Overwintered Ensete Maurelli under the house

18 years ago

Based on information I had from this forum, I overwintered 3 Ensete Maurelli under the house. They are all alive, and have new central leaf groups forming. I cut a small root ball with the shovel, and knocked off all the dirt as some have recommended. I also had 3 other banana types I kept in the garage. Those three retained their leaves, but the three from under the house aren't far behind. And just sticking them in the crawlspace under the house is definitely low maintenance! Thanks to all for teaching me something new and useful.

All 3 after pulling from crawlspace

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Banana after removing old leaves

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Pile of discarded leaves

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Comments (9)

wolflover
18 years ago
This technique works great. I over wintered 57 banana plants in my cellar last winter, including five Ensete types. They're all back in the garden now, starting to put off new leaves. :)
vibez
18 years ago
Wow 57 banana plants. Thats alot of digging. I can't imagine digging all those up. So what your 3 favorite bananas wolf?
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fglavin
18 years ago
Mine looks just about the same as yours. Ensetes seem to overwinter very well, despite a little dieback/dessication. My e. 'Maurelii' grew a couple of leaves, one almost totally white. Just couldn't wait on me, I guess!

Not sure on the actual number of bananas I had under the house, but it was way over 30. Musella lasiocarpa also stores exceptionally well this way.
bobcat
17 years ago
Won't M. lasiocarpa survive the Tennessee winter, fglavin?
fglavin
17 years ago
Yes, it will survive just fine. Two reasons why I dug it up:

1. I moved! Nashville to Knoxville.

2. I want a flower this year. Left in the ground with no protection, a flower is unlikely.
v1rt
15 years ago
Good evening folks! I will be overwintering my e maurelii next year. Right now, it's in a pot and it's doing ok. I still couldn't imagine/visualize how you guys plant them in spring. How deep should the hole be? Do you stake them? Do you have some pictures of an overwintered banana that you just planted?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks. :)
ces797
13 years ago
Very interesting topic, thanks for posting
I am trying this again this year.
I don't have a "crawl space" and my only other option is my basement which is supposed to be "unheated" but it's an old house and the pipes let out hot air into the basement so it's averaging high 60's

I was wondering your banana looks like mine did last year
I threw it in the basement with no light or water and the thing just go so crooked. Almost 90 degrees of a turn. Do they straighten back out once you put them outside and they start growing again?
jimhardy
13 years ago
They will,it sounds like your basement may be to warm.
What about a connected garage next to the house wall?

If it says above or near freezing it should be fine.
ces797
13 years ago
I moved it to my garage which is not attached or heated
I wrapped the entire thing up pretty good in a canvas dropcloth I had so maybe that will help. I do believe my garage get's to freezing so maybe in late Dec/Jan I may transfer the banana to the basement (hopefully by then it's in the 50's down there!)