Atlanta ?? I'm in B'ham and have one hand of bananas on mine since maybe March. One year I had a dozen or more hands but are inedible due to the amount of seeds but very cold hardy. During mild winters followed by warm Springs I have had mature trees with 3ft leaves in Feburary. I leave mine uncut every winter and I believe this might be the reason they fruit but I mainly do this to have mature plants in early Spring verses waiting on them to mature from ground up. I believe they go dormant and if Winter does not kill them back they pick back up where they left off . Probably the reason mine fruited this past Feb or March.

That's awesome! Birmingham seems to be just about the same climate as atlanta according to the hardiness zone map(i'm a newbie to this) so I should be in the same boat as you, correct?

When you say mulched bag leaves, you mean you literally put leaves in a plastic bag and put them around the base? Sorry if this is comical lol I'm so green at this.

Also, I planted my Basjoo just outside our grass in an open woods area so there are roots, rocks, sand, etc in the soil and it is somewhat compact I noticed. I planted them at least 10-15 feet away from any other tree to maximize growth as much as I think I know best. The holes were about 2-3 times larger than the corms and I left some(about 1") loose dirt underneath so the roots can take hold better. What do you think of my scenario?

Yes. Mulched/chopped leaves picked up by my push lawn mower bag. Mow and dump into plastic leaf bags. I fill the bags so they are not completely full and puffy but about 3/4 full so the bags will lay down ,spread out and cover more surface rather than completely full where they sit upright. Last threat of frost passes I take them to the street for pick up. Some I will dump out and spread fresh pine mulch over the top to build up the organic matter in the bed. However I have not done this every year and many times do not have enough bags for all my plants. The more years that have passed the less concern or protective I have gotten. I have gotten more confident with the hardiness of my plants. But for new plants protecting them is probably a good idea and gives them a good start . Your scenario - sounds pretty good. For mine I bought bags of the cheap top soil ( $1.50 ea- 10 to 20lb bags ) from the box stores that was made up of mostly pine bark fines and mixed in bagged shreaded pine mulch ( not nuggets ) . Dug large holes, 1-1/2 ' deep and maybe 2' wide/round. Removed and discarded the clay type soil and filled in with my own mixture of cheap ( $) potting soil including mulched leaves etc that was organic. One Basjoo I cut down last year because it was too close to my fence the base was the size of a dinner plate, 10 -12 inches dia. Sounds like you have plenty of room. I would prep a new space, let it pup and transplant to the new spot. I planted a giant Napal from a small 2 inch pot into one of my large holes and my own potting soil mixture. First year it grew to approx a 12 inch trunk base, 8-10' high, flowered late summer and died because it flowered and did not produce any pups to replace itself. Again, I think the trick is give it plenty of growing space and all organic, lose soil.

Thanks for all the useful info man! that's crazy about the bottom being the size of a dinner plate. I'm hoping to never cut them back and hopefully they will be huge like your basjoo. Some of the leaves on the Basjoo that I transplanted are bending so I've been cutting them off. New leaves appear to be on the way. I've watered them every day since I transplanted them(3 days). I'm going to take it easy on the watering for the next few days. It looks like we have rain coming tomorrow anyways.

I'm also looking into other musa trees and looking at the ice cream and the mekong giant. aren't musa itinerans the same thing as mekong giants? You have one, right? How do those compare to the basjoo?

What I have or bought was advertised as a Giant Yunnan at the time. I purchased from seed from the Seedman in Miss. along with my Giant Napal. The Yunnan has done well and pupped but has not obtained a large size. Maybe four years now. Based on what I read the Yannan will send out runners and mine has done exactly that so I guess it is a Yannan of some varity.

I also had Ice Cream but discovered sometime afterwards by someone on this forum that the Ice Creams were marketed incorrectly. All were probably Namwa bananas . Anyhow it did very well but I lost it one winter. I had planted it into a bad space to just fill a spot.

Do you think an Ice Cream would be able to flower in our climate? What would I need to do to winterize it so it fruits?

Probably so for the Ice Cream but not 100% sure. For winterizing I would research this site and on the internet. Different ways to do so. Go to Bananas.org. Good site with tons of info and knowledgeable people. My Saba stalks die back every year and I have been wanting plantains from it . I believe Saba is supposed to be cold hardy. This year I may concoct a makeshift greenhouse out of PVC pipe and plastic sheeting and try to keep one of the stalks from freezing temps and see if it makes it through to Spring.

Thats a great idea about a makeshift greenhouse. Hopefully it works so I can follow your idea! I'll definitely check out banans.org and see what they have going on over there with advice. Thanks for all your help getting me up to speed. very friendly of you!

Do small cavendish banana plants 2" tall put out pups?

andrew Central Al I was reading over our last conversation after I've been caught up to speed a bit with learning more about the banana tree world. I have just one question. When you say, " I did the cutting down, fencing and filling of leaves the first couple winters but as mine grew and multiplied and I added more this got to be a pain to do so I gave it up. Now I just put fresh pine mulch around the base and any mulched bagged leaves from my front yard." Now you just put fresh pine mulch and bags of leaves, are you still cutting your Basjoo back or leaving the stalks whole? Do you trim/cut the leaves when winterizing? Thanks!

