I guess there's probably more factors than the climate In 2011 we had the worst drought, that was also the year I planted my basjoo outside. This year has been bad in terms of rainfall, i think we are nearly 20 inches below normal for rainfall. The pot idea is a great idea. I was going to try that with my plumerias next year to keep the root system cool. After the rain last weekend, my yard is finally turning green again.

dyzzypyxxy said:With your tough summer weather, it takes a lot to get nanners going! Once the banana plant is established, making pups and has a big root system of its own, it will be able to hold on amongst other plants. They'll have trouble getting anywhere near. If you want them to produce fruit, you really REALLY have to feed 'em and water 'em and give them a whole big space all to themselves.

Yep, my Pride of Barbados is 12ft. tall and wide. This pic was taken in June.

Yours needs to be in a big space all its own, too. Hate to say it but the gingers will spread towards all the water and fert you'll be giving that banana, too. They're nearly as hungry and thirsty as Cannas! If you can find somewhere else for them, that would help, too. The candlebushes are perennials here and make large shrubs. Nice plants, but you need to move them. They're too close to the house anyway.

Cameron, I think we know your problem. Space. You need to visualize what a plant will be when it's full grown, and that can be hard when you're planting a new little thing in a 1gal. pot. When a plant is 12ft. tall and wide, it also has roots 12ft. wide. Or more! Give them the space they need or the more vigorous plant will survive and starve the other. This may be why the nanners you've planted before didn't make it.

Your Pride of barbados is beautiful Elaine. I have a lot of moving to do. I could always put the gingers in containers, and possibly the POB. If the Candlebushes manage to survive the Winter, I'll pull them out. I guess I wanted to achieve the lush, rainforest look. I messed up big time. I'm also having issues with the French hollyhocks taking over one of my flowerbeds. I have a fairly small yard, and I ended up with more plants than I anticipated.

Plus, most of your choices are potentially big plants, which doesn't help with a small yard. I'd stick the POB in a corner where it will be a feature. Mine blooms from May through November. In a pot you'd have to be pruning it all the time.

I've grown gingers in pots, but they need re-potting every year even in a huge pot. Couple gallons of water every day and a lot of fert. They're easier in the ground. If you have the fragrant ones, they are great right next to the door or a window so that you smell them whenever you pass.

Nibble away at the lawn, making the flower beds bigger and the lawn smaller all the time. My lawn has completely disappeared . .. !! How'd that happen??

I think most everything mentioned in this thread would in theory do better in ground, I know that here for me they would, atleast what of it I'm familiar with, but when my ground gets really dry, there's no amount of water than can help my heavy feeders, it just wicks away into the dry ground around it and evaps into the dry air!

Atleast with potted plants you can keep bumping them up into bigger containers that have virgin soil in it, it'll hold water ok until the new roots colonize the dirt, you can also stick the pot in a few inches if water, generally a no no but when the plant drys it's pot out in 12 hours...it's not gunna hurt it much to spend a day or 2 a week with wet feet...

I too am tempted to thing the key to success here is get a year of good growth under their belts, then things will get easier, and planning ahead for big plants is essential!
I like the look of tropicals jammed in really tight!
It doesn't help the wimpy plants tho! And if a plants isn't growing at the same rate as his neighbors, it'll be quickly swallowed up by them...

As for the the potash, literally ash from an old fire is great, especially if worked in when planted, but just heaped around the base is fine... Even in drought stricken Texas I'd think you could find or generate some ash and charred wood...
Urine is a free source of nitrogen too, I rarely waste mine...some models even come with a handy dispenser!

Its been so dry here, I literally have canyons in my yard lol. I guess I'll have to wait until next year to move everything. I should have planned my flowerbeds better. I could plant my POB in a bare patch of yard on the east side of my house. The ginger I have is white butterfly ginger. A lot of plants in the flowerbed by the porch died so I could move it there. My poor crinums haven't seen the light of day up until recently. The cannas shaded them. I'll be on the lookout for ash. I've used urine a couple of times I would love to have less lawn, and usually let it die anyways during Summer. I hate mowing too.

