Last winter I had my Dwarf Cavendish under lights and they did well. I beheaded my Basjoo and put them in a cold room (40-50F) for the winter, little light and little water and they came back alive in the Spring just fine. Can all Bananas (I now also have 2 other types growing outside) withstand my cold room and come back? I am always hurting for enough light for the rest of my plants.
Over wintering Bananas
Bump. Please, I will have to bring everything inside in 1-3 weeks. If I get no response I guess I will put all of my Bananas save one in cold storage and see what happens.
hi gasrocks.. a bit warmer here..probably not by much though..
i bring all my bananas in.. i probably could try overwintering basjoo...covered really well..
i have over 20 + bananas..from 16' ensetes to 3' various musas/ensetes..
i keep all of them in really well draining mix.. i even use packing peanuts.. these arent potted up
just sitting in it..
i keep mine in a dark room that i keep around 50 F i spray the roots every month or so..to keep them from
completely drying out.. but as bananas are mostly water.. they evaporate alot during winter..
my situation is ..until i put up a greenhouse..i have to pull everything out..
cannas,EE,bananas,gingers,ti plants..
i pot my tropicals up in march..then get them in as much light as i can..
we had a coolish nite last nite.. 50sF ...so fall is on its way here.. sigh..
good luck to ya !!!!!
Thanks, sounds encouraging. My 2 cold rooms stay between 45 and 55. All my cactus, agave and a few others go there for the winter. 39 forecast for tomorrow night.
really.. 39F already? brrrr. wow your summer really came to an end fast..
weve cooled off quite a bit..but nites are still in 50sF got near 90 F today.. felt it too...
im sure u will do well gasrocks.. one thing i did last winter..if i notice a plant getting a little soft..or mold..
i buy cinamon and dust them with it.. it acts as a desicant..and i had great luck with it stopping molding..
and help dry out plants overwinter..
im pretty cheap..LOL so i go to dollar store or whatnot.. and buy when its even on sale.. 2 for $1 :
hope you let us know next spring how u did.....
I have been using my cold rooms for years now and no problems (so far) with mold. Big issue is always bringing plants at the last inute (before a frost) and then hoping it stays cold - so the rooms are cold and things do not try to grow without light. Same issue in the Spring. This last Spring couple of my bananas did wake up before I could put them out doors - they were given a window spot.
I was down at my son's house last week he has a rather large banana tree that is just too big to go in the house now. We removed and potted up two pups that are about 2ft tall. The main tree was wrapped in burlap and put in his basement. This will be the first time we tried doing this. It should do well down there as I always overwinter my canna in his basement.
HI, i know i'm posting really long after you asked.....but fyi - i have a bunch of bananas that i overwinter every year for the past 3-4 yrs. I have one that is about 12' tall....and i have zebrina and dwarf cavendish. I dig them up (have them all in outdoor whiskey barrels) and put the rootball with attached soil into a large plastic bag. I will make sure it's not dry, i may water roots a bit - then they go in my dark basement all winter and don't come out till spring. I usually will check them around January to make sure the roots aren't totally dry - if yes i add a bit of water...then check again around March. They will go dormant but spring back very nicely when they go back out the following year. I will usually take a dwarf cavendish pup and pot up in a sunny window and it does quite well. Then when warm weather comes out they go.
Thanks. Yes, a nice larger Banana would be so cool. I now have more lights than I had before so all but 2 Bananas are under lights, only 2 made it my cool rooms and are dormant.