Mine are still covered..we have some freezing temps in the forecast for a few nights..how are yours covered?..mine are covered with black garbage bags full of oak leaves..

Not sure if mine are going to make it . Here is how I covered mine. I covered them with straw.

Thank you. Last year was their first year, so I’m keeping my finger crossed.

Same here..2 of mine are new too..we have to be patient a little longer..

mine died to the ground it was so cold, I don't know if I'll see pups. by mid April if nothing I'm digging the corm up. On a better note I planted the first banana of the year, dwarf cavendish. Hope they come back or you'll need something to block out those houses if a fence isn't available.

I uncovered mine the other day and it is still alive and has pups coming off the sides. It was newly planted last year in a raised garden. I cut it down to about 15" high in the fall and protected it by filling a rubbermaid garbage can with leaves and putting it over the plant. I then piled more leaves up against the sides of the can. I live in northern Utah, and we didn't have a terrible winter this year, so I am not surprised that it survived. I had another one in the ground years ago, which survived a couple of years and then it died one winter when I think it got to much moisture. I figured I would put this one in a raised area and see if that helped. I'll take pictures when it starts putting out some growth. Should be pretty big this year!

Aww sorry Matt..did you cut and cover them or were they in a covered enclosure still growing? (think I saw a pic)..I do what my neighbor does..cut and cover..a pic of hers last year..I've posted this pic several times..it amazes me..our bananas don't show up until May..I might(?) uncover mine in a week or 2..we have some freezing overnight temps coming up..

@from_Iv wouldn't hurt to leave the covers on for another week or two depending on your weather.

@nicholsworth55 hi. Yeah it was in ground in the greenhouse. With that extreme cold spell I shut it down for a week. It lasted until new year's eve and stood 5 feet of stem :(

Thank you Matt. I think I’ll uncover them after 4/10. I think that’ll be the last day we’ll be below 32F. I hope they survived.

Matt..gardening is heartbreaking sometimes..it's hard not to be jealous of people in warm climates..I love the plants they can grow..can't wait for warm weather..

Every year I try something different to see what works best but the variation in winters recently (NJ) has rendered my experiment kind of useless. Last year I just wrapped the pseudostem in styrofoam sheeting and covered in garbage bags and they come through fine due to the weak winter and I started the next season with a 5' head start. This year I tried R-4 flexible duct wrapped in garbage bags and it didn't go as well. This winter was pretty brutal. The tallest pseudostem left is about 2.5' but most froze down within 1' of the ground. I wrapped them on 11/21/17 and unwrapped March 1st. From my experience rot in the late winter/early spring has been my biggest trouble so I unwrap early. It's a shame because I had high hopes for the flex duct.

awww sorry to hear. Christmas lights would have helped keep the stem!

They all died. I have warranty on them. I wonder if I should get them again since they didn’t survive last year winter. How are yours doing?

Are you sure they're completely dead? I'd give it a few more weeks and see if anything comes up. My tallest pseudostem is starting to grow again, some of the shorter ones still rotted down even after I unwrapped. I guess I should have peeled back some of the old growth so it didn't hold so much water. Live and learn. All of them are starting to pup though and the next few days will be in the 80's so they should all get a good jumpstart.

They’re all rotten :~(. Glad to hear yours are doing fine. I might give it another try.

Vey common, with no supplement heating they will just die as an annual in the north does. Warmth around the base is most important. old fashioned x-mas lights work best in experience. I did this for three winters wapping part of the stem too. Normally if heat is added to the base, you would see pups.

How much did they cost each? It might benefit to plant something else if you don't want to/or can't add any heat. Digging is another option. Storing them in the basement and planting them each spring. I gave up on ornamental bananas and am focused on the edible types.

About $20 for each I’ll get store credit with brighter blooms back. I might dig them up each year for winterize. I hope their root is not too big. Do you think I can do the same with edible bananas too? I’d rather not deal with lights. Wonder with banana I should get.

Sounds good. You can do that with edible types too. It just takes a lot longer then somewhere warm. Lets hope for some nice summer heat :) Here is the oldest apple banana. It's been out adjusting for a few days.

