Gabe15, What?? Is Aaron's aka TyTy?? I hope not!! On the bamboo forum, of which I am a regular poster, there is a constant on-going show of dislike for TyTy. I guess the feeling is the same everywhere. The Orinoco that I received was just a mushy mass of rotting tissue that really stunk. I planted it anyway, and after most of the Summer went by, I decided to plant something else in it's place, when I noticed that a tiny tiny little banana tree was trying to grow. With a lot of care, it finally became a healthy large banana plant. In my defense, I must say that if you noticed in my earlier posts, I did not recommend them, just stated where I purchased the bananas from, and no, I have not ordered from them since. I'm looking for a Saba, but will order from another nursery. WHEW!!!! Kt

Molly I would guess but i'm not real sure. That what you have bought is a "dwarf cavendish " because i know that's all our home depot sells at this time of year. All of my bananas are in the sun and never had problems. This banana in your zone will die back every year. but it should regrow just mulch it real heavy. Maybe this will help a little bit. Here is a link that might be useful: http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images/view?back=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.search.yahoo.com%2Fsearch%2Fimages%3Fei%3DUTF-8%26p%3Ddwarf%2520cavendish%2520banana%2520plant%26fr2%3Dtab-web%26fr%3Dyfp-t-501-s&w=430&h=290&imgurl=www.centralfloridafarms.com%2Fimage2%2Fsupersupers-drmsm.jpg&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.centralfloridafarms.com%2Fbananas.htm&size=48.3kB&name=supersupers-drmsm.jpg&p=dwarf+cavendish+banana+plant&type=jpeg&no=12&tt=23&oid=05886c714ec698a4&ei=UTF-8

I'm actually not surprised by that at all. It is probably a Super Dwarf Cavendish. I kept one in a five gallon pot for three years with no signs of blooming, planted it outside the fourth year and let it die that winter after still no sign of bloom. With indoor conditions, a small pot, and 70 degree temps (too cool to get a banana to fruit), you might have it another nine years, lol! Super Dwarf Cavendish is notorious for not blooming until conditions are ideal. Pot that sucker up into a large pot, set it outside, fertilize and water it regularly, and see if you notice any difference. It might not bloom this year, but it will certainly be happier.

The guy who sold it too me said it is one of the much hardier ones but I will need to remove the leaves and cover the main part of the plant with fleece. Firstly is this correct? Not neccesarily. If you are just moving the plant to one location from another, dig up the banana, wrap the root ball with some plastic bags ( large garbage bags ) and tie it shut. Do not leave the bag on the root ball very long, as the root ball may rot. Just leave it on when transporting the banana. This will help keep the root ball and corm from drying out and keep the dirt from getting all over. As far as moving the house and taking it with you, that will be a lot more trouble than moving the banana itself! :) I've never seen anyone move a whole house, so it will be a challenge! LOL, all joking aside, leave the banana in the ground till you move, assuming that it will not be exposed to freezes or frost. I don't know exactly what kind of temps your location is having now. As for the potting the plant when moving it, you should not have to do that. See above paragraph for my response. If it starts snowing, as you said..... before you move and before the snow and freezing weather, dig up the banana, trim off the dirt and roots ( it's ok ) but do not cut into the corm of the banana which is the whitish hard ball-like thing that the roots grow from. Store the banana in a dark location, without any cover on it and UNpotted with no soil, till you move. You may cut off all the leaves, except the top leaf if you do this method. Good luck and let us know how you fare!