Hardy Banana Plants

Hi all. I bought a couple Hardy Bananas today on clearance at Lowe's and they are kinda poor. Any suggestions on how to get them back this time of year? It is already beginning to frost slightly in some parts close to me, so I am leary about putting them in the ground now. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks, Misty

Don't know what zone you are in, so I assume, like me, you are in the throws of winter setting in, so if I were you, I would put them into a larger pot with some good compost, keep them indoors in a cool area and care for them that way till next spring, you said they are hardy, I have those also growing in a bed with Cannas, but even then, I have to give them winter protection from frost, I dont think it will totally kill them, but the growing point of these are very soft and tender, so I have to wrap them with straw, then tie soft netting (plastic) around the straw to hold it in place till the warmer spring arrives, then I unwrap them but keep an eye on them for a few weeks just incase there is a severe frost at night in which case I throw some garden fleece over them and remove in the morning, I do this till about May when all signs of frost has passed, you can probably treat them this way once they have recovered from their neglect they have had this year, but as they are in a sad state for now, I would keep them indoors till they recover next spring, you will need to water them indoors as they are in an artificial growing place being hardy, but it would be a shame to loose them now if you want them to recover, outdoors in normal circumstances, I think the actual root will stand the frost, and if cut down by this they will re grow new foliage, but for this year, I would not take the chance, also for now, if you have some leaves that are tattered, get a knife and cut the leaf off gently down at the bottom of the leaf stem, this will stop the next leaf getting diseased should that be a problem for it. Good Luck. WeeNel.

Thank you so much WeeNel! Sorry, I am in zone 6. I believe they will survive the winter next year with no problem, they are just so poor right now. I greatly appreciate your help and enjoy all the knowledge I come across at DG! Thanks again, Misty

Your very welcome Misty, your zone is not as cold as mine, but for this year, I would err on the right side and next year you can be a bit bolder with them, I love mine and I have one that has a rusty red colour on the leaves, it never fails to amaze me when the leaves uncurl and are so large, by the way, a strong wind can rip the leaves to threads and it wont harm the plant, just cut it off if it is too bad. good luck. WeeNel.

Thanks again! I was amazed at how large these can get under the right conditions! Can't wait for spring! LOL Misty

Hey Misty - It seems like I'm always reading your entries. I agree with WeeNel, don't plant them now. Keep them in the house until spring. I have hardy bananas in my zone 5b garden and they have been coming back for about 17 years now. I do mulch them with a 10 inch layer of leaves at the end of the season but others have taken some of the babies from my trees and didn't know to mulch them and they too came back. They seem to grow best for me in a very bright location, but not necessarily full all day sun. At this time I have about 125 trees and some are 25 feet tall. I never feed them and rarely water them. They are truly amazing plants... you're going to love them. If for some reason yours don't take, I will happily share some of mine in the spring. They are big enough to divide around May 1st here.
For years I grew tropical bananas and brought them in every year. These are so simple. I get a tremendous amount of credit from non gardeners on being able to grow these giants. Little do they know bananas are less work than almost anything else in my yard! By the way, they do produce small bananas, but they are far too bitter to eat. One last thing, these plants reach the 20-25 ft. mark in the first year if they are planted in a decent soil with sufficient light.

To WeeNel, what is garden fleece? That sounds like a simple solution for iffy nights here in St. Louis for some of my other cold sensitive plants.

This message was edited Oct 28, 2007 10:12 PM

I read all these posts and wish to be in a zone 7, or 8, etc...., then I read you are in zone 5 and glad I am in zone 6! LOL The tag says they are great by a pool and that is about the only place I could put them to have enough room and so not to shade all my other sun loving plants! If they get that big there should be enough foliage from them to cover and protect from frost, and enough to cover everything else that needs protection! I really love Cannas, too, and will be getting more from my neighbor. I planted around 40 seeds and hope they will germinate, but I will have some rhizomes to fall back on if they don't. Might try planting Cannas in with the Bananas and see how that works? I do have a lot of excess sand around the pool-any suggestions on how to prepare the soil when ready to plant? 125 trees? WOW!!!!!!! Thanks again, Misty

Let me know how the Canna seeds do. I'm very curious about that. To mix bananas and cannas might not work because the cannas need a good deal of sun to flower and the banana leaves can get huge. Some leaves are larger than my husband. Who knows though. The one thing that I've learned from gardening over the years is that you can't go entirely by plant tags and books. Many of the things that work best for me should not be growing at all! I guess that's what keeps it so FUN!!!

