will this be ok for my banana?

I have a banana in a large tub I have had for years. It's a hardy banana that I have never really done anything with over the winter, I've just let the frost cut it back each winter and it grows as a bush in the spring and as there are about 10 main branches it grows very big even though the frost gets it every time.

That was until last winter, which as you know was extremely cold. I honestly thought it was dead because it didn't sprout again in the spring. I was just about to dig it out of the pot and throw it out when at the end of July it started to sprout again, much to my relief.

Anyway I have no desire to repeat last summers trauma of not knowing if I had killed it, so this time I have cut off all the leaves and lugged it into the shed.......but I understand last night was minus 7 degrees. I've now thrown an old duvet over it. I have another smaller banana which was given to me and I have no idea of this is hardy, but I have done the same woth that one, and it too is under the duvet.

Do you think this will be ok now for the winter?

[Graham K]

My Banana doesn't look very well!

I have a banana plant in the garden (Musa sikkimensis) it's about 18"+ tall and has been growing well all year. All the literature says it's very hardy and can cope with the English weather.

However, after last nights frost and todays snow the leaves have turned a very nasty brown colour (they were still green) and have lost all of there "texture" and shape, they now look sort of "mushy"!

I've now covered the plant with fleece and plastic in the hope that it will survive, I don't want to have to start again as it took three months just for the seed to get going. There is still a leaf in the centre that hasn't "unwraped" itself yet and was still green before the light went.

Q: Have I killed it? or do bananas "die off" in the winter and grow back in Spring? Any coments or help would be most welcome.

Graham.

[vicky]

I normally wrap them in layers of fleece and if you can pack around the stems and generously on the ground around the roots (eg with straw) for insulation so much the better.

[vicky]

Wrap it well - see the other banana post! with fleece and insulate if possible.
The leaves will die off and some stem too depending on how cold this winter is, but it should sprout again!

[GrubbyGirl]

They are not in the ground, they are in pots in the shed

[lynda66]

mine was caught by the very heavy early frost last year and died completely ... this year i grew one in the polytunnel, it's also gone brown and manky, but the root bit still looks ok, give it a deep mulch to protect the root, and it hopefully will come back next year ... they apparently are only really hardy after a few years, when they are much bigger.

[sarraceniac]

I reckon they will be OK GG. Mine alway spend the winter in an unheated greenhouse and I don't even fleece them. It is the frost not the cold that kills them. It freezes the cells and expands and contracts as it thaws. So as long as your shed is frost free then they should be OK, particularly a Musa basjoo or similar hardy one. I should point out though that some of mine don't kick back in until late June even though I leave them under glass until I am sure.
Be sure that the duvet does not trap water which can rot them. I'd replace it with fleece or a net curtain if you are doubtful. It could do more harm than good.

[Two_Sheds]

they apparently are only really hardy after a few years, when they are much bigger.

I'd agree with that.
I bought a Musa Basjoo at Eden Project and got it all the way back to Norfolk intact, only for the cold to kill it (unheated plastic greenhouse: no frost, just very cold).

PS. don't use bubblewrap, use something breathable to protect them. hardybananas.co.uk : Overwintering Bananas

[Bigmallly]

PS. don't use bubblewrap, use something breathable to protect them. hardybananas.co.uk : Overwintering Bananas

Was just going to say the same TS.....What our gardeners do at work is put a huge tube over them then fill the tube with sawdust & seal the top with a black bag. They come back every year but then they are well established trees.

[FionaH]

I have merged both the banana threads to keep things simple

Fi