Uncovered bananas and....

wilson1963

17 years ago

and this is what I have to start with this year. The leaves were wet down inside, I suppose from being encased with plastic and ground moisture. They all seem rotton down to the ground. This is year number 2 with the same results even though I wintered them differently. I am sure pups will rise up and this will be what I deal with this summer. I did winter over the elephant ears in there too and all but 1 was rotton. I already have next years plan in mind. just cover the top so as moisture can escape but use the fence and leaves like before. My windmill palm which was also covered with a plastic covered cardboard box molded badly and appears to have lost all froms, though the trunk is healthy looking, I am pretty sure it will come out of it. My pindo palm took a serious beating as it was planted late last year and took temps below 0 quite a few times. feel free to look around and get that spring fever along with us here in SE Ohio.

http://s287.photobucket.com/albums/ll121/wilson1963/Musa%20Basjoo/

Here is a link that might be useful: bananas

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Comments (4)

lac1361
17 years ago
I'm so thankful I don't have to worry about over wintering my bananas like you and others further north. I can't really help you with a solution but I can direct you to another banana forum; www.bananas.org. I am a member on that forum and there is an ongoing thread year after year titled "Time to put my bananas to sleep for the winter" or something close to that. There are a lot of members from your zone that do some crazy stuff to keep their naners alive. Check it out.

Steve
daryljurassic
17 years ago
The basjoos don't look pretty come spring. At least mine rarely do...I'm a big fan of using white pine needles & never have covered with plastic. This will be my nineth year. My guess is that you'll atleast get some pups. My indoor bananas did very well this winter and I'm about to bring them upstairs for some light...

Hard to say about the palm - you might try a better forum - http://members3.boardhost.com/MIDWESTPALMS/. Could be something as simple as spraying it with a very diluted bleach water? Somebody will have better advice over there...

I was a little more thorough with my palm than I was with the naners I snuck a peek at my windmill palm a couple weeks ago and it looked the same as the day I covered it last fall. I had xmas lights on since December & didn't use a fungicide. Its my first year leaving it out - maybe beginners luck... I'll keep an eye on the temps, but I may keep it partially uncovered until early April - just the top covered w/ open sides. The "insulation" is coming out soon at any rate. This year's March is much nicer than last years...Its hard to say patient lol.
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wilson1963
Original Author
17 years ago
Steve, thanks for the naner site, going there to look around....Don
gardenguy_
17 years ago
Wilson, I admire your efforts and the tidy job you did! Unfortunately, the leaves are not going to provide effective insulation against the cold. In the future, wrap each stalk with a large insulative heavy blanket or two, then fill with leaves. Not to fear tho, I'm sure those will grow back, albeit from the ground tho.