Last year I bought a blue java banana tree locally. I was about 3' tall in late June. I planted it in an area with dappled morning sun, direct sun from around 11am to 4-5pm, then dappled sun for the rest of the evening.

It did OK that first year, grew to about 6' tall before winter. When the stalk died down I covered the root ball with an extra bag of mulch to keep it warm, then in May of this year I scooted the mulch aside back to the original point. I watered it regularly, and gave it Miracle Gro fertilizer (the blue kind that you mix with water) weekly.

It didn't come up, though, until July 11! As of today it's maybe 2' tall with 2 pups. The local temperature is mid-60s, though, so I doubt that it grows any further.

It obviously can grow well here since I bought it locally, so the problem has to be either not enough sun, soil quality, or fertilizer. Other people have banana trees that they never touch and they still grow well, so my guess is that it doesn't get enough sun / heat.

I'd like to dig it up for the winter, then plant it in a better spot in the Spring. The questions are:

1. Do I dig up a large chunk of soil and sit it in a container, or do I expose the root and replant it in potting soil? If I dig up the soil to bring with it, how deep and wide should I dig to not damage the root ball?

2. Do I bring it inside where it's going to stay at 65-72 degrees? Or put it in the unheated green house that's in a part-sun area with other plants?

3. How often do I water it over the winter?