Are you growing bananas in your zone as ornamentals for for fruit? If you're growing them as ornamentals, have you considered trying to fruit them? Let us know in the Comments below!
I have two, the Thai giant and a dwarf red that I got from a friend late last summer. Both are about 2.5-3 foot and I planted them in ground about 3 weeks ago from being potted over fall and winter (they didn’t grow much but were protected indoors. A lot of people I know right on the coast (I’m about 10 miles inland) fruit their bananas easily because they never die back. I get 5-6 light frosts usually. What a great idea!
@@moniquegebeline4350 where are you located? I would think by the climate you're describing, it would have to be either Florida, California or Texas. We have around 20-30 nights at freezing or below here, but very few under 28. You can count them usually on one hand.
Banana's for fruit: Blue Azul Ice Cream Banana- 6ft tall now- second season/ Dwarf Cavendish- 3ft tall- first season. Pups having to be constantly taken off and leaves cut off for growth. I have 4 Ice cream and 3 cavendish pups , not counting the 2 mothers .
I live in Missouri I have ones that get 12 foot when winter comes I cut them to about 8 foot an dig it up an put in basement I plant it in spring I usually can get it to fruit by doing that
I planted a dwarf Cavendish this spring. It now has 10 hands on it. I live zone 9. I plan to cover it with a sheet during my 4 days of winter. It normally only drops to freezing 4 times a "winter" here. Very interesting method you developed.
My 3 year old bananas are now over 15+ feet tall. The winter freezes a few times in my Zone 8. Once I trimmed it in the spring I noticed of the 11 stalks 2 had started bananas. There is only one viable set of bananas now and they are finder size - but wow the tree puts out a bloom and I can't wait to see it ! My trees are hearty enough to withstand the few freezes and the ones in the center do the best. From the original 2 stalks from nursery - I now have 12 new ones. The smaller ones in large containers I bring in the house and they do fine. They will drip water off the leaves after watering.
Arrived here from your previous video. I have protected my bananas using this method for this season( from another overwintering video). I am in DFW, Zone 8 A . I am excited for spring. I grow Namwah, Mysore and Orinoco. you are a wealth of information. This is the best video I have seen relating to my zone. Thank you brother and God Bless you. Keep inspiring.
Looking good! I bring my plants inside during the winter. You have to have high ceilings for that to work though. Dwarf Orinoco is my best grower. Grand Nain and Dwarf Cavendish are right there with it.
This is awesome! I've been wanting to grow bananas but didn't think I can get fruit. But now I am more eager to try with your method! Keep up the amazing videos.
As long as you are in Zone 9 or a warm Zone 8, I bet you can do it. If you're in a PNW Zone 8, it may not work. For example, my town is a Zone 8a, but Portland, OR, is a Zone 8b. However, that's only because our single annual minimum is usually a little lower by a few degrees. Our average low, and average high, is 10-20 degrees warmer than theirs, and our cold season is less than half their duration. If you're in a Zone 8 in the South, Southeast or coastal Mid-Atlantic where cold shots are brief and not persistent, I think you can do it! It certainly worked for me, and I think I'll get fruit.
@@TheMillennialGardener I'm in zone 8a n Dallas-ft Worth area. We sometimes see high teens. But it's maybe once or twice in a year but the weather here is very unpredictable. We just hit 30s last couple of days even though we were in the 70s and 80s last week. But I will try once I can find some bananas!
@@albongardens3199 I think you'll be able to do this in Dallas. Now, the challenge with Dallas is that while you have similar cold shots to mine, your average temperatures are higher, so you have a higher chance of banana trees breaking dormancy in your climate. So, you'll want to make sure you protect the banana tree from heat as well as the cold because you don't want it waking up early. I think you'd want to build your protection a little wider and taller than mine to not only insulate the banana tree from the cold, but the heat as well.
@@albongardens3199 How did your adventure into bananas go? I live just east of Dallas and just got in 2 Musa Basjoo about 7" tall. I am planning on keeping them in the house until next spring.
@@TheMillennialGardener zone 8 I think. I rake up the leaves and use them instead of straw. As they decompose I add more on top. It all becomes organic fertilizer which bananas love.
Great idea! It would help us viewers to know...ur zone. Also the pups could slow the mother plant down. I would move the pups to the south side near the house where more heat is naturally generated by the house and the sun. Eventually you will develop microclimates around your house. For the winter you could also put the old fashioned x-mas lights on them since they generate heat.
I grew up in Daytona Beach Florida where are we have some pretty cold temperatures every year my best friend's mom had a patch of banana trees for at least 20 years she also had avocado trees we had one really hard freeze in the 1980s and killed both of them but the banana trees actually grew back from the stumps
Thank you so much. I have been wanting to try Banana plants forever. We have a local nursery so when he has Banana plants available again we will get a couple. We are in zone 9b SW Arizona. J.
It's true! I've found them before. I also find many Carolina Anole lizards in my banana trees. They love perching on the broad, shady leaves and poking their head out in the sun.
I've got 2 different banana trees I planted 2 years ago. I replanted some of the pups last year so I've got a few more growing around now. I may give this technique a try. I think we had one of the mildest winters we've had in a while and the coldest day was not as cold as most winters (Southport), so I don't know if overwintering like this will work in a normal winter here.
I live in Brunswick County, right below you, and just bought a blue java banana tree. From what Ive read theyre supposed to tolerate temperatures as cold as 20°, just not for prolonged periods of time. Ive been researching caring for cold heart banana varieties in our area and how to over winter them so that they produce fruit, tirelessly for almost 2 weeks now. I couldnt decide if I wanted to keep it potted, over winter it in my shed, put it in the ground and try to wrap it with blankets. I will definitely be using your method! Finally I have the exact information I was looking for 🥰 Thank you so so much! These blue javas can be so hard to find I was so worried about killing it lol My tree is about 2ft tall right now and finally I can say Ive decided to plant it in the ground. I really wanted to but was hesitant lol I imagine if I plant it in the ground now it will get at least 6ft by the end of the growing season, if not taller. I noticed in a previous video you mentioned that cutting the pups down to the rhizome shocked your plant. Id really like to take a pup and plant a second tree. Is there a best time or way to do that? Thanks again! Ill definitely be sharing your channel in the Brunswick county gardening group on facebook. Ive been looking for a local/localish gardener channel and I think theyll all appreciate it as much as I do. Happy gardening!
