watergal, Ok, I'll find a spot w/ more sun for this year's experiment. I was afraid they'd burn up w/ too much sun. Thanks for the suggestion

I don't think you can give them too much sun, especially in zone 5!

I pulled the cage and peeked at mine yesterday. After cutting off a few inches of mush, I have about 18" of pseudo-stem left on the main plant. All of the pups around the mother corm are mush.

treeguy_ny

If you overprotect the plant it can become very warm inside during mild days. That can lead to moisture build up which in turn can lead to rot and fungus.

Blondboy,

I still believe that your plant may still rise from the ashes. Keep us informed.

This will be the weekend that I have my first look at my basjoos. I'm a little nervous.

Tropicalintoronto,

I live in Markham and wonder what protection you give your basjoos. I would assume we have a very simialr climate. Since you have been successful maybe I can benefit from your experience.

When I get home today, I'm opening up the protective plastic and cleaning out the last of the few leaves that are in there... then, wait mode..... here's to hoping! :)

I haven't seen any life at all yet. I've been uncovering them during the warm days and covering them up if it dips below 40. I have a Wall O Water on one too. This weekend should be gorgeous, mid to high 70s and sunny. I hope I see some life soon! I hope I see some life at all! Most of them are completely mushy, only one has any firmness.

I just opened up the structure due to the heat build up. Yup, it gets hot in there... hot in the greenhouse. It got to 43.5C (110.3F).

So today is install the fan day.

As for the Musa, it's mushy on top, but if I push my finger into it, it seems firmer. Perhaps there's hope yet.

Musa basjoo and others are so easy to predictably overwinter indoors that I fail to see a good reason for keeping them in the ground unless you physically are unable to move them or don't have the facilities to do so.

In the fall, after a light frost turns leaves to mush, dig out the entire rootball with a spade, it can typically be removed readily, although a large clump can be heavy. Trim off all the leaves, you can keep the newest one on, and place the rootball and stem clump into a garbage bag and leave it in a garage that preferably stays above freezing.

In the spring, you have 2 options...place the clump into a large pot, fill with any potting mix, and leave it somewhere warm and bright (east or west window), water it, and let it grow for about a month before they're ready to be planted out...

-or-

Plant the whole clump outside directly after last frosts, this will result in slower initial growth of course.

By storing in a garage, you do not have to worry about extreme cold or if the plants will survive.

I just uncovered mine yestaurday here in south Jersey. I was shocked how well they over wintered. I posted 7 pictures on the Tropicalesque Gardens Forum if anyone is interested. The pictures show the many layers of leaves and stuff I used to over winter them. I'm very happy.

Dan1465

Good and bad news. I will start off with the bad news,
It looks like I was not as successful this year as compared to last year with the overwintering thing. All Pseudostems dried up at the top but turned to mush near the bottom. Last year saved about 18" of stalk.
The good news is,
Of my two main stalks, I think I managed to save a few inches. It doesn't sound like much but I'm sure it will go a long way in producing good growth this summer.

Learning's from this last winter are;
Not to concentrate on protecting the entire 6-7ft of stalks. Next fall I will cut the stems down to 3-4 ft and build wide as opposed to tall. Should require less effort. And hopefully better results.

Edbtz,

I spray the plant with copper fungicide after the first good frost. I may have waited a little too long last fall. Then I simply build a crude cage using chicken wire, fill it in with leftover straw from Thanksgiving decorations. Wrap the cage with bubble wrap and finally cover everything with a waterproof tarp.

xerophyte_nyc,

For some strange reason I find satisfication in being able to overwinter a banana plant outside where the temperatures can drop well below 0F/-18C.

Thanks
Phil

Chicago burbs, zone 5 here, my Basjoo is sprouting three shoots, they're maybe a foot high now. One large stem (about 7 inches in diameter) that I cut down to the ground is mooshy, don't expect it to grow, but smaller stems are growing well. To protect them, I put extra 8 inches of mulch and it did the trick.
K.

That's great news ferrous, I'm sure you're thrilled!!

This is kind of a stupid question but I assume they're going to come out of the ground looking like the plants I bought last spring? I found this odd thing coming up in the area where the banana was, I'm not sure what it is...

