For the first time last year I bought a banana plant. It was so wonderful, grew so fast and was so big, I bought two more.
I have never had any luck storing roots, tubers, bulbs or anything else over the winter. Now I have three banana plants that have brown leaves, new green leaves and one so tall it is slumped over looking very sad.
Can I cut them all back, repot and go again? If so how far should I cut them back to?
Now after the fact, how should I have wintered them over?
Banana advice please!
I'm not an expert, but I can tell you what I do. The picture shows how my bananas look at the end of winter (zone 8b). When the green leaves start coming out, I cut the brown, dead leaves off - scissors work well - and then just let them grow. If a stalk (trunk) does not put out green leaves after a while, I consider it dead and cut it down.
Even if your bananas are in pots, I would think you could do the same thing with the leaves; I would not think repotting would be necessary.
If in pots, if you could put them in a protected area for the winter (like a garage). If in the ground, it is good to stack bales of pinestraw around the stalks for the winter.
I hope this helps!
Lucy
The set of corms (rootball) is perrenial. If a particular stalk is looking sick and not growing well, best to cut the stalk back to about a foot off the ground, fertilize the clump, and help it to start new stalks.
Thanks bunkhouse and Metrosideros for the help! I appreciate it!
Bunkhouse your bananas are wonderful!!!!!