Thank you! A few words on banana hardiness. When people talk about how hardy a banana is, they generally mean the corm. Light frosts will damage the leaves of all bananas, but generally not the pseudostems. Pseudostems, in my experience, start taking damage at about 30F. Once you hit about 28F, the pseudostems get killed entirely. The vesicles completely explode, and they turn into mush. I've definitely noticed my Dwarf Orinoco is the hardiest of all my bananas, but it still turns into soup once we dip into the 20's. The Blue Java will likely survive here if it's established early enough, but it will die back every single winter unless you wind a way to keep it above freezing. I've had fair success enclosing my Dwarf Orinoco's with garden fence and stuffing them with an entire bale of straw and they seem to survive this way. My Dwarf Namwah's, Dwarf Brazilian and Veinte Cohol all died back despite the stuffing with straw, but it's possible they'll get a little tougher as they age. The very wet winter last year was definitely a big disadvantage.
looking good, we already harvested two banana racks this year. Dwarf Cavendish and a Manzano. We have plenty of more to harvest throughout the season. Hoping to add a few more varieties this season, but the lockdown pushed our trip to the growers back and now he is sold our of just about everything. Hopefully in a month or so he will have more pups.
I'm in zone 8a. I put leaves about a foot thick on mine and about two foot around the base last winter. The stalks took some beating with frost and below freezing but they stayed about 5 ft high. When spring arrived this year they started at around that 5 ft height and are now as tall as the house. These get 20 ft tall. I have my dwarf canvadish and truly tiny banana plants in containers so they can go n the greenhouse during winter. Wish me luck on bananas this year. If it didn't work, I'll go back to heavy pile wrap mulching.
I live in zone 8a as well. I grow quite a few citrus/ cumquat cultivars . (Lemonquat, orangequat, fukishu, calamondins.. and a kishu mandarin.. I want to grow bananas.. typically I bring my potted citrus on the screened in porch. This year, I plan on moving them closer to my wooded backyard and covering them with 95 gallon clear trash bags , I got off Amazon. They have to be monitored with Sun and temperature. They can easily become fried with a greenhouse heat effect. I believe I could use the mulch method with bananas also the clear bags for more protection and fruit reassurance
Great video! What about the rain? I live in the Pacific Northwest, and it rains A LOT here. Do you think I should cover the netting and straw from the rain so that it’s not a soggy, wet and cold jacket against the trunk all throughout the winter? Any thoughts?
How much pruning, cutting back of leaves/stem did you do before protecting them for the winter? I am in north coastal Georgia and trying my hand at Banana trees for the first time. Unfortunately, the tag on the plant only had a picture of a bunch of grocery store bananas and nothing else, so I have no clue what type it is...but they were the only banana trees I have seen at a local store this year.
The reason why this works for bananas is because bananas effectively go dormant under 50 degrees F. Because of this phenomenon, you can bury them and they will recover come spring. They also aren't made of wood, so you don't need to worry about rot much, because the bananas will grow out of any rot for the most part. This won't happen with citrus. Citrus are evergreen trees, so they cannot be buried. They need strong sunshine all year long. Also, you could get some rot doing this, and that could permanently damage the tree. You can play games burying deciduous trees like figs during winter but not with evergreen trees like citrus.
If you just want an ornamental cold hardy banana try basjoo or a smaller purple flowering variety. Royal purple??? They both do great for me in zone 7b with no protection
Hello…I want to keep my banana plants in pots outside do you have a video on how to protect them while outside during the winter? I live in South Carolina! Zone 8b
Hello! Awesome video. I live in Wellington NZ and I have seen one banana fruiting around here. In theory we are zone 10, because the absolute lowest it gets is - 2 (maybe once in a winter), but it never gets very hot - it's about 15-19 degrees celsius most of the year. So growing subtropicals will be interesting here! Maybe with your methods it will be possible!
Maybe you can attract heat by placing black fabric or black plastic around the base of the bananas. That can create a hot micro-climate by attracting more solar heat during the day.
@@TheMillennialGardener Yea gonna pull out a magnolia tree and make a spot for them. I think I might build a berm around them with old tires and fill them with soil to plant flowers / herbs in. Try to build some kind of earth battery around them or something. Will be a fun project!
I got a rooted banana plant that my neighbor was getting rid of earlier this spring. The plant is 5ft tall now and still in a pot. We expect to have a mild winter here in TX 9a but I plan to plant it in the ground this spring. I will definitely keep this in mind.
awesome video, where do you buy these from? I got some free ones, but they grow about 18 feet tall, after the winter they die down to about 8-10 feet. I guess getting the dwarf varieties are key! I wonder if rockwool insulation would work well. I have some extra lying around and since it is made of stone it weathers fine outside. It gets a little matted down, but otherwise fine.
I am in the mountains of north Ga, zone 7B. Would love to fruit out some bananas. We have a green house and maybe the combo of mulch and warmth from the green house would work. I also would love to grow dragon fruit in the green house but would most likely have to heat it at night. Thank you for the videos and tips!
Hmmmm I live in south Louisiana where we rarely have any below freezing temperatures, I’m talkin maybeee it dips down into the 30s at night a few times a year. I wonder if I could grow bananas
You may be able to do it. Bananas are sensitive to frost and freeze, but they go dormant under 55F. If you can keep them well-insulated, they may do fairly well. Seattle lacks the heat units my climate has, though, so it may take several months longer for a banana to fruit.