That gives me hope. I’ll try them again. Thanks.

lv..do you have a place to plant them near your house?..I planted mine next to the side of the garage..it faces east..I would try the east or south side..

Here's a pic of mine today. I uncovered it at the end of March and have had to cover it up again a couple of times since then.

It's planted in a raised garden so that it has excellent drainage during the winter. I killed one in the past after it got to wet during the winter. The only protection it had was a Rubbermaid garbage can packed with leaves and placed over the stem.

Last weekend I planted a bunch of cannova cannas around the banana. Hopefully they all come up soon!

Sorry to hear that your's didn't make it! Do you think they got to wet? I think rot will kill them more than the cold.

Linda

I've been afraid to leave my stem too tall during the winter..how tall was yours?..

I left 16" of the stem and the garbage can covering it was 30" tall. When I took the can off, there was a lot of moisture in the leaves and on the banana, so it's probably good I took it off when I did, so it could dry out some.

I think mine got wet from underground water.

Linda..it's tough figuring out how to keep it alive..too cold or too wet and you kill it..I would love to start off taller..but it scares me to have more stem "in the cold air"..

lv..yeah if there was a lot of snow I can see that happening..

Nicholsworth...How much stem do you keep? I wanted to try and keep more but figured I better not go too much. This was a tiny plant last spring when I planted it. I bought it at a local nursery and it was in a 4" pot. I can't wait to see how much it grows this year. Should get a good start this weekend, since we will have temps in the upper 80's.

I leave 4-5 inches..that is tremendous growth from an initial planting!..I'll be happy with 4 to 5 feet..and ecstatic with more than that..but you have more light and yours will always be bigger than mine I think..

What size of banana when you guys first got them? Wonder if I should get the 3 gallons or a quart one is fine.

mine were about 3 ft tall..3 to 5 leaves..2 of mine still haven't surfaced..it's a little frightening..

I hope your 2 will come up soon.

Today I moved the compost back very carefully and I saw ABSOLUTELY NOTHING :-(

You can replace it with a pup for free:) when they show up.

I hope I get a pup..at least I have one survivor..

I don't bother with winter protection anymore for my basjoos. I got lackadaisical this past fall and did minimal yard cleanup, to include not bothering to cut my basjoos down, nor to mulch them. I figured this past winter would be the one to do them in. We had sustained single digit temps, and a few forays down into the negatives. I n 2017, after a extremely mild winter, they broke dormancy on 4/1. This year it was 5/1. I can count 15 pups coming up. My advice is that you don't dig them up. My corms looked rotten too, soft and mushy. Give them a chance to wake up, they really are quite resilient.

gastone..my hope is fading..still no signs of life from 2 of them :-( my zone is colder than yours but I DID protect them..I'm surprised they didn't make it..one of the dead ones had survived a winter already..you would think it had decent roots..guess I should be happy that I have one..

Don't give up hope yet. I know it's a fair stretch colder in Indy, but we did have a brutally cold winter here and yet they came through. And when I say zero protection and zero fall care, I mean it. I'd give it til mid June before throwing in the towel. I've had stuff break dormancy in June, even here in VA.

Wow mid June?..that's good to know..that gives me a glimmer of hope..it would make me so happy if they come back..I hate seeing the naked ground where they should be growing..

Let’s us know if they come back. It’d be so awesome if they do.

To my amazement my basjoo is sending up a pup, I was sure the corm rotted. Another testimony here. It survived after I shut the heat off for a week in the greenhouse during the coldest part of the winter. It depends on planting depth too! This is in a higher zone GH coming up at the end of May so I understand in z6 waiting until mid to late June to be sure if nothing comes up.

I watered the "remains" yesterday..still no signs of life..

Do you guys use any fertilizer to help them grow faster? If so, what kind? Thanks.

I probably dump around 5# of milorganite each spring on my naners and about a shovel full into any new hole where I'm planting tropicals. Then I supplement with standard soluble miracle gro, mixed with fish emulsion and kelp. I'd like to say I feed them weekly, but it probably averages out to every two weeks.

I've used several things..Milorganite, blood meal and compost..NOT all at the same time..