I put 4 of my Banana trees under the shed on the back of my shop for the winter and left 2 in place. The 2 that were left out definitly got set back a bit with the freezes we had. The 4 under the shed still have a green stem on the last leaf--the leaf is even part green on one.

I am pretty sure we are done with frost so, today, I planted the 4 that were stored. They were a lot easier to put into storage than I would have thought-- easy to dig and easy to plant. Maybe I will get some nanas this year!

I have no idea what variety they are, but if they bloom, I will get some pictures and maybe someone can tell me at least what type they are.

Skeet, how tall are they & how big is rootball?

The 4 I dug up range from 5 to 6 ft tall, but there is almost no root ball to them, just a club shaped base with a few short roots. The base on these is approximately 6 inches in diameter. I just layed them on a pile of wood against the back wall of my shop.

BTW-- I see you are above freezing-- that's a good thing!

Thanks Skeet, I know if you post a pic of your banana, someone here will identify it. I have 2 Ice Cream nannas in sunroom with a HUGE rootball & I',\m going to plant one inground this summer & dig out in fall. It is about 6-7 ft tall & huge rootball. I'll have to dig it outi n fall & maybe next summer (0 will get fruit! I also hav 3 nannas from Gardenmoth too. They are much smaller & will be interesting to see when I get nannas from them. One is dbl. Mahoi (sp?) ...Can't wait for that one!
This will be an interesting summer. Hope you get 'nannas this year!
Yup, we are above freezing now...I have to go up to Oshkosh (b'gosh) Thursday and hoping for good roads to drive on. Calling for sleet, rain, snow,....YUK. You keep blowing that warm air up here LOL.

Hey Patty,do you have any pics of the big one in the sunroom? I'm guessing the room is heated? The past couple of years I have been thinking of trying to grow them. I like the idea of putting them in the ground & digging them up in the fall. I bet the roots will grow alot in the ground as opposed to in a pot. Any ideas on the type I should try? Vinny

Vinny, I just took these pics ..Ice Cream 'nannas in sunroom. Notice the diff in size because of pots! The big pot is about 24" H X 18"W - the small one is what nurserys call 5 gal. Since Oct, they grew about 1 leaf a month.
I got them in June when they were 2 inches high in a 2 or 3 inch pot. Laaz posted a pic of his IC planted next to his house. It got 20ft tall (or more). My big one is about same height as top of door going to outside (yeah, that's all snow thru the glass LOL). No heat , but I just open the Fr. doors from kitchen if I want heat in there. Walls, floor & ceiling are insulated. Ceiling is 12 1/2' high.


Oh yeah, that red mark is top of a new leaf.
I will plant the big one inground for summer & dig up in fall. Wrap it up real good & put under sunroom crawlspace - IF it's not too heavy!!!
Here's another pic I found taken late fall(?)

The big windows face south. (I ate that lemon BTW LOL)
As to what to plant for you, I am not a pro on bananas. Millet, JoeReal & maybe Laaz could help you there. I think this Ice Cream will be a monster for me to handle LOL.

Patty:
Very nice bananas you got there.
As for me I started growing bananas now. I am really going to make them fruit this time. I use to have lots of them but none fruited.
This time I ordered about 15 different varieties through ebay just small ones and right now are growing inside 2 aquariums with Christmas lights. This Summer I plan to plant them in my yard.
Last Autumn I bought a fruiting California Gold from Joe Real's friend . I planted it in my yard but it is still wrapped up with burlap and Christmas lights and anytime now I will be unwrapping it . If the tempt stays high at nighttime.

Nice Bananas Patty. You do know that the Ice cream variety will not fruit until it is about 15 -18 ft tall.

Thanks gang,
Laaz I think it was you that told me last yr how big they have to be to fruit, and that they must have something like 35 -40 leaves (?) I marked the leaves..big one is on 16th leaf LOL
I know this sumer it will grow big -- I remember pics you posted of yours next to house...pretty scary! It won't fit in sunroom next fall, so I will take a chance on digging up & dragging under Sroom for next winter. It would be soooo cool to have a 20 ft or more fruiting 'nanna tree in my back yard in '08!

Patty:
You should buy a california gold.
I opened the tarp this morning and here's what I found.

The fruit is still intact but no chlorophll yet but the leaves are still green at least near the fruit.
I am so happy it survived the actic blast.

Here's another angle:


And the height of the banana is only 6 1/2 -foot -tall. 8 1/2 if you include the height of the leaves.

Oh, thanks for the bananas Joe.
I understand the smallest is the sweetheart.

Yes Benny, the smallest one is Sweetheart, then the bigger one is double mahoi (or simply mahoi, quite redundant if you say double mahoi because mahoi already means twin, but the marketing name has always been double-mahoi).

Benny, you should sell the pups of those California Gold.

I still owe you Enano Gigante and Raja Puri. I will wait until they push out leaves before I send them to you. That would be in early summer. You should be able to plant them directly to the ground at that time.

Your Dwarf Brazilian is mature and have 2 replacement pups attached, it is ready to give you fruits every year.

Joe

Oh, Wow, Joe.
I did not know I have more coming.
Those three you gave me are already being babied.I already planted them on the ground andI planted them just not too deep this time with mixed of steer manure, perlite and sand.
The california gold I planted it too deep and its pup when I dug it yesterday turned into a mush. I can't even find it. Only a trace of dirty dark mud look alike I'd seen attached to the corm.
I will raise the corm as soon as I harvest the banana fruit.
With your bananas , I put a string of Christmas lights on top of the soil and at night I covered the sorrounding soil wiith clear plastic to retain the heat. I also did not water it and methodically wrapped the pstem with black tarp and remove them during the day.
I will keep doing this until I see new leaves starting to come up and the night tempt at 55* F or more.
Thanks Joe so much.

Hi Patty, Very impressive. Thanks for taking the pic's. We seem to have similar weather conditions. It's nice to see what others grow in similar zones. I have to admit this banana itch is getting pretty strong!!

Millet, JoeReal & Lazz, any suggestions as to what type I should try? I would be growing it pretty much like Patty mentioned (outside in the summer & bring it in when the temps drop). Thanks. Vinny