Yes. Last season it worked beautifully and all my bananas overwintered. This season, I did not have as much success because we had a very cold and extremely wet winter. I think the "wet" was worse than the cold and it rooted some of the pseudostems. I am trimming some of them, and some are beginning to push new growth. Last season I was able to harvest bananas doing this. We'll see what 2021 brings!
'm in Highland County Florida in the south side of Lake Placid. It's in zone 9b toward the bottom. It's the Florida Ridge so the soil is very sandy. The average low in January is 51F. Is their a species that will do well here? When is a good time to plant?
Thanks for the Info. I've been growing blue java bananas plants for 3 years in zone 7B. During the growing season, I plant them in the ground. By the end of season, I pull them out from the ground and transplant them into large planter inside my house. While their are indoors, they receive a few hours of sunlight from the south window. I also water them about once a month or until the soil is dry. My question to you is do you think the banana plants grow cycle gets disrupted when I bring them indoors? I know it is very difficult to grow bananas in 7B I was wondering by bringing them indoors the growing season can continue
Did the rot come from cold or having wet mulch pressed up on it? If the latter, does there exist any material that drains and dries and doesn't rot that could be used? Even inorganic or expensive?
If I had to guess, probably a combination of them both. Next season, I'm thinking about placing a 40 gallon trash bag over them to keep the rain off to see if that helps prevent the rot. I really do like the straw, and I'm thinking a trash bag placed over them will keep the straw much drier, and also provide extra protection.
@@TheMillennialGardener it has potential and you've got me thinking. Dad has had banana trees for a decade with no fruit (8b) and I wonder why he wastes his time but bananas would be nice. I'm interested in moving towards self sufficiency.
I cut the leaves back prior to mulching. Bananas, in their main growth phase during the summer, will grow one entire leaf a week, so they recover quickly.
Did you fruit that banana plant? I have a Dwarf Namwa, Brazilian, and Cavendish. I'm in zone 9a. I gonna get these plants as far as I can this summer and then winterize them and hopefully get an early start next year and fruit them by July.
The Millennial Gardener ok I need to know my fig tree have a ton of leafs should I start pinching and if yes How do I choose also I have leaves close to the dirt on my tree. I fertilize like you said and then did blooms fertilizer so I have some healthy leafy trees. Thank you for ad vice.
@@juliegoulandris9609 ever since the advice, I've been inundated with 100+ comments every day, so it's been difficult to keep up. Have you seen my video on pinching? If not, I strongly suggest you watch: ua-cam.com/video/xjLeIr5Wo4Q/v-deo.html You only pinch for two reasons: 1. To force fruit production because your season is coming to an end. 2. To shape the tree. Any time you pinch, you will break off the apical bud of that branch and cause it to branch out in multiple directions. This usually makes for a harder to control and less attractive tree, so I suggest only pinching if you want that to happen, or you want to force fruiting. It's only April 23, so none of us are in any danger of fall frost for a very long time. You should pinching only if your back is up against the wall and you fear your tree will not make figs before they can ripen. You shouldn't pinch until you're about 100 days away from the day you lose temperatures where figs can ripen well. For most of us, we get heat into September, so in my opinion, we shouldn't be thinking about pinching until Memorial Day. If we don't have any figs forming at Memorial Day, it may be a good idea for some of us to pinch, but until then, I suggest letting the figs grow and see if they fruit naturally. That's my opinion. If you have a really short growing season and you run out of heat in August, you may need to pinch earlier, but that's very few of us.
@@TheMillennialGardener I tried it last year, the straw was absolutely soaked, but it did work to a certain extent, I cut the leafs off in the spring, but wasn’t sure what was the best course of action with them.
I'm in growing zone 7b .. southwestern Arkansas. I can get my bananas to fruit .. but not ripen. I like growing them for the atmosphere they present .. as we have a Spa business on the side of the Highway. It helps to draw the gaze of those passing by. One friend suggested I cut the bulb part of the flower off .. once the first two or three rows of bananas are formed .. by cutting the bulb part off the plant energy would in theory go into filling out the bananas. Don't know how true that is. For the sake of further info .. I dug out a good sized depression in the ground .. lined it with 6 mil black plastic and then filled the area with good compost and soil .. and I water it often. They grow way over my head. I mulch the ground with leaves etc. at the end of the year as temps get colder. You can see some of the pictures here: facebook.com/pg/WellSpringSpaMenaAR/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1510518872304504
Awesome. If you can get them to fruit, you basically need 60-90 more days jump start. If you protect them like this, you very well may be able to give yourself that 2-3 month headstart you need and get them to ripen. You can also investigate a short-cycle variety like Veinte Cohol. Word is they only take 60 days to make their fruit and ripen after the flower comes out. That's pretty incredible. I picked one up as an insurance policy and just planted it last week.
Also here is a pic of my owari satsuma I talked to you about. The bloom on it died when the branch broke so I bandaged it up there as you can see. It seems to be growing good but slow in that loamy type soil. ibb.co/0Jm09cB
The varieties I mentioned in this video were Dwarf Orinoco and Dwarf Namwah. I also recently planted Dwarf Brazilian and Veinte Cohol. They're all smaller stature bananas.
@@jasont6723 a tree that small will not be capable of holding and ripening fruit to maturity. At this stage, you should actually remove the flowers and shape the tree to your desired shape with pruning, if you so desire. In 1-2 years, you'll be able to bear a couple fruits, so focus on sculpting the tree. Don't worry about flowers this season. You'll be surprised how much it'll grow in a year if it doesn't spend energy flowering unnecessarily.
Hi, what you consideras frigid? I live in central Spain...the lowest in January are similar but the daily during December, January and February are 10°C to 15°C and 0° to 2 or 3C so what do you think....Aldo 2 weeks moreless in January with lowest as 24° farenheit...if I cover and Sun.
Maria Carmen Toledo Lopez my average January low at night is about 3C. Our absolute minimum can get as low as -12C at night, which makes me Zone 8. Our lowest recorded temperature last year was -5C, and the year before was -7C. Our average January high is about 15C in the middle of the day.
