Is it safe to assume that you are not planning on leaving them outside in pot NOR are you thinking of planting them now, at this late stage?

Either of those will guarantee loss. There's just no time for them to get established.

But if you plant them in the spring and then heavily mulch in the fall (see other posts in the Banana forum) then you might have success.

But yes, this post would be better in the correct forum.

Cheers :)

Thanks Blondboy,

I posted it into the banana forum. I am new to these forums so bear with me. If it would die in the ground this Winter, I'll put it under my grow light till Spring. It will be in the company of other marginally hardy and not hardy plants, like 2 Norfolk Island Pine and 2 Lawson Cypress that I bought last Winter from Lowes where they were being hawked as "Living Christmas Trees". I'm sure there is more that will also be under the grow lights too.

You might just be surprised at how well those Musas will do under those lights! When we bought our first ones, they werent even under lights. Only by a west-facing window. They grew like crazy, putting on new leaves every month or so.

Now, this is their 2nd year and are over 10' tall.

You are gonna luv these things! LOL ;) :D

I have moved musa at the last week before a freeze and it will come back. We have hd upper single digits and they come back every year. I dont even mulch the. I believe they could survive much colder.

They are being grown outside all over the St. Louis area. The Missouri Botanical Gardens has a magnificent specimen. It is in the Chinese garden, and reaches heights of well over 10 feet by November. It is heavily mulched in the winter.

I don't want to rain on your parade, but don't be too discouraged to try again if it doesn't come back in the spring. My Musa Basjoo have much narrower leaves. Yours looks like it has wider leaves, so it may not even be a Basjoo.

Most banana's will come back....

I had a bell banana that was totaly defoliated but it came back after only 5 days now it has 2 leaves !

I bought all the basjoos Lowes had at the time, and they all died. Looking back, I shouldn't have been quite so hasty to return them for a refund. I could've waited until Spring to see if they were really dead.
This year I waited for them to have more for sale, they didn't have them for sale this year. I wanted to try it again. I am trying a Red-Tipped Photinia and 3 Crape Myrtles from Lowes though. They are on the South side of my mobile home, so I am hoping they make it, but I have those receipts at the ready as well.
W

Your banana does not look like Basjoo to me either. I grow several Basjoo (as well as many other varieties of bananas that fruit and don't fruit..ie ornamentals) and Basjoo has a certain look. It has narrow leaves and never has any color on the leaf. Yours looks like it has a small spattering of red patterning on some of the leaves. Lowes, Home Depot and all the box store are notorious for mislabeleing things. The only way you can be certain you have Basjoo is when it flowers. I will see if I have a photo of mine in flower to show you...if I don't a few are flowering right now and I will get a photo of Basjoo that you can compare to yours.

It looks like a dwarf cavendish to me.

Sorry about the short last post. Its a dwarf cavendish. It wont make it outside. If you plant them in the ground they will grow fast. They get about 6-7 ft. In the fall you will have to dig them up and keep them in a cool dry place like you would bulbs. Then come spring plant them out again and the second year they should bloom. The bananas are regular sized. The exact same ones you buy in the store.

Thanks all. I've been duped! Maybe thats why they died so fast. Or perhaps thats why they didn't have them this year because they were informed they were not Basjoos.
I'm determined yet to get some to grow on the South side of my mobile home.
If anyone would like to see more photos of the Basjoos that I took a while back, they are here in my photobucket album. -
http://s7.photobucket.com/albums/y255/io555/musabasjoobanana

To change the name of that photo-album to DwarfCavendish would break all the links to the album so I should leave the web address like it is for now, musabasjoo.
I didn't think I'd have bananas with basjoo, I don't really want bananas, that would be asking a bit much!
I know some people in more southern climes, I'll have to suggest DwarfCavendish to them so they get bananas.
Here is where I'd like to plant them, along with my Red-Tipped Photinia, 3 Crape Myrtles and some Tulip bulbs scattered about. - http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v243/w4i0a/mobilehome/mobilehomesouthsidefrontflowerandtreebed/
That flower bed is on the South side so I am hoping for good things! In any case, I keep receipts, for returns, especially on marginals.
The trees are in the ground below the flower bed, I cut slits in the weed fabric to fit around them.
Will

Yea, hate to break it to you, but those don't look like Basjoo. Looks like D. Cavendish to me too.
However, if you live in K.C., this spring go to "Arnold's Greenhouse" in LeRoy, Kansas (just south west of K.C.) and you can buy some good Basjoos for around $10-$12. I have bought two from there and another from other place and the only ones that live are the "Arnold's".
Also, look at an Atlas, look just west of Manhattan and you will see Junction City, Kansas. A guy in JC has Basjoo that he doesn't protect at all, and every year, his Basjoo reach 15'-17' and leaves the size of a Volkswagon.

Thanks. I'll try to check out that Arnolds in Leroy, KS.
Will

I have had basjoos for three years now. The only thing I do here in Tulsa, OK is to let the leaves cover the plant as they die back.

My question is in transplanting bashoos.

Does anyone have advise on all the possible times they can be transplanted, and divided?
Founder

EWWW, I don't know founder, I would think they would be a hard transplanter. Maybe not. But is it a possibility to just buy new ones and plant them? Just curious cause I know I would HATE to chance it when I could go buy some new ones for $20. Just a suggestion.

Founder, there are some tricks to dividing. Make sure you get a hunk of the corm, dust with rootone, and let dry indoors or in cool shade for a day or two before potting to help avoid rot. Keep the divisions in shade and don't keep them soggy, just a bit damp. Expect them to wilt and look like crap for several weeks. Eventually they will perk up and you can gradually move to more sun and increase the water.

Go to the banana forum and search for posts about dividing pups, you'll get lots of help.

For the Basjoo's in colder climates, do you cut back after the first frost and THEN mulch it? How big do they get in one growing season?