What to do with Musa Thai before first frost...?

11 years ago

I am located in far southeastern PA.

I purchased a 5', potted Musa Thai tree in May. In June, I removed a pup from the pot and planted it in ground. This pup flourished and produced another pup in July and also just a bout 2 weeks ago, yet another pup sprung out of ground.

For the tree that remains potted, i'm planning on keeping in my kitchen until spring.

What do I do about the 3 trees that are in the ground?

I've read several options:

-Cut off at ground level and cover with burlap and mulch until spring.

-Dig up entire tree and place in cool dark sotrage until spring, then replant.

I want this tree to reach it's maximum growth potential so whichever option increase the odds of that happening, that's what i'll end up doing.

Please share your thought and opinions.

Thanks,

Mike

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Comments (3)

User
11 years ago
Mike,
Dig up and store in cool DRY place til spring.
The main stem is what you want t o save for next year,
You don't want that to die off.
It will in your area.
You have a very beautiful and much sought after banana plant. Save the long stems of all of them.
Have you been on the site bananas dot org yet?
You might want to visit that site and join.
There is excellent information on that site in regards
to bananas, and they have wonderful pics of big tai plants you might want to see.
I am jealous!
mike11179
Original Author
11 years ago
Thank you very much for your response. Just a few more uestions to follow up...

Should I leave the root ball as one big mass with all 3 plants still together, or should I seperate the pups?

I am thinking i'll want to seperate the larger pup in the spring and plant it in another location on my property. Should i wait until spring to seperate it?

Should I cut the leaves off?

Does it need sunlight while in "storage"?

I have had great luck as this is my first year with this plant and it seems love it's location. I water them daily and I saw rapid growth from mid July through early August.

I have not been to babanas dot org. I will definitely checkit out and register there as well.
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User
11 years ago
Mike,
You can cut the leaves off, it will go to sleep.
It can not freeze, it is mostly water.
Let it sleep all winter, it can't have
wet and cold.
Cool and dry.
Keep the main stem from dying, that is the key.
Seperate in spring.