Maria Carmen Toledo Lopez your climate is milder than mine. Your winters aren’t quite as cold at night, and your summers aren’t as hot during the day. I am not going to protect my trees. Figs can take down to about -10C before the wood takes any damage as long as they are mature trees in ground. If you grow in pots, they won’t be as cold tolerant and may require protection at -5C.
@@TheMillennialGardener thank you...the fig trees here gris as Wild..nobody take care ,as olive trees and almonds. The cold snap are the worst.. thank you for the comments and I Will inform you about bananas when winter finished. Thank you
@@mariacarmentoledolopez8645 you're lucky enough to live in a country where the fig wasp is endemic, so your fig seeds can become pollinated. Where I live, there is no fig wasp, so all our fig seeds are infertile. We cannot grow from seed. We can only make copies with cuttings. You are in a fig paradise.
Not yet. It kept getting killed back. I just saw one of my Namwah's sending a stem outside of one of the straw cages, so at least one survived. I'm going to remove my cold protection next weekend, so we'll see if anything made it. We had a rough winter.
Bananas will grow and fruit best in full sun. They will tolerate shade, but the fruiting cycle will be much slower. My rule of thumb is any banana I grow in shade will be purely ornamental in my climate. To have a chance for fruiting in Zone 8, they need lots of solar energy.
Yes, this plant did flower and this method was successful. It flowered back in June, actually, and I have a small bunch forming with probably 12-18 bananas on it. They have almost reached their proper size, so I expect the harvest to come sometime in September.
@@centralcaliforniatropicalg4686 I avoid that seller due to mislabeling reputation. I got VC from grosmichelbanana.net. He's active on bananas.org and is pretty trusted.
@@TheMillennialGardener 🤔 I hope mine is not mislabeled I have been looking for that type for a while now. Thanks for the tip on where I can get bananas
Are you growing bananas in your zone as ornamentals for for fruit? If you're growing them as ornamentals, have you considered trying to fruit them? Let us know in the Comments below!
I have two, the Thai giant and a dwarf red that I got from a friend late last summer. Both are about 2.5-3 foot and I planted them in ground about 3 weeks ago from being potted over fall and winter (they didn’t grow much but were protected indoors. A lot of people I know right on the coast (I’m about 10 miles inland) fruit their bananas easily because they never die back. I get 5-6 light frosts usually. What a great idea!
@@moniquegebeline4350 where are you located? I would think by the climate you're describing, it would have to be either Florida, California or Texas. We have around 20-30 nights at freezing or below here, but very few under 28. You can count them usually on one hand.
I grow bananas for fruit. I have Lady fingers. I hope to one day add more varieties to my collection.
Banana's for fruit: Blue Azul Ice Cream Banana- 6ft tall now- second season/ Dwarf Cavendish- 3ft tall- first season. Pups having to be constantly taken off and leaves cut off for growth. I have 4 Ice cream and 3 cavendish pups , not counting the 2 mothers .
I should have bananas next year from 2 - ice cream and cavendish and the yrs after from the 7 pups.GROW ZONE 8A, GEORGIA
Blue Java🍦. Norfolk Virginia. Around 40 fruits on the 1st stalk. Pushed bud out August 9 2023. 4 plants budding. 👍🏼
Do your plants survive in winter?
How'd you manage to do it?
I live in Missouri I have ones that get 12 foot when winter comes I cut them to about 8 foot an dig it up an put in basement I plant it in spring I usually can get it to fruit by doing that
How much of a root ball do you dig up?
James Ebola ha I dig up the whole root an I try an leave as much of the stalk as I can so I don’t have to start over in spring
I planted a dwarf Cavendish this spring. It now has 10 hands on it. I live zone 9. I plan to cover it with a sheet during my 4 days of winter. It normally only drops to freezing 4 times a "winter" here. Very interesting method you developed.
Wow, that grew and fruited incredibly fast.
My 3 year old bananas are now over 15+ feet tall. The winter freezes a few times in my Zone 8. Once I trimmed it in the spring I noticed of the 11 stalks 2 had started bananas. There is only one viable set of bananas now and they are finder size - but wow the tree puts out a bloom and I can't wait to see it ! My trees are hearty enough to withstand the few freezes and the ones in the center do the best. From the original 2 stalks from nursery - I now have 12 new ones. The smaller ones in large containers I bring in the house and they do fine. They will drip water off the leaves after watering.
Arrived here from your previous video. I have protected my bananas using this method for this season( from another overwintering video). I am in DFW, Zone 8 A . I am excited for spring. I grow Namwah, Mysore and Orinoco. you are a wealth of information. This is the best video I have seen relating to my zone. Thank you brother and God Bless you. Keep inspiring.
Thanks for watching! I’m glad you found it helpful.
how did it end up working out?
Looking good! I bring my plants inside during the winter. You have to have high ceilings for that to work though. Dwarf Orinoco is my best grower. Grand Nain and Dwarf Cavendish are right there with it.
This is awesome! I've been wanting to grow bananas but didn't think I can get fruit. But now I am more eager to try with your method! Keep up the amazing videos.
As long as you are in Zone 9 or a warm Zone 8, I bet you can do it. If you're in a PNW Zone 8, it may not work. For example, my town is a Zone 8a, but Portland, OR, is a Zone 8b. However, that's only because our single annual minimum is usually a little lower by a few degrees. Our average low, and average high, is 10-20 degrees warmer than theirs, and our cold season is less than half their duration. If you're in a Zone 8 in the South, Southeast or coastal Mid-Atlantic where cold shots are brief and not persistent, I think you can do it! It certainly worked for me, and I think I'll get fruit.
@@TheMillennialGardener I'm in zone 8a n Dallas-ft Worth area. We sometimes see high teens. But it's maybe once or twice in a year but the weather here is very unpredictable. We just hit 30s last couple of days even though we were in the 70s and 80s last week. But I will try once I can find some bananas!
