digging banana pups

Other plants we have or landscape elements like ponds.

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johnw
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Re: digging banana pups

Post by johnw »

I'll try that next year Steve. Meanwhile the 3 bigs ones have imploded into a slimy mess with white fungus on them and the stench is disgusting. Out they go.

Note the blue icon in the word disgusting above - that is only viewable when it's posted, I have no idea where it came from and went into edit to see if I had hit an odd button. In edit mode the word is as it should be. Looks like there's another glitch out there.

Third attempt as the word in the line above now has a blue circle - the word still appears correctly in edit mode and is the word d-i-s-g-u-s-t-i-n-g-.

johnw - +2c
johnw coastal Nova Scotia
stevelau1911
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Re: digging banana pups

Post by stevelau1911 »

The ensete maurelii keep getting bigger.

Image

Image

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I just checked the musa basjoo pup taken in the fall of 2011, and it's alive, but the pill bugs are doing work.
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pokenei
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Re: digging banana pups

Post by pokenei »

Cool smiley disgust

Those pill bugs are up early... That is a sure sign of Spring.
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JWH
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Re: digging banana pups

Post by JWH »

Can any banana growers out there give me their opinion on my musa mekong giant banana? I'm hoping it's not a gonner. I just started growing bananas last spring so i'm pretty much a banana newbie.

It was happy in my greenhouse in a big pot until late december when falling snow and tree branches popped out 4 of my greenhouse roof panels, letting the cold air in. Long story...but it took 3 weeks to get my greenhouse fixed. It went through several frosts/freezes at night in the 27-32 degree F range unprotected. The leaves turned black, the pseudostem turned mushy in places and started to fall over. I cut it back to where it still looked alive.

It looks like the very center of the stump is rising a bit, and it has at least one side growth under the soil that looks mostly white and fleshy, but the stump still has a few mushy spots that have me worried. I have a musa basjoo and a musella lasiocarpa that were also in the greenhouse and they survived the cold so much better. My basjoo is already starting to push up a new leaf.

Any thoughts are much appreciated!
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Center of the Stump is rising a bit
Center of the Stump is rising a bit
Underground Rhozome? Or Pup? Looks alive!
Underground Rhozome? Or Pup? Looks alive!
Mushy spot
Mushy spot
stevelau1911
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Re: digging banana pups

Post by stevelau1911 »

I protected my musa mekong giant completely this winter too, and despite protecting it very well with barrels filled with grass leaves, one of them still turned to mush while the other ones may have a chance.

Musa basjoo doesn't appear to be getting any winter damage as it is also protected the same way however the pseudo-stem on basjoo appears to have much better hardiness than mekong giant. That doesn't mean that it is dead. The corm of a banana plant can often come back to life regardless of what happens to the pseudo-stem as it should be hardier, especially if it was planted well underground.

Give it good light and warm temperatures, and it should have a good chance of making it back. Just in order to ensure that I'm not left with nothing I gave some of my mekong giants away to neighbors who had heated greenhouses to make sure I could get something back in case mine got killed through the winter.
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Re: digging banana pups

Post by canadianplant »

If the center is "rising" its trying to grow. I agree with steve get it warm and in bright light. Also make sure it isnt too wet..
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JWH
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Re: digging banana pups

Post by JWH »

Thanks guys!

Hopefully it'll pull through, I really like the dark green and glossy leaves it has.

I've been really impressed with musa basjoo so far. It doesn't seem to need alot of heat to start growing. Daytime temps in the greenhouse have been between 50f-60f the past 2-3 weeks and that seems have woken it up.
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Basjoo pushing up a new leaf
Basjoo pushing up a new leaf
New basjoo pup
New basjoo pup
Musa basjoo & musella lasiocarpa pseudostems
Musa basjoo & musella lasiocarpa pseudostems
stevelau1911
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Re: digging banana pups

Post by stevelau1911 »

Image

Mekong giant is a running banana so don't be surprised to find pups emerging over 6ft away from the mother plant. I think this makes it all the more interesting :lol:

We will be in the 20s and 30s for the next week so my bananas are far from coming out of dormancy.
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JWH
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Re: digging banana pups

Post by JWH »

Update:

Musella lasiocarpa is working on putting out a leaf. About half the basjoo pups were rotten below the soil line and died, the rest are getting bigger. The main pseudostems are making more pups and putting out it's first full leaf.

I'll let them enjoy the extra warmth in the greenhouse for now, i'd like to get them planted sometime in May.
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Musella lasiocarpa
Musella lasiocarpa
Basjoo leafing out
Basjoo leafing out
Musa basjoo making new pup
Musa basjoo making new pup
stevelau1911
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Re: digging banana pups

Post by stevelau1911 »

Those ensete maurelii bananas in the last pictures have each put on 2 leaves since that last picture, but the problem now is that those leaves aren't getting any bigger. It seems like they have either reached their maximum size potential given the size of their pots along with south facing window light which doesn't even compare to full daylight. They are like big fish in a small tank.

The problem with moving them out now is that they aren't frost hardy at all so I'll wait off until May, and then up-pot them to 5 gallon sizes with wall o water protectors so they don't get affected too much by the wind, and I'm pretty sure the leaves currently can't handle full sun if it was 70F+.



JHW, you could probably stick some of those basjoos in the ground. I think in zone 8, you could probably over-winter them with a simple layer of bubble wrap. I will use bubble wrap/ shrink wrap, then leaf filled 55 gallon barrels on mine which is necessary for my winters.
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