I have been given three small new banana trees (type unknown) about 1' tall. I know nothing about banana plants but know these ones grow about 7' tall and have very normal sweet bananas and I was most interested to read the answer from miamimax 27.3.07, it was most informativ It will be about a month or more until I can plant them where I want to. Will they survive? How long can they survive just leaving them until I can plant them? Can I leave them out of the ground as one would a bulb or corm (I thought they were rhizomes)? They are in the house on the floor at present as it is too cold and wet to put them outside where I live now. The soil in Portugal where I wish to plant them is very sandy but I do have some leaf compost I could dig in or will they just grow anyway? What is the least distance I should plant them apart, as I do not have a lot of space? How long do they take to mature and produce bananas, months/years? One of them has two small leaves growing from the top and the other two have had the "stem/trunk" cut across and they look very dead and woody. Two have "bulbs" at the base. Is it worth buying the complete banana book or shall I just wait and see? Do they need a lot of water? Every day/just spray with the hose or more? I would be most grateful for any answers.

Option 2 is your best bet. Bananas store energy in the corm for winter hibernation. When you separate bananas, you have to get a piece of the corm for the pup to be viable. With this being said, separate the pups, pot em and give them away. Then with the plant you have left, put it in a pot w/ soil. It can be rather rudimentary as it may be planted again next spring so you don't have to get fancy. Store the pot for winter. The more light and warmth you give your banana over the winter, the more you want to water it. Just be sure never to over water as you do in the summer. The corm tends to rot if watered too much in winter, as they aren't as vigorous growers.

Which variety is it? Bananas are heavy feeders so good fertilization helps. In yr zone 3 years is not too long for most varieties but for others it may be longer.

I have grown my zebrinas in pots for years. They can take several hours of direct sun every day and I fertilize them just like the other bananas. Most bananas do well with a high potassium fertilizer but I just use the plain old high phosphorous I found at Walmart. Once inside give it as much light as possible and don't overwater. Less light less water. I don't think mine got any real direct light and may not have grown but a single leaf all winter but they made it well. South side of the house and open the blinds daily and you should make it.