@@albongardens3199 I think you'll be able to do this in Dallas. Now, the challenge with Dallas is that while you have similar cold shots to mine, your average temperatures are higher, so you have a higher chance of banana trees breaking dormancy in your climate. So, you'll want to make sure you protect the banana tree from heat as well as the cold because you don't want it waking up early. I think you'd want to build your protection a little wider and taller than mine to not only insulate the banana tree from the cold, but the heat as well.
@@albongardens3199 How did your adventure into bananas go? I live just east of Dallas and just got in 2 Musa Basjoo about 7" tall. I am planning on keeping them in the house until next spring.
I live in north TX. This method works for me, year after year.
Good to know! I'm guessing you're a Zone 7 or 8 as well?
@@TheMillennialGardener zone 8 I think. I rake up the leaves and use them instead of straw. As they decompose I add more on top. It all becomes organic fertilizer which bananas love.
Great video :) I'm over wintering a potted dwarf Cavendish inside, and moving outside in May. In the UK though, so we will see how that goes.
This is wonderful! I look forward to an update. I'd like to see how it worked out for you.
Update is coming out soon! Look at his community tab
Great idea! It would help us viewers to know...ur zone. Also the pups could slow the mother plant down. I would move the pups to the south side near the house where more heat is naturally generated by the house and the sun. Eventually you will develop microclimates around your house.
For the winter you could also put the old fashioned x-mas lights on them since they generate heat.
I'm in Zone 8A. Location info is in the video description.
Ty i plant babys last yr and they die in winter but its growing back im in arkansas on zone 6 ill try this this new winter ty for the video
I grew up in Daytona Beach Florida where are we have some pretty cold temperatures every year my best friend's mom had a patch of banana trees for at least 20 years she also had avocado trees we had one really hard freeze in the 1980s and killed both of them but the banana trees actually grew back from the stumps
Thank you so much. I have been wanting to try Banana plants forever. We have a local nursery so when he has Banana plants available again we will get a couple. We are in zone 9b SW Arizona. J.
Tree frogs love hanging out in banana leaves.
It's true! I've found them before. I also find many Carolina Anole lizards in my banana trees. They love perching on the broad, shady leaves and poking their head out in the sun.
I've got 2 different banana trees I planted 2 years ago. I replanted some of the pups last year so I've got a few more growing around now. I may give this technique a try. I think we had one of the mildest winters we've had in a while and the coldest day was not as cold as most winters (Southport), so I don't know if overwintering like this will work in a normal winter here.
I live in Brunswick County, right below you, and just bought a blue java banana tree. From what Ive read theyre supposed to tolerate temperatures as cold as 20°, just not for prolonged periods of time.
Ive been researching caring for cold heart banana varieties in our area and how to over winter them so that they produce fruit, tirelessly for almost 2 weeks now.
I couldnt decide if I wanted to keep it potted, over winter it in my shed, put it in the ground and try to wrap it with blankets. I will definitely be using your method! Finally I have the exact information I was looking for 🥰 Thank you so so much! These blue javas can be so hard to find I was so worried about killing it lol
My tree is about 2ft tall right now and finally I can say Ive decided to plant it in the ground. I really wanted to but was hesitant lol I imagine if I plant it in the ground now it will get at least 6ft by the end of the growing season, if not taller.
I noticed in a previous video you mentioned that cutting the pups down to the rhizome shocked your plant. Id really like to take a pup and plant a second tree. Is there a best time or way to do that?
Thanks again! Ill definitely be sharing your channel in the Brunswick county gardening group on facebook. Ive been looking for a local/localish gardener channel and I think theyll all appreciate it as much as I do. Happy gardening!
Thank you! A few words on banana hardiness. When people talk about how hardy a banana is, they generally mean the corm. Light frosts will damage the leaves of all bananas, but generally not the pseudostems. Pseudostems, in my experience, start taking damage at about 30F. Once you hit about 28F, the pseudostems get killed entirely. The vesicles completely explode, and they turn into mush. I've definitely noticed my Dwarf Orinoco is the hardiest of all my bananas, but it still turns into soup once we dip into the 20's. The Blue Java will likely survive here if it's established early enough, but it will die back every single winter unless you wind a way to keep it above freezing. I've had fair success enclosing my Dwarf Orinoco's with garden fence and stuffing them with an entire bale of straw and they seem to survive this way. My Dwarf Namwah's, Dwarf Brazilian and Veinte Cohol all died back despite the stuffing with straw, but it's possible they'll get a little tougher as they age. The very wet winter last year was definitely a big disadvantage.
looking good, we already harvested two banana racks this year. Dwarf Cavendish and a Manzano. We have plenty of more to harvest throughout the season. Hoping to add a few more varieties this season, but the lockdown pushed our trip to the growers back and now he is sold our of just about everything. Hopefully in a month or so he will have more pups.
I live in Ocala Florida zone 9 and get fruit on my bananas. They are planted under a high oak tree canopy.
I would love to be in a Zone 9. That’s great. I can see that canopy providing several degrees of freeze protection. Thanks for watching!
I'm in zone 8a. I put leaves about a foot thick on mine and about two foot around the base last winter. The stalks took some beating with frost and below freezing but they stayed about 5 ft high. When spring arrived this year they started at around that 5 ft height and are now as tall as the house. These get 20 ft tall. I have my dwarf canvadish and truly tiny banana plants in containers so they can go n the greenhouse during winter. Wish me luck on bananas this year. If it didn't work, I'll go back to heavy pile wrap mulching.
I live in zone 8a as well. I grow quite a few citrus/ cumquat cultivars . (Lemonquat, orangequat, fukishu, calamondins.. and a kishu mandarin.. I want to grow bananas.. typically I bring my potted citrus on the screened in porch. This year, I plan on moving them closer to my wooded backyard and covering them with 95 gallon clear trash bags , I got off Amazon. They have to be monitored with Sun and temperature. They can easily become fried with a greenhouse heat effect. I believe I could use the mulch method with bananas also the clear bags for more protection and fruit reassurance
Just wondering if you’ve ever grown pumpkin or sweet potato plants to harvest the young tender growing vine tips as a vegetable?