Nest year I wanna try growing the hardy bannana(Musa basjoo) Has anyone grown this one in the north?

TexasPlumeria87 said:Its been so dry here, I literally have canyons in my yard lol. I guess I'll have to wait until next year to move everything. I should have planned my flowerbeds better. I could plant my POB in a bare patch of yard on the east side of my house. The ginger I have is white butterfly ginger. A lot of plants in the flowerbed by the porch died so I could move it there. My poor crinums haven't seen the light of day up until recently. The cannas shaded them. I'll be on the lookout for ash. I've used urine a couple of times I would love to have less lawn, and usually let it die anyways during Summer. I hate mowing too.

You can use those canyons to help amend now!

Get your amendment dry and dusty, and pour it in the canyons and cracks, it'll work it's way into the soil, and help alot!

I wish I had good advice to give you Rhamel. I've read on various sites about people whole build a cage and fill it with leaves or straw to protect the stem. I've seen some people wrap the stem in either frost cloth or burlap and wrap christmas lights around it.

Swayback said:

You can use those canyons to help amend now!

Get your amendment dry and dusty, and pour it in the canyons and cracks, it'll work it's way into the soil, and help alot!

Wow I never thought of that. I'm going to make a new flowerbed for tropicals on the east side of my house. That's where I have the most cracks in my yard. I'll have plenty of room to work with too since there is only one bamboo plant on one side.

teengardener1888 said:Nest year I wanna try growing the hardy bannana(Musa basjoo) Has anyone grown this one in the north?

You dont venture over here often enough I guess but there's alot of nirthern gardeners using tropicals here!
Basjoo is a staple of the northern tropical garden!

I much prefer the look of my Mekong giant to basjoo, it's got wider leaves and a dark pstem, it runs and doesn't clump, and can arguably get larger than basjoo!

Both should be reliably hardy for you if planted early and mulched well in fall!

A friend was nice enough to give me 4 banana pups. I'll overwinter them in my shed and hope for the best. He gave me two Namwahs, Rajapuri, and Orinoco. I have to find new spots for two of them since they have to be spaced 8-10' apart.

Well I lost 3 of my banana pups but I still have an Orinoco that I'm going to plant in two weeks. My dwarf namwah/ice cream banana died to the ground but its still alive thankfully.

From the cold Cameron?

Yes I left them in the shed and forgot to take them out when we had a bad ice storm. The power went out so I had to go to a friend's house and completely forgot about them. Thankfully I kept the smallest banana(the one above) indoors. Last year I was able to overwinter my dwarf namwah in the same shed and it stayed intact throughout the whole Winter. But last Winter was much warmer than this Winter so I learned from my mistake

Mistakes are common here as well Cameron. I lost a few tropicals because I got distracted, lack of watering. I refuse to tally what they cost.

I killed off several of my clivia seedlings this past Winter from overwatering. It took until I only had a few left to realize what the problem was lol. But I'm getting better at keeping my plants alive during Winter. In the past I would have several casualties because of overwatering, low light, or hidden plants. Now I only have a couple of plants that don't make it. The one plants that I'm usually upset about losing are my plumerias. One I had to cut back because three branches rotted. I'm hoping it makes a full recovery once its outside.

I planted my orinoco banana in a new flowerbed. Its not a fancy flowerbed but its functional I added lots of composted cow manure, enriched topsoil, tomato tone, and lots of kelp meal to the soil.

Looks fabulous, Cameron. That nanner will eat it up!

Now, just remember not to plant anything within about 3 or 4 feet of that plant! Especially not cannas or gingers - they will spread towards the water and nutrients you want the banana to have.

Thanks Elaine! I pulled up the cannas and ginger plant. The crinums are the only plants left in the flowerbed.

Do you think the crinums will take away the nutrients from the banana plant?