I have an ice cream banana that I would like to try to get it to fruit next yr. I planted the original at least 15 yrs ago and it has been the hardiest that I have ever had. I did have it fruit one yr apparently after what it thought was a mild winter. This winter will not be mild from what I'm reading. Do I cut it at the top of the pseudostem, wrap with blankets, and then cover with plastic to keep the water out? This will all be new to me, hope it is worth a try!

Hi Kabby, I've never gotten my bananas to develop fruit because I don't wrap the pseudostems and I just let them die down to the ground. A friend of mine who lives in Arkansas wraps his in frost blankets and old xmas lights to save the pseudostems. He also said giving bananas lots and lots of potassium to build up a strong corm helps get them through Winter better. I tried storing mine in an unheated shed wrapped in blankets and that just caused mold to develop. I think its because they were getting enough air flow and the constant warming up and cooling down contributed too. You could also pile bags of leaves around the pstem because rotting leaves produce heat. This year I'll probably let mine die to the ground again because its too much work for me. I hope that helps some?

Kabby, I would think you either have to:
a) keep the existing stem alive all winter, in which case you have the best chance of seeing fruit next year
or
b) let it die right back to the ground as Cameron does and just mulch the roots very heavily to keep them from freezing. As she says, you probably will not ever see fruit if you do this, just a nice tropical foliage plant growing up from the roots each year.

Cutting the top off the existing stem will kill it anyway. May as well cut it at ground level. Bananas don't branch or re-grow so if you cut off the terminal growth, it will kill the stem. Wrapping anything in plastic for winter will also cause fungus and/or rot, almost always, because condensation gets inside the plastic.

To keep it alive all winter, I would think you'll basically have to either pot it up and bring it indoors, use the blanket and christmas lights method (which keeps the stem alive because it is kept warm at night) or build yourself a little temporary greenhouse around that plant. PVC pipe and heavy plastic (not touching the plant) should work for that purpose. You don't have to keep it warm enough that it keeps growing, you just have to keep the terminal leaves alive and the stem from freezing. Wrapping blankets around the stem won't really help in very cold weather because the plant itself doesn't produce any heat. So the cold will eventually freeze the stem if you don't supply an outside source of heat, like the Christmas lights.

Down here bananas basically just stop growing as soon as the nights get cool, and stand up fine unless there is a real frost (temps below 32 for a few hours at night) so most people don't have to take any measures to protect the plant unless a really cold night is predicted. Then, the trick is to trap the heat that rises up from the warm ground around the plant. We see tents of old sheets and blankets, plus piles of leaves around the stems to keep the roots warm. They perk up and start putting on new leaves again as soon as the nights are staying above about 50 deg.

Long story short, if you want fruit from that stem next year, you need to keep the stem and terminal (top) leaves alive.

Cameron and Elaine thank you for replying. This is a picture of the foliage coming out of the old dead pseudostems, that I did not chop down over that particular winter. I think it was the winter of 05-06.



I never ever expected it to fruit that yr, just didn't think it would happen here.



Hmm piling leaves around the pseudostem, I'd have to have hubby make some awesome 9 ft high tomato cages. There's no potting for these, it's a shame that frost will cut them back down, they made such a beautiful mat!

That's amazing the foliage was still coming out of the old pseudostem. I know my friend in Arkansas managed to keep the flower alive on one of his Rajapuri bananas through Winter. Your mat looks so lush and healthy. Mine look like crap because of the drought. I just can't seem to keep them watered enough. I have Dwarf Namwah and Orinoco.

Cameron I'm a big cheater on the water, we have an overflow tank for our artesian well. My husband taught me how to siphon water through hoses and I just pull them all over the yard. Leave them overnite on the bananas, cannas, gingers.I'm really impressed with the size of your leaves, my plants had to get some height on them before they gave me large leaves like that.

You're so lucky to have a system like that. Before my a/c went out I planted some cannas and elephant ears where it would drain and I'd never have to water them. My Dwarf Namwah,(the smaller one in the front) I've had for 2 years now. It took my Orinoco a while before it produced large leaves and the pseudostem is almost 6 ft tall. The dwarf namwah pseudostem is a little over 4 ft tall now. What type of fertilizer do you use on your bananas?

Something that I've been seeing with frequency down here in Corpus Christi is fruiting Banana Trees that become so burdened with the weight of the Banana bunches that they break in half. Before you start to see the fruit, I would recommend finding something solid to support your banana tree with, or something to support the fruit so that the tree itself doesn't have to bear all the weight. It's so sad to see these die from something that is supposed to be natural for them! Sorry...just had to throw my .02 in there. I'm pretty envious of all you folks that have these edible banana trees! I've always wanted one, but the people down here want a FORTUNE even for me to go and dig a simple pup out of a small grove. i want one so bad!! Ugh!