I've never grown pumpkins. I did grow sweet potatoes last year, but for the tubers. I've never eaten the vine.
The heart shaped sweet potato leaves are delicious.
I'm growing Raja Puri, Gran Nain, and Dwarf Cavendish. Haven't fruited them yet, this will be the first full season.
Awesome! What zone are you in?
This came super handy. Great information
Glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching!
Great video! What about the rain? I live in the Pacific Northwest, and it rains A LOT here. Do you think I should cover the netting and straw from the rain so that it’s not a soggy, wet and cold jacket against the trunk all throughout the winter? Any thoughts?
Made our month with this, thank you, thank you, thank you!
I'm glad you found it helpful! Thank you for watching.
How much pruning, cutting back of leaves/stem did you do before protecting them for the winter? I am in north coastal Georgia and trying my hand at Banana trees for the first time. Unfortunately, the tag on the plant only had a picture of a bunch of grocery store bananas and nothing else, so I have no clue what type it is...but they were the only banana trees I have seen at a local store this year.
I bet this would work well for my young Citrus trees in North Louisiana.
The reason why this works for bananas is because bananas effectively go dormant under 50 degrees F. Because of this phenomenon, you can bury them and they will recover come spring. They also aren't made of wood, so you don't need to worry about rot much, because the bananas will grow out of any rot for the most part. This won't happen with citrus. Citrus are evergreen trees, so they cannot be buried. They need strong sunshine all year long. Also, you could get some rot doing this, and that could permanently damage the tree. You can play games burying deciduous trees like figs during winter but not with evergreen trees like citrus.
@@TheMillennialGardener thanks for the info
If you just want an ornamental cold hardy banana try basjoo or a smaller purple flowering variety. Royal purple??? They both do great for me in zone 7b with no protection
I'm finding the blue ice cream banana variety is growing well in the cold climate of Tasmania.
You are conquering and make them hardy!
I try my best. This has been a terrible January though, so I’m bearish on any pseudostems making it through this nasty year.
I just found your videos today. How did you build the banana cages?
Thanks a bunch. I may try similar. I’m here in Wilm as well!
Awesome! If I can do it across the river, you can do it in Wilmington. It's a little milder on the coldest nights. Thanks for watching!
Hello…I want to keep my banana plants in pots outside do you have a video on how to protect them while outside during the winter? I live in South Carolina! Zone 8b
Hello! Awesome video. I live in Wellington NZ and I have seen one banana fruiting around here. In theory we are zone 10, because the absolute lowest it gets is - 2 (maybe once in a winter), but it never gets very hot - it's about 15-19 degrees celsius most of the year. So growing subtropicals will be interesting here! Maybe with your methods it will be possible!
Maybe you can attract heat by placing black fabric or black plastic around the base of the bananas. That can create a hot micro-climate by attracting more solar heat during the day.
Do you remove the leaves before you stake and mulch at winter? Or do you just leave the leaves on and let the cold damage the leaves?
Great video! I will definitely be trying this next winter.
Thanks for watching! Good luck.
your very good at growing trees!
Gonna add these to my 7B food forest this year. I'll let ya know how next winter goes.
Excellent! Best of luck! Let us know how it goes longterm.
@@TheMillennialGardener Yea gonna pull out a magnolia tree and make a spot for them. I think I might build a berm around them with old tires and fill them with soil to plant flowers / herbs in. Try to build some kind of earth battery around them or something. Will be a fun project!
thanks for the info! great video!
I got a rooted banana plant that my neighbor was getting rid of earlier this spring. The plant is 5ft tall now and still in a pot. We expect to have a mild winter here in TX 9a but I plan to plant it in the ground this spring. I will definitely keep this in mind.
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awesome video, where do you buy these from? I got some free ones, but they grow about 18 feet tall, after the winter they die down to about 8-10 feet. I guess getting the dwarf varieties are key! I wonder if rockwool insulation would work well. I have some extra lying around and since it is made of stone it weathers fine outside. It gets a little matted down, but otherwise fine.
Awesome advice, thank you 🙏
Glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching!
Brilliant.
Thanks for watching!
I am in the mountains of north Ga, zone 7B. Would love to fruit out some bananas. We have a green house and maybe the combo of mulch and warmth from the green house would work. I also would love to grow dragon fruit in the green house but would most likely have to heat it at night. Thank you for the videos and tips!
Is it possible to put incandescent Christmas lights and a frost blanket on your banana plants and have success?
I live in 9 zone Clearwater Fl is that suitable for fruit of banana.
julie goulandris absolutely! I believe that area is frost free most years, so you should be able to easily grow bananas there with minimal protection.
Great advice video!!!!
Glad it was helpful! Thank you for watching!
Hmmmm I live in south Louisiana where we rarely have any below freezing temperatures, I’m talkin maybeee it dips down into the 30s at night a few times a year. I wonder if I could grow bananas
I want to try this but I live in zone 8b (Seattle).
You may be able to do it. Bananas are sensitive to frost and freeze, but they go dormant under 55F. If you can keep them well-insulated, they may do fairly well. Seattle lacks the heat units my climate has, though, so it may take several months longer for a banana to fruit.
Im in zone 9b and apparently the dwarf banana tree can handle down to 20F. But they’re always breeding more tolerable varieties(strains).
Time to try this in zone 7 what could go wrong
Wow! So smart! Thx
What is the best website for banana plant growers? I heard they have expert grower sites but don’t know any. I just got my first 2 this spring. 9B.
Great info... thanks!
Thanks for watching!
This is awesome! Do you need to do this process every season? Love the channel too!
Yes. Last season it worked beautifully and all my bananas overwintered. This season, I did not have as much success because we had a very cold and extremely wet winter. I think the "wet" was worse than the cold and it rooted some of the pseudostems. I am trimming some of them, and some are beginning to push new growth. Last season I was able to harvest bananas doing this. We'll see what 2021 brings!