I fully agree on the tags! Wal-Mart and Lowe's both will tell you that their tags are screwy! This is why I always look them up on the net and ask people here. My neighbor actually has his Cannas under a tree and only get partial sun. That, and there are so MANY that there is no way they could. But, his still flower, which is how I got all my seed. My son told me he was going to dig some up yesterday. I told him I would help since he was gonna share with me, but I have been ill and not able to. Feeling much better today. Me and my sis went out scavenging new flowers and trees! We were legal though as we was on family property! LOL Was able to get some Mimosa trees, with a LOT of effort! And she got some yukka plants, then some other "roadside" stuff that we have no clue what they are! However, these items are outside and not planted as I didn't have time to get to them. Sure hope they will be ok til tomorrow!

I'm sure they'll be fine. Plants are amazingly tough. Hope you continue to feel better. Not sure how far you are from me, but the weather man said all this week will be beautiful with temps. in the low 70's. That should go a long way in helping you recover. Have a great week!

Hi Misty: I winter over my tropical banannas in the garage. I know a lot of people dig them up and cut off all leaves with a small root ball. so they can take abuse and bounce back. Please keep in mind that banannas are 80% water and as others have stated they do spread quite well. I would love to trade a tropical pup for a hardy pup this coming spring.
Best of luck
Dave Zone 6b tulsa, OK

We are about smack dab in between St. Louis and Springfield. Podunk St. James! LOL If you have heard of Rolla, we are about 10 miles from there. Thanks, I finally got me some medicine today that has helped a bunch. And the warm weather will allow me to go play with my plants! I am sure my Mums need to be pruned. Love 'em, but they are a pain! Great week right back at ya! Still waiting to see if anyone can ID my other plants. Misty

Pughbear7 - just left a msg. for you on aparagas fern question. I will give you a hardy "pup" this spring if you'd like to try one. Used to have all tropicals (and loved them), but after several years of the hardy variety I'm spoiled. EASY and beautiful! Can't beat that!

This is true, but if I could get something in trade that I can't find around here, I wouldn't mind digging up a little. I see so many beautiful tropicals around here, and would love to have some, but never see them in the stores! I would be willing to put a little effort in to something, especially if it is something no one else in Podunk St. James has! LOL Nothing wrong with easy and beautiful either! I am just amazed at how the Zones jump around from City to City, and State to State.

I dont know what you call garden fleece in USA, but it is available there as I have seen it on my visits, but I will describe it for you, it is white woven fabric, light as a feather and you either buy it in sizes like 3 metres bye 5 metres, in all folded in a packet OR sometimes I have seen it on rolls in say Garden Centers alongside the black woven fabric for laying down under path bed mulching, as for the fleece, it is so light that the light can get through (but not burn the foliage) it lets water through, rain or self watering, but for me, it helps keep the frost off the foliage or enough off the beds, however, it will not halt heavy ground frost, I have found that a heavy ground frost will still get through, but if it is just a short frost time wise, the fleece stops it getting deep into the soil, for like your tall bananas, I wrap the fleece around the foliage and a) it stops my winter winds stripping the foliage and stops rain penetrating deep into the growing tip where the new growth comes from and it stops the foliage from getting burnt with heavy frost on the large leaves, what you have to do though is gather all the foliage upwards into a tall bundle, tie it with SOFT garden twine to hold in place and then wrap the fleece around the foliage, next spring, unwrap, cut the twine and check the foliage and remove any tattered ones, I use this for some small slow growing Acer in pots or beds and many other plants, I have rewashed the fleece after the spring and reused it so it has many uses in the garden, if laid on top of beds, you need to secure it with rocks, pegs etc or it will blow away like fairy wings, lovely sight. on beds, always leave it roomy enough for growth and let it flap a bit in the breeze so the plants get room to move in the breeze. Good luck. WeeNel

Thanks WeeNel - I'm going to look for some. You have given me peace of mind!

Growgirl: If its the same thing I am thinking of its also called a frost blanket and a lot of sites on line sell it. amazon has a small one 42" x 25' for 6.50 plus shipping. I realy needed one last spring as we had a nice ear;y spring up into the 80's in march and as per mother natures ways we had a good frost over night a few days in a row in april. Here in Tulsa its a specialty item and I have yet to see it. It might be because we can have such sharp swings in the weather here or I have the shoppers block "can't see the forest for the trees". I have seen it 70 degrees in the mid morning and snowing by 5:00 pm on the same day. Yuk...
I would love to have a hardy pup this spring. i love lowes fall blow out sale. I got some great deals on a few things. I've visited 3 of the 4 in town and each one has different stuff. I got a dwarf nandina variety I forget but I am looking forward to collecting seed from it once it matures and sets seed.
Dave

Dave, Thanks for all the info. I will be happy to share a banana start in the spring. I'm just learning how to use his website and don't know how to respond to just you. I'll figure that out and get back with you. In the meantime, I'll look for the frost blanket. And thanks for feedback on other thread about meyerii asparagas. It's one of my favorites and I don't want to lose it. (Guess I say that about all my plants, but I really mean it on this one)!

This message was edited Oct 31, 2007 3:41 PM