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:405647}}

Turquoise, on the picture it's something that looks like a broken bamboo rhizome, not sure. I should take a picture of the bananas coming up, to describe, there are three shoots growing, two are small, new growth, looks like a canna but much biger, now they're approx 5 inches high and thickness of a finger. The third seems to be an old rhizome, it's much thicker, size of a forearm, now over a foot long. The last one had some mooshy top and I remember it was one of the two shoots that grew last year, it was approximately 4 feet tall leaves and all, in the fall I cut it down to the ground. The main, old big shoot didn't make it but I stuck my finger in it over the weekend and it's firm so I don't know if it's dead or not.

Our weekend was very warm, weather probably in the 80's and sunny, the shoots are visibly longer in just those two days.

Due to having to move my basjoos, ice cream and dwarf orinoco bananas, I dug em all up. All were over 6 feet tall. They were stored in the basement inside an unheated room. The basjoos lost all of their height. The dwarf orinoco and ice cream kept the majority of theirs and have been in the ground for 2 weeks now, starting to regrow. From my experience, the basjoos are the most difficult out of the 3 to dig up, store and keep the stalk height. The basjoo corm is very large and quite firm and has been planted in the ground.

Starting my tropical garden for my birthday next week. Would someone please let me know where best to get my first banana tree and what to expect to pay?

My Basjoo is in a South facing garden against the house more or less. It over wintered fine and is now shooting out new growth. I'm located in London, Ontario and in Z6, though have a slight microclimate that puts me on the top side of that zone.

To over winter I cut the stalk off at 3', wrapped it in bubble wrap and then a large clear leaf bag (which I'm told was a bad idea because the plastic traps moisture), then took my garden composter and set it over the wrapped stalk. I then filled the composter with leaves. The composter is black plastic with a lid and lots of ventilation holes along the sides. In early april I uncovered the plant and the top part of the stem was mushy and I feared further rot. I cut it off at about 20" and then wrapped the whole thing again in burlap as I anticipated more freezing weather. In hindsight I probably didn't need to cut it back so short because it seems only the outside layers were mush and the inside was a solid healty part. About two weeks ago it pushed it's self through the burlap and so I uncovered it. It's seems uneffected by the several slightly below freezing nights we have had since.

Still no sign of life with ours. I'm thinking it's lost. I would think with the nice warm weather we're having, that there should be SOMEthing happening. :(

Oh well. It was an experiment anyway.

We still have 4 health ones in pots in the greenhouse and 2 of those are shooting out pups.

Maybe next year again. Or maybe not! LOL :)

Nothing where mine is either, but I still need to clean off the remaining mulch and mush. Usually things take off after that. I'm hoping the long, late cold snap slowed everything down.

Blondboy,

Too bad on the your basjoos. You never know, they may still surprise you as long as the corm is still solid.

Mine are alive though they did not fair as well as they did last year. Many pups coming up but the main stems are still mushy.

BTW, I went to Broadway last week and picked up some plants. I might make one more trip when they get their other hardy banana plants in.

Cheers
Phil

Blondboy,

Mine are about 3 1/2 feet tall and I cut them down even with the ground this is the second winter for them and they are growning like gang busters.

lovethosepalms, you cut them down to 0 and they are 3.5 feet tall and you are only in zone 6? What's your secret?

I uncovered mine today - I have a three little sprouts a few inches tall. Wouldn't you know there's a frost warning for tonight now? I wish I'd left the mulch on one more day!!

watergal,

I donÂt really have a secret I just cut them down even with the ground then I spray copper fungicide on them then I put plastic over the top. Then I just cover the plastic with mulch, and then I wish for spring. I am not going to start a zone war here but I am in a zone 6 we might just get warmer sooner and stay warmer longer. There is not a freeze warning here and it is only going to be in the 50Âs tonight

Don't feel bad blondboy, looks like I lost all of mine too. Nothing at all yet. We had SUCH a cold winter I'm not surprised. It was 15 below at times and 40 below with the windchill.