@@TheMillennialGardener awesome! Thanks again and great channel!
Creative solution. I hope it works as expected.
It did! I was able to harvest my first bunch this summer.
I'm growing bananas in zone 9b. I got my first rack last year. We get hard freezes. You just have to find the right microclimate.
central California tropical gardening zone 9b rack as in bananas which are edible?
Do you let them ripen on the plant, or chop them down once full-sized but green and hang them indoors?
@@TheMillennialGardener yes I let yellow on the plant until I seen the bugs getting to them.
@@jackm9737 Orinoco bananas are edible yes
@Central California tropical gardening, are you north or south of Modesto? Just wondering the microclimate with regard to Delta breeze…
'm in Highland County Florida in the south side of Lake Placid. It's in zone 9b toward the bottom. It's the Florida Ridge so the soil is very sandy. The average low in January is 51F. Is their a species that will do well here? When is a good time to plant?
Thanks for the Info. I've been growing blue java bananas plants for 3 years in zone 7B. During the growing season, I plant them in the ground. By the end of season, I pull them out from the ground and transplant them into large planter inside my house. While their are indoors, they receive a few hours of sunlight from the south window. I also water them about once a month or until the soil is dry. My question to you is do you think the banana plants grow cycle gets disrupted when I bring them indoors? I know it is very difficult to grow bananas in 7B I was wondering by bringing them indoors the growing season can continue
I'm in 7b too, did this work out for you???
@smshh33 so far, so good. I never had a problem
Great success 👍🌱🌱🌱 good video.
Thank you! Thanks for watching.
How exciting!
It really is. I love the tropical look, so I'm always trying to experiment to bring a tropical look and feel to my home.
Did it ever bare a banana?? It’s 2 years or more later. Just curious.
I live in nc as well, what do you recommend for a tree already in ground around 4ft tall?
Are you talking about banana plants? If so, I have a complete guide on how to protect them here: ua-cam.com/video/8p9IzCD9088/v-deo.html
@@TheMillennialGardener thank you so much!
Did the rot come from cold or having wet mulch pressed up on it? If the latter, does there exist any material that drains and dries and doesn't rot that could be used? Even inorganic or expensive?
If I had to guess, probably a combination of them both. Next season, I'm thinking about placing a 40 gallon trash bag over them to keep the rain off to see if that helps prevent the rot. I really do like the straw, and I'm thinking a trash bag placed over them will keep the straw much drier, and also provide extra protection.
@@TheMillennialGardener it has potential and you've got me thinking. Dad has had banana trees for a decade with no fruit (8b) and I wonder why he wastes his time but bananas would be nice. I'm interested in moving towards self sufficiency.
Did you cut the leaves back prior to mulching, or did they die off of natural causes?
I cut the leaves back prior to mulching. Bananas, in their main growth phase during the summer, will grow one entire leaf a week, so they recover quickly.
Did you fruit that banana plant? I have a Dwarf Namwa, Brazilian, and Cavendish. I'm in zone 9a. I gonna get these plants as far as I can this summer and then winterize them and hopefully get an early start next year and fruit them by July.
How'd they go? I'm in 9a too and getting curious about growing bananas.
The lowest temperature recorded last winter was 31°F I wonder if I can pull off some bananas
One of my bananas is fruiting right now, and we got down to 14 degrees last winter.
Nice 👍
Thanks for watching!
I have another question if we just wanted to ask questions as we go along how should we do that I need to ask something about my figs
Just write it here. No problems.
The Millennial Gardener ok I need to know my fig tree have a ton of leafs should I start pinching and if yes How do I choose also I have leaves close to the dirt on my tree. I fertilize like you said and then did blooms fertilizer so I have some healthy leafy trees. Thank you for ad vice.
The Millennial Gardener did you get my question about the fig trees
@@juliegoulandris9609 ever since the advice, I've been inundated with 100+ comments every day, so it's been difficult to keep up. Have you seen my video on pinching? If not, I strongly suggest you watch: ua-cam.com/video/xjLeIr5Wo4Q/v-deo.html
You only pinch for two reasons:
1. To force fruit production because your season is coming to an end.
2. To shape the tree.
Any time you pinch, you will break off the apical bud of that branch and cause it to branch out in multiple directions. This usually makes for a harder to control and less attractive tree, so I suggest only pinching if you want that to happen, or you want to force fruiting. It's only April 23, so none of us are in any danger of fall frost for a very long time. You should pinching only if your back is up against the wall and you fear your tree will not make figs before they can ripen. You shouldn't pinch until you're about 100 days away from the day you lose temperatures where figs can ripen well. For most of us, we get heat into September, so in my opinion, we shouldn't be thinking about pinching until Memorial Day. If we don't have any figs forming at Memorial Day, it may be a good idea for some of us to pinch, but until then, I suggest letting the figs grow and see if they fruit naturally. That's my opinion. If you have a really short growing season and you run out of heat in August, you may need to pinch earlier, but that's very few of us.
Did you cut the banana leafs off at all? Or just left them?
I only remove what's necessary to "bury" the pseudostems. The leaves on top will protect against the first few frosts until they eventually die.
@@TheMillennialGardener I tried it last year, the straw was absolutely soaked, but it did work to a certain extent, I cut the leafs off in the spring, but wasn’t sure what was the best course of action with them.
How big is your lot?
Can you update us if you were able to fruit bananas?
What is that cage material called ?
It's just recycled "garden fence." It's pretty much the cheapest stuff on Amazon.
amazing
Glad you think so! Thanks for watching.
