Bananas: Overwintering bananas

okay, give me the drill one more time. do I let my banana freeze back and then take up the tubers or not???

TiG, I hope someone answers quick, they've changed the forcast again to frost tomorrow night and mine are still in the ground.

Walter Reeves, a Ga. extension representative has a T.V. program on PBS and he said to take it up leaves and all. Wrap it starting at the bottom with twine to hold the leaves next to the stalk and put in a cool area. He said under the house or some area like that where it would be protected. I haven't done anything to get ready except bemoan the fact that winter is around the corner. I dread it so much. Not the cold just the not having all the plants blooming.

I bet his isn't close to 10' tall!!!! Kyle, where are you?????

TiG, mine are at least 10 ft tall too, maybe 12'. I've got to get the gingers up that can't freeze, some the frost will only make go dormant, but a few bloom on old growth, can't be frosted on. Glad it finally quit raining for a few hours.

you're supposed to know this stuff!!!! lol! I think Roz answered a long time ago, hope it was on the forum and not email! off to search

http://davesgarden.com/t/214912/
Cala, you said dig up, whack off the leaves and store cool. but do I do it before the frost or after??????

My Exotic book says to lift the plants and the root ball should be reduced to fit in as small of a pot as possible. The taller plants should have their foliage removed - since the leaves make up most of the height. The Abyssinian bananas are very susceptible to root rot and watering should be completely withheld until they begin to make growth in spring.

Before the first frost :)

This message was edited Wednesday, Oct 30th 10:55 AM

thanks poppy!! off to dig now!

Thanks Poppysue, the frost part is what I wasn't sure about.

rats, can't get mine up by myself! it hurt me to cut back those gorgeous leaves!

Awwww! Youse guys should live up here NORTH of the Mason and Dixon line where all Ya need to know about bananas is that they are in the produce section! lol

Got mine in, but they're both still pups....Should I withhold water now, or continue as a house plant until spring?

"eyes"

I dug my 10 footer up by myself and potted it up,I did remove some of the lower leaves but it did great ! And it still looks good....

and you're coming here when???

Tig, with my Musa Bajoo, I put a wire cage around it, fill that with leaves and cover the whole thing with a tarp. You would have to cut it back some though.

soon!

I want to live in zone 8!!!! am sure that DH will bring it in when he gets home in a bit. But I have a green one that we're leaving, taking a chance and I'll do the wire cage thing with it. thanks!

brugcrazy - have you seen the zone temperature ranges listed
in the plants database? I don't think we're an 8B anymore - closer to 9 and a bit. I haven't gone down to -6.6c in years.

i am patiently waiting for frost so the leaves die back on my Bajoo then it is off to bed for the winter i have a 23"X4'x 1/2thick paper tube to put over it and fill with leaves will post pick when i do

Kikisdad... eat some bananas from your own tree and you won't want to buy from the store anymore

Thats what I wanna do......

lawdy lawdy! I near bout broke my back and DH did break his shovel getting them out!!!! might have to grow them in a pot next year and let them not get so big!!!

Glad you got it out of the ground Tig.

tiG, please be careful with your back. We don't need you to be laid up and in more pain. Glad you got your banana dug up. I dug mine and it came up pretty easy, but have to say it isn't looking very good right now. Think I'll let it go to sleep for the winter. Had planned on keeping it growing in the house, but now it is off to the basement where it will be darker and cooler. I guess if I kill it, I can always get another one. Probably should have left it outside and mulched heavily.

Hey Irish, don't mind me...I'm just super jealous of the folks who can grow these things! The couple we bought our winter home from have a banana tree but it is never doing well when we are around in the "winter". The grapefruits they have, on the other hand, are fruitful and delicious and plentiful,Yumm
BTW when I was still working I had a Vietnamese cube-mate for a couple years and she told of climbing the banana trees in South Vietnam and throwing down tree ripened bananas by the bunch.

Hey tiG, is your green one the one I had?? If so you can leave it in the ground, when it dies back, don't cut the dead stuff off, this will cause it to freeze and get watery and start to ooze, but when it dies back, mulch real good, my mother uses straw, they will come back in the spring.