I had a beautiful little green tip coming up but it turned out to be a hosta. :( I have one musa basjoo in a pot and I'll probably order a few more. Try, try again!

LOL at this point, I'd be happy if a hosta popped up there! hehehehe

No, not really. As of today, still nothing. But, not a big deal. I still have the 3 mother plants and 1 more pup.

I will be leaving them all in pots. I don't think I'm going to try this again.

But, there is one thing that's nagging my mind.

Is it possible that the pup that I planted last year, was just too juvenile to survive? I mean, it was fairly small, but did grow to something like 7 feet, if memory serves.

The mother plants have MUCH larger corms.

I suppose there are lots of variables as to why it didn't make it.

If I don't see anything by mid to end of May, I think I'll dig up what's there and look at it. IF it's still firm, maybe I'll just put it in a pot and see what happens.

I don't know. I had several out there last year. One had a corm about 5" across, others only 2". I thought for sure the larger one would make it but the smaller ones actually look more hopeful (firmer). I haven't completely given up but I did order three new ones today!

Turquoise-

Where and how much did you order your basjoo, if you don't mind me asking? I ordered mine last fall from going bananas out of fl... I think it ran me under 30 total. Mine have been in the ground for over 2 weeks and have finally put out some new leaves...growth has begun!

mine is mush too, but in zones 5 or 6 you really have to wait 'till memorial day, they need warmth.

Let me start by saying

WOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOO! >:D

I can NOT believe it. But this afternoon, we came home to a sweet surprise! You guessed it. The first Musa Basjoo shoot coming out of the ground from the mother corm!!!

May I please repeat, you know, for clarity..

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO 'FREAK'N HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO LOL

Picture taken today at 7:15pm

{{gwi:405648}}

CONGRATS!!!

Some of mine that were one year old and two years old don't look too good, not very hopeful. A couple have "the dreaded hole" where the stem was last year.I don't have really any hope for those few.
Some of the other two year olds still look pretty mushy but might make it.
My four year old clump has one sprout right now that is over a foot high. One in partial shade at the side of the driveway three years old has three sprouts. I think when it gets to be -25 over winter, they might need an even larger area around the plant mulched--Because the ones that are coming up good are the ones that were so large last fall that I piled 8-10 bags of leaves on top of them to cover all the stems. So a larger area was mulched. So I'm going to revise my mulching advice from four bags around the stem and one over the top to now it will be--8-10 bags of leaves piled over the stump. Just in case of a winter like last one.
Sincerely
Sandy

Here is a link that might be useful: tallest basjoo sprout

sandy, i noticed that you were going to try sikki's. I have two to go in the ground that I got off a pennsylvania grower on ebay that has luck with them. I got ripped(i think ) off ebay with a so called basjoo. It grew wonderfully last summer, but I noticed it had a "silvery white" waxy pseudostem. I protected the h$%l out of it , but so far nothing. I have a couple of true northern grown basjoos to try again with. saw yours on ebay and it is a good size.

I live in the Missouri Ozarks and mine are going like gangbusters! I have 2, with pups that I cut back to 3 feet and protected in a straw filled cage. I think I over- protected them because they grew all winter, except when we were down into the single digits at night. I had to reach under the plastic tarp every couple of weeks and cut off the new growth. The others I cut to the ground and put about 9 inches of straw over them. The ones in the protected cage actually put out a couple of big leaves before the big cold wave that hit us all so hard.

Here is a link that might be useful: Winter protection and May bananas

ekoboat, what zone are you in? your 'nanas look great.

I have three of them that have came up since I posted that I thought they were dead. They are coming up at least a foot away from the stump of last years growth, way further away than usual. I guess that means that maybe more of the center of the corm rotted/froze than usual?
I saw those sikkis on ebay too, but I was a little leary of them because usually a "red tiger" of that size is showing variegation of some sort by the time they get that big--from other pictures I've seen.These were about a foot tall and showing nothing at all.
There are some very reputable basjoo sellers on e-bay, I know one personally.(this isn't an advertisement for my business by the way!)--well maybe a little bit.LOL!
But if yours had a white waxy pseudostem, that doesn't really sound like a basjoo.
Congrats to all who posted and have sprouts. And try again to those who don't, because these plants are the most awesome cool things ever.
Sandy

Thank you. I'm in zone 6b, just south of Springfield, MO. I actually felt a little bad about posting photos knowing that so many others are having such a slow start this spring.

