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Is it toast?
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Posted by earthworm73 WA z8b (My Page) on Fri, Feb 10, 12 at 14:41
| Last summer I planted a musa basjoo which had good not great growth (last summer was on the cool side). I got about 6 ft of growth. Once the first frost knocked it down I cut the main stem off at about the 4ft mark then I used a tomato cage (don't laugh its what I had at the house) around it and I put some dried fall leaves inside. I wrapped the whole thing in a frost cloth. My goal was to try in preserve the main stem at 4 ft. so come spring it would resume growth and possibly reach at least 8 ft. Well I did not do a good job of protecting it (my first time) and I pulled back the cloth and the stem feels squishy. Just wondering if the stem is toast and should I just dig it up and put it into my garage until spring? |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Is it toast?
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| I cut mine off at the ground every year and just throw mulch over it. At this point don't dig it. The corm should be fine. If the pseudostem is mush you can cut it before the growing Season. |
RE: Is it toast?
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| Thanks for the response chad. I need to move it because where it is now I plan to put a washingtonia robusta there and the banana will go into a tropical bed to be built this spring. |
RE: Is it toast?
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| If you can find a really sunny place for it, it should do well for you once established. With your summers it might be hit or miss some years. I'm not too familiar with the northwest, but I think you tend to have cooler summers with plenty of rain. Good luck with the robusta. Living on the east coast I grow sabals. Painfully slow process, the washy should grow much faster for you. |
RE: Is it toast?
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| Chad actually our summers are warm to approaching hot (hot for us is mid 80's lol)but very very dry. I think we average 1 inch of rain each month of summer. I gonna try sabals this summer too. We do have sabals up here and they do okay. Of course they don't grow at the rate back east but you would be suprised at some of the specimens here. |
RE: Is it toast?
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| Earthworm: I wouldn't worry yet, mine have taken until mid-May to emerge sometimes and I confess I wonder some years if they made it, but every year my 'Basjoos come back stronger. You might have some luck with Sabal minor in a south facing sunny spot, but generally they love very hot summers like we have in the South. A better choice for palm that you may already know about is the Windmill Palm, Trachycarpus fortunei. It should get a trunk in your area to 25' or more, plus it does not need a hot summer to do well like the Sabal minor or Needle palm. |
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