Island Brah- I meant to say cutting down to about 4 feet high. I used 4 ft high chicken wire fencing so I cut the stalk down to about that height. Now I am leaving them uncut other than the very tops where the leaves branch out. I wait until after the first frost hits them and the only reason I do this is because once they dry out and the wind begins to tear them apart it makes a total mess in my yard and also my neighbors yard, even four to five houses down the street. So now I trim the leaves and leave the stalks whole. I only put out some extra pine mulch this past winter and skipped the bagged leaves. It seems north of Atlanta, like Cummings, gets a little more cooler temps ( and snow ) than Atlanta itself or just south of Atlanta so your location to Atlanta might make a slight difference as to the need for insulation.

Hottina44 - they could be right. I covered a Giant Jack elephant ear with bagged leaves and I believe it trapped too much moisture and rotted the corm or root .An ant bed also made it home for the winter, I covered it really good because the Giant Jack is known not to over winter except in very hot climates like along the Gulf coast or South Florida.

andrew Central Al Thanks for the reply! I'm about 30-40 minutes northeast of Atlanta and Cumming is about 30-40 minutes northwest of me so I'm right on the boarder of where the snow/rain line is in the winter. When and if it snows, we hardly have snow on the ground for 24 hours. It's the ice i worry about. It will be hard to tell exactly because of my location, so I'd say it'll depend on how cold of a winter we get. Would it be bad if I winterized them with bubble wrap and mulch around the base but we had a warmer than expected winter?

By the way, this little pup sprouted on 4th of July yesterday! It took just over one month from when I transplanted them. it was the Basjoo that had the most leaves(6th leave was almost opened) but not the most sun. Do you know what triggers them them sprout pups?

Not sure about the bubble wrap. If you only used it on freezing nights and took it off each day when temps went above freezing might be a good idea. A warm day may cook it or over heat it or trap too much moisture and cause it to rot if left on and not monitored.

I have no idea what triggers them to pup. From what I read bananas follow their own schedule especially flowering and producing fruit. I have had transplants pup and the pup out grow the mother plant. I separated a Raja Puri pup to give to my neighbor and it produced fruit that year for them while my mother plant did not.

Wow, that's interesting regarding the Raja Puri pup producing the first year! My buddy has a bunch of Orinoco pups he is giving me at the end of summer from the many mother plants he has. I'm going to put these under a grow light and pots over the winter in my basement for maximum growth next summer. I hope my 8 foot ceilings are good enough for the winter lol. He brings his 15' Orincos in his garage every winter so they stay nice and tall for the following spring. I want an Ice Cream tree too. I heard they're the most hardy of the fruit producing...and tasty too!

The person I got my Basjoos from doesn't do anything besides cut them back etc. And sometimes they don't cut them back. So, I think I'll follow your lead/advice with overwintering since you've been in the game longer than me. Plus, you're nearly the same zone location so it would probably be better to copy you rather than look at youtube videos of people in WAY colder climates that winterize theirs. I want to keep them as tall as possible for the following year. Having them fruit is my goal...even though they're not edible. Once I get the Basjoos to fruit/flower, I will be more confident and experienced to get the edible varieties to fruit/flower.

There is a post somewhere on this forum regarding , I believe Orinoco, in Memphis or Nashville with pics and comments. They have done very well and as you know is way north of us in a cooler zone. Orinoco may be the next banana I order.

I will try and find it! Do you know if they took them in for the winter or left them outside by chance? I can find it, just wanted to test your memory lol.

Click on below . Memphis Orinco.

https://subtropicalmemphis.wordpress.com/2015/05/01/the-nelson-street-bananas-of-cooper-young-district/

andrew Central Al You rock! That's incredible! the article defies everything we read online in the forums and the pics don't lie. When my friend gives me a few orinoco pups, I'll grow the corms big and then try a few outside in the winter. I will still use your method like overwintering basjoos since its not hard to do. Experiment time! I can even send you an Orinoco pup for all your help if he gives me enough. By the way, I've been making lots of posts on bananas.org. Check them out!

andrew Central Al , Do you have any Knowledge on banana tree fertilizers? I amended Black Kow composted manure 0.5 - 0.5 - 0.5 into the soil when I planted my Basjoos(1 part Blak Kow and 1 part native soil). is it okay to use Banana Fuel Fertilizer(or any fertilizer) in addition or will it overfeed/kill them?

Not much knowledge other than what I read about. I have used Palm Tree formulated fertilizer before that I was able to find locally but mainly I use a regular 10-10-10 or 13-13-13 fert. They claim watering and fertilizing is hard to over do for a banana during the growing season. Again I believe it is a well amended , loamy soil with ample space for the corm to easily expand within this soil that promotes good growth. Watering and nutrients being # 1 but soil preparation, in my opinion, is the key to good growth.