top of the tarp open so stick a large plastic flower pot on top of the opening to keep rain and snow out. They survived for the past 10 years in the ground, but this year we had a particularly rotten winter and even though they were covered, they died back to ground level. They are now back in full growth and have been uncovered since the beginning of April. One is about 7 feet tall already. They put on tremendous growth when it is warm and wet. They love that rain forest type of climate. Dont know what species you have so dont know how hardy it is, but if is not hardy, you will have to get it out of the ground before the first frost. In the house give it as much sun and humidity as possible, and watch out for mealy bug and spider mites. Keep the soil moist to the touch but not saturated. Watering in the home becomes a science. The more sun the plant gets, the faster it will dry out, so you have to become diligent when to water and when not to. Good luck and enjoy.
I started with one (Musa Basjoo) and before I could bat an eye there were three. I would give pups to anyone who wants one. I probably have 5-10 pups now. Just bring a shovel!
I dug a hole for my musa basjoos and filled the bottom with a slurry of wood fire ashes, then added a layer of rich soil to rest the root ball on. I filled the remaining void with a mix of rich potting soil and the original soil. My basjoos are in a corner protected from the north and the west by foundations and walls. I mulch them every winter with a few feet of leaves held in by chicken wire.
They have been in the ground for three seasons, and began growing this year in April. Now they're six to seven feet tall with four feet long leaves. They guard my side door. They *are* extraordinary.
-Joe
If the leaves have a reddish stripe down the center of the leaf, then it is a Basjoo - this is the hardiest type of banana and should not need to be brought in or covered in burlap - they will over winter even up to Canada. Last year I waited late in the spring to cut mne down and the center was green. The trunk was about 10 inches across, about a week after I cut it back, we had our only snow and a hard freeze. That green center turned to mush. Then later 3 more pups came up from the roots and they are about 20 ft tall, really striking.
In the past, I have only removed the leaves and left the stalks out. I read a post where someone wrapped their Brugs in bubble wrap - this would be easier than burlap I think and would not freeze if it got wet.