CC, you drive a double rig, you should be able to dig that 10 footer up.

Dee, I'm not sure which this great big green one is. If I got one from you, it's the one I'm talking about! I dug up the dwarf yellow we got at earl's and it's in the living room window, what a great houseplant. Have two from arlene one is now potted, have to get the other one out tomorrow, but they aren't real big. This zebrina was a killer. I have a huge pot that tree landscapers use, much bigger than 25 gallon, and I'm going to put the red in it next year. I'm just glad I didn't break the shovel! I did hurt my back pretty bad, but it was a whole day of digging and planting. Hope the frost will hold off, they changed the forecast again and now I should have through the weekend, but you never know!!!

I leave my large ones in the ground over winter.The tops freeze but they always come back in the spring bigger than ever.If I lived further north I would lift them for winter.

I got some of the gingers dug today, will finish tomorrow. They've changed the forcast again, cold tomorrow night. I got all the brugs in the gh finally. Bill had to help me with the last ones, they had to go in the poinsettia house because it's the one with the 14' ceiling. One special one in a 30+ gallon pot must have weighed 150#. I was surprised at how careful Bill was with the brugs. I only broke one pod off.

calla that sounds like the Aloe we have i takes the 2 of us to carry it into the GH

An aloe?? Wow, I'd love to see a pic of it.

Susie, I lost one big pod off Pink Beauty (x Cherie Amour)
:( DH said he doesn't know what we're doing next year, but it isnt' this!

tiG--I don't know if this will help you or not. I grew one banana tree (did not know what kind but it was just a plain green leaf banana tree)for about 4 years. I would dig it up each year right before frost and I would wrap the root ball bulb in newspaper then cover that with a plastic bag and store the whole thing (leaves and all) under my house for the winter. I would then put it back out each spring after all frost was over. On the fourth year, it produced bananas but they were not able to get big before the frost came for that year. I couldn't dig it up again because it had got about 12' or more tall and I could not drag it under the house anymore by myself. So I decided to do what someone told me they did with their banana trees---I left it in the ground and after frost I went out and cut it down to the ground and mulched it. They told me it would come back again in the spring. It didn't---I lost the whole tree. It had rottened in the ground. I do know of people in our GA area that do leave their bananas in the ground each year and they do come back but everytime I have tried this my banana bulb would rot and I would lose it. I have a young banana tree again finally, a friend gave it to me. I will dig mine up tomorrow and do like I did with my first banana tree and wrap it and put it under the house. I really did good with my first tree by doing it this way. I do hope one day to get one of the dwarf or cavendish banana trees so I can grow one in the house to look at year round. I just love the way they look and enjoy watching them grow up. I do wish you luck with your banana tree. It is exciting to see them produce little bananas. It really amazed me when I saw mine do it. I was so proud and glad I had dragged her in and out from under the house all those 4 years. LOL

I'm with DeeinFL... Right now my bananas loooks ugly with several yellow leaves.. due cool temperature and season change

DH said God didn't mean for zebrina bananas to be dug and divided!!! He broke the shovel digging and it took us over an hour to get the pups off the mom!!!!

Yes.. It happened to me when I dug and broke a shove.. That was my mom's.. opps! Got her new one.. I dug some and bring some with me when I got married and now lives here.. That was 5 years ago when I planted them in ground. Now it look full and tall.

OH.. Maybe yall should move to South so you can leave them in ground with out dig them out for the winter. :o)

believe me Tricia, I wish we could!!! but can't leave that precious grandbaby:)

Well, yesterday I dug my nanners up - had 2 only about 6 ft tall. I was going to put them in the garage and let them go dormant and just keep the 2 pups in pots. Then DH liked them so well, he helped me put the 2 big ones in one big pot to keep in my new temporary GH!! The leaves do take up a lot of space but they are pretty. I dug them myself, but used a spade instead of a shovel. I found that the roots were not that deep or big, and most of the dirt came off. I broke his big shovel last year, so he got me this spade, said that was what it was for, not to used his shovel!! Can't believe how neat and simple my new "Brug House" is!! We got it done in 2 1/2 days, it is 10x10. Will post pics soon!

can't wait to see it!!!