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Care of Banana plant

little beelittle bee Posts: 68
in Plants
Hi can anyone help we bought 2 Banana plants this year they now have 5 leaves and around 2 foot tall we need to know what we should do once winter has finally set in, we have seen people cut them right down to the pot but is ours too small to do this we were going to overwinter them in our shed is this ok & should we fertilise & water thru winter thank you in anticipation 🤞

Posts

  • fidgetbonesfidgetbones Posts: 17,618
    They need to be frost free. I would not feed over winter, and only keep them just damp. If you can wrap some straw or other insulation around them that will let the condensation out, that will help. Do not wrap in plastic. They will rot. 
  • little beelittle bee Posts: 68
    Thank you fidgetbones do we still wrap them even in the shed or is that if we leave them out also do we cut them down or leave the leaves on 🤔
  • fidgetbonesfidgetbones Posts: 17,618
    I cut the older outside leaves off, leaving newer ones curled up in the middle.  Unless your shed is frost free you will need to wrap.  I cut leaves almost back to the stalk, leaving the central stem intact.  The pot you can double wrap with polystyrene. The important thing is to stop the root ball freezing solid, hence only just damp.
  • The Bird LadyThe Bird Lady Posts: 225
    We have grown Musa Bajoo for years.  We are in the South and ours are in the ground.  We used to wrap them in straw every winter but don't bother now because the winters tend to be milder these days.  Ours also bear fruit (after about 4 years), once they have fruited they die but there are others coming up all the time so we have a constant supply of plants.  The weather in the UK does not stay hot for long enough for the fruit to fully ripen, so it does remain quite small and is inedible.  However, the nectar is well loved by bees and wasps and they appear to be intoxicated when they emerge from the flowers.

  • little beelittle bee Posts: 68
    Thank you this has been a great help hopefully we will have 2 good plants come nxt spring, Love the pics bird lady & the fact the bees have fun too 👍 we are in the north so not that lucky with the weather 🥴
  • CeresCeres Posts: 2,698
    Those bajoo are fabulous.
    I started growing pink bananas last year and this will be the first winter they have to go into the greenhouse so fidgetbones advice is most welcome. The sikkimensis will stay indoors as they are still babies. They are very interesting plants and like nothing else I have grown before.
  • selinasallyselinasally Posts: 166
    That’s is fantastic bird lady - I desperately want a banana plant -any suggestions ?
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