Holy crap those are big already. Mine look like little twigs! I really hope mine get moving into overdrive soon!

Blondboy,

Congrats, don't be surprised to see more of these little guys and gals pop up.

sandy ,the sikkis I bought were plain green,not the red tigers that hortus sells.bought them from a backyard grower like yourself. the leaves are picking up some red, but it fades as the leaf matures. Have an ensete maurelii that is acting weird though.I think it wants to be outside.

Just an update. Finding the sprout was on 17May07. Today is 2Jun07 and here's the growth in just those 2 weeks.

I think that this is going to turn out to be a huge plant and with luck, maybe it'll have pups too. I am SOOOO happy that this experiement worked out. ):D

{{gwi:405649}}

"Where and how much did you order your basjoo, if you don't mind me asking?"

Sorry, I'm just catching up! I ordered mine on Ebay. This is my second time ordering and I think I generally pay around $5-6 a plant. I received them already and they look great, so I have four in the ground at this point (three new and one I had as a houseplant).

Blondboy, I'm so happy for you!!!! What a sight!!!

I guess I was the only one who actually killed mine. :( But as a Zone 5er (and borderline 5 at that), I'm not all that surprised. I WILL try again this coming winter though, maybe even with Christmas lights for a little warmth! I did a few things wrong this winter like having plastic directly on the plant!

Well after 3 years in the garden unprotected I think I finally killed my grove! UGH
I guess the late warmth, then frigid cold with no snow was just to much for them. and last year one became a grove with 13 pups. If any come up, and I don't think they will, I'll mulch this year. Now, what to plant for summer privacy by the pool?????

How about tall canna? Then you can dig them up in the fall and not have to worry about them coming back (unless of course you dig them up and have an early frost before you get them inside like I did!). I had a ton of canna last year and they were easily 8'.

Cannas are amazing too. We have several and love them.

But, there's something about having bragging rights to grow banana plants in our zones! LOL ):)

Is anyone else's growing like mad already?

We have had some hot weather here, but I haven't even fertilized yet. The largest is already 4 or 5 feet tall, and there are tons of pups - so many I'm whacking them down with a kitchen knife every few days, because I only want about 3 of them in the space I have allotted (I don't like them really crowded, and I can't let the clump spread too far into the other plants).

One of mine has really taken off, but number 2's leaves got munch by a resident rabbit and it has to play catch up. We were in the upper 80's today, and it looks like the next 5 should be near 90 with overnight lows in the 60's. They should start growing like mad.

Blondboy is right, it's about the bragging rights!!! LOL
I actually need something about 14 feet tall. I'll probably be putting a shrub border in. I had hoped tht the basjoo would make it to that height but it never did here. I was still happy with it though at about 8 feet. Was nice to say, "yeah it's a bannana and it came back without protection" I'll probably try again. I don't really protect anything, it's survival of the fittest(any way I type this word it does not look correct? Fittest) here.

Hi if anyone has a extra banana pups would like to get one,they look like great plants to have. thanks lisa

ok i'm late on this page.. i planted a sikkimensis this summer 2011 and it did ok.. only got about 4-5 tall but i didnt water extra etc and we had a drought this year... all ponds are lower than i've ever seen them... but the sikkimensis still looked healthy..i've mulched it for winter and now we're having a strange winter.. milder than normal.. i've ordered some basjoo for this spring.. and i'm excited to get them,,, but just wondered how the rest of you have done with yours since your last posting of 07?? I need suggestions since i'm new to these types of plants.. thanks

It seems like any bananas that are semi-hardy like basjoo, sikkimus, or itinerans will make it through the winter no matter how harsh it gets as long as they are well insulated with layers of protection over the winter.

Also planting them at least 1ft deep will help protect the corm even if the psuedo-stem gets killed to the ground so that it can come back the following year.

Here is a link that might be useful: Basjoos coming back