Would love to see an update if possible
I posted an update of the harvest later in the year. The method worked perfectly. ua-cam.com/video/-CQdWn4hmmY/v-deo.html
I'm in growing zone 7b .. southwestern Arkansas. I can get my bananas to fruit .. but not ripen. I like growing them for the atmosphere they present .. as we have a Spa business on the side of the Highway. It helps to draw the gaze of those passing by. One friend suggested I cut the bulb part of the flower off .. once the first two or three rows of bananas are formed .. by cutting the bulb part off the plant energy would in theory go into filling out the bananas. Don't know how true that is. For the sake of further info .. I dug out a good sized depression in the ground .. lined it with 6 mil black plastic and then filled the area with good compost and soil .. and I water it often. They grow way over my head. I mulch the ground with leaves etc. at the end of the year as temps get colder. You can see some of the pictures here: facebook.com/pg/WellSpringSpaMenaAR/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1510518872304504
Awesome. If you can get them to fruit, you basically need 60-90 more days jump start. If you protect them like this, you very well may be able to give yourself that 2-3 month headstart you need and get them to ripen. You can also investigate a short-cycle variety like Veinte Cohol. Word is they only take 60 days to make their fruit and ripen after the flower comes out. That's pretty incredible. I picked one up as an insurance policy and just planted it last week.
@@TheMillennialGardener Thanks for the suggestion!
With ornamentals
Oh cool. I had a dwarf cavendish but it froze and it eventually died. What was the dwarf varieties you mentioned?
Also here is a pic of my owari satsuma I talked to you about. The bloom on it died when the branch broke so I bandaged it up there as you can see. It seems to be growing good but slow in that loamy type soil. ibb.co/0Jm09cB
The varieties I mentioned in this video were Dwarf Orinoco and Dwarf Namwah. I also recently planted Dwarf Brazilian and Veinte Cohol. They're all smaller stature bananas.
@@jasont6723 a tree that small will not be capable of holding and ripening fruit to maturity. At this stage, you should actually remove the flowers and shape the tree to your desired shape with pruning, if you so desire. In 1-2 years, you'll be able to bear a couple fruits, so focus on sculpting the tree. Don't worry about flowers this season. You'll be surprised how much it'll grow in a year if it doesn't spend energy flowering unnecessarily.
Hi, what you consideras frigid? I live in central Spain...the lowest in January are similar but the daily during December, January and February are 10°C to 15°C and 0° to 2 or 3C so what do you think....Aldo 2 weeks moreless in January with lowest as 24° farenheit...if I cover and Sun.
Maria Carmen Toledo Lopez my average January low at night is about 3C. Our absolute minimum can get as low as -12C at night, which makes me Zone 8. Our lowest recorded temperature last year was -5C, and the year before was -7C. Our average January high is about 15C in the middle of the day.
@@TheMillennialGardener that's the same lowest as in my village. This year was -5 C and -7C too. I'm really surprised 😯What do yo think?...
Maria Carmen Toledo Lopez your climate is milder than mine. Your winters aren’t quite as cold at night, and your summers aren’t as hot during the day. I am not going to protect my trees. Figs can take down to about -10C before the wood takes any damage as long as they are mature trees in ground. If you grow in pots, they won’t be as cold tolerant and may require protection at -5C.
@@TheMillennialGardener thank you...the fig trees here gris as Wild..nobody take care ,as olive trees and almonds. The cold snap are the worst.. thank you for the comments and I Will inform you about bananas when winter finished. Thank you
@@mariacarmentoledolopez8645 you're lucky enough to live in a country where the fig wasp is endemic, so your fig seeds can become pollinated. Where I live, there is no fig wasp, so all our fig seeds are infertile. We cannot grow from seed. We can only make copies with cuttings. You are in a fig paradise.
Did your namwa ever bear. fruit?
Not yet. It kept getting killed back. I just saw one of my Namwah's sending a stem outside of one of the straw cages, so at least one survived. I'm going to remove my cold protection next weekend, so we'll see if anything made it. We had a rough winter.
how are these doing now?
Excellent. The tree is fruiting for the 3rd season in a row (2nd season in a row in ground). I should have a ripe bunch of bananas by September!
Full sun for the dwarf?
Bananas will grow and fruit best in full sun. They will tolerate shade, but the fruiting cycle will be much slower. My rule of thumb is any banana I grow in shade will be purely ornamental in my climate. To have a chance for fruiting in Zone 8, they need lots of solar energy.
Did you get my questions about my fig tree
Green banana s I anticipate truth
Just wondering if your banana plant has flowered and are you expecting to harvest any fruit this season?
Yes, this plant did flower and this method was successful. It flowered back in June, actually, and I have a small bunch forming with probably 12-18 bananas on it. They have almost reached their proper size, so I expect the harvest to come sometime in September.
@@TheMillennialGardener Awesome!! 👍
Any updates?
I posted a harvest video shortly after ua-cam.com/video/-CQdWn4hmmY/v-deo.html
I will have another bunch ready in 30-60 days.
Did you have fruits ? Pls update ! Thank you
Yes. I have a harvest video from those plants here: ua-cam.com/video/-CQdWn4hmmY/v-deo.html
I picked another bunch last weekend.
Did you get bananas
Why not plant this in a green house?
I have a tiny residential plot in an HOA. No greenhouses. There is no need, because this tree fruits fine without one.
Greetings so did you ever get your bananas to successfully fruit and ripen?
Yes. It worked perfectly. I have a harvesting video here: ua-cam.com/video/-CQdWn4hmmY/v-deo.html
@@TheMillennialGardener that's cool!
Did you get fruit?
Yes. I have several follow-up harvest videos. ua-cam.com/video/-CQdWn4hmmY/v-deo.html
Banana V!£&de
Get a musa veinte cohol
central California tropical gardening zone 9b I have one. They’re very hard to find. After much searching, I planted one last week.
@@TheMillennialGardener floridahillnursery.com
This is the first year I found one too. The banana that fruited for me was dwarf orinoco. Even though I think it was mislabeled because it is tall.
@@centralcaliforniatropicalg4686 I avoid that seller due to mislabeling reputation. I got VC from grosmichelbanana.net. He's active on bananas.org and is pretty trusted.
@@TheMillennialGardener 🤔 I hope mine is not mislabeled I have been looking for that type for a while now. Thanks for the tip on where I can get bananas