Kabby, those tall pseudostems that sprouted again after the leaves died were still alive. Must have been just cold enough to zap the leaves, but not kill the terminal growth.

If frost really kills them they turn to mush and completely collapse. Truly a sad sight.

Mostly, the thick mulch should be over the root areas, and just part way up the stem. I've seen neighbors pile the leaves maybe a foot or so deep around the stems to protect the root system. But to keep the p-stem alive, as I said, wrapping and an outside heat source, or a temporary 'greenhouse'.

Mike, when there are really heavy fruiting stems on the bananas here, people just prop a 2X4 under the stem to help with the weight.

Mike I bought my Dwarf Namwah from Home Depot. I think I only paid $9 for it but I found it in the houseplant section. I rarely see Lowes or Home Depot selling bananas anymore. I few years ago I got an Orinoco from Home Depot but I overwatered it when I brought it indoors. My current Orinoco I got in a trade but I've seen one person on Craigslist selling just the sprouts for $50 which is way overpriced in my opinion.

Cameron is that a crinum between your two bananas? If so what kind? Fertilizer wise, I use MiracleGro or 13-13-13. Not a special banana kind of fertilizer. Michael, I haven't ordered from Florida Hill but they have a nice banana selection. I did just get a dwarf Cavendish in from Santa Rosa gardens, it's about a foot tall, they have a fall sale, don't know if they are still available. I'm going to pot this one up and bring it inside, see if I can get it to fruit next summer. Cameron, I saw the banana thread you started and didn't realize they were such water and fert hogs. I didn't move my cannas, gingers and crinums away from mine though, I guess because of the unlimited water. Elaine, thanks for your input, I'm conflicted about all the work. I'm a lazy gardener.

You're right about them being crinums, they are the asiaticum variety. Next year I may add some slow release fertilizer. I'll need to buy more composted cow manure next year too. I had to till the soil last month because water was just sitting on top of it and not soaking through. I have that problem throughout my garden especially during drought times. I may take one of my dwarf namwah pups indoors this year.

I'm not sure how germane this is with a less cold tolerant species but M. basjoo P-stems can survive a long time in a semi-dormant state.

These pics are of this plants 1st year overwintered outside in my garden. July, 29 and 2 pics October 29.


A few years later. April 30 (straw/plastic/straw mulch just removed showing most of the P-stems survived) and October 2. I actually remove the top layer of straw and the plastic around April 1st.


I know growers who remove all but the terminal leaf, dig the plant and store overwinter in a cool place. They sometimes do get naners the following year.

Those are some healthy basjoos Evan. I wish I could grow that variety but it's too hot here for them. I tried one years ago and even in the shade it got scorched lol.

I'm getting confuseded.If the top of the growing pseudostem is cut off, it dies. So in Evan's 4th picture obviously the pseudostem was cut off above the growing point sometime after it had started to die back for the winter? When I have cut the winter carnage back in the spring sometimes I will cut it too far down and the tree is a goner. But sometimes I will start higher up the pseudostem, and I will have those inner cores start to come up. I almost always cut back in the spring, again that lazy gardener gene I have.
The Basjoo is interesting, I've looked it up, it's also called Japanese Fiber banana, ugh,other folks have said the fruit is not sweet. That last photo is magnifico though, big, tall, and massive is good! My Ice Cream pups enough, it sounds like the Basjoo is prolific also.

Kabby, maybe I just always cut too much off for the core to grow back. Evan's obviously do come back.

They usually, but not always come back. During the summer I'll dig and give away plants but do cut back some P-stems because I like to see the bigger ones. Most of the one's I cut back continue to grow but some die. In the April wake up photo you can see the original (mother) corm which is dead.

You can get the idea of how Drew @homer1958 overwinters his naners from the 2nd pic.

homer1958 said:A look back over the Spring/Summer.

9-12-14


5-3-14

Seriously zone 6a? I'm inspired. I'll do some experimenting except for the Christmas tree lights and I'll see how it goes. Thanks for all the replies.

I was going to say something about the Pstem coming back but thought perhaps that was only in the tropics. Locals here cut the trunk about 2' above the ground after it fruits and it will grow again and fruit again. They say it fruits more rapidly the 2nd time. I've done it once or twice but can't really say if it was faster or not. Generally, I take out the old stem because I have several pups close to it and I want to let more sunlight in to them.