Awesome Kevin! Those are really nice Ensete Ventricosum! I dug my 2 Ensete Maurelii today and they are now in the basement. :D

The height is only 3-4 ft tall. :D

Hi v1rtuOs1ty. You've dug yours already? Mine are all Maurelii. I'm going to wait for it to get down to freezing before I dig mine. I think my tallest one is about 18-20 feet tall. Good luck with yours!

Kevin

Wow. Those are so big, not to mention expensive. Usually 6 foot tall Eneste's go for 200 dollars at the nursuries by me (from bottom of pot to highest leaf). Have they ever fruited before, because they look like they are getting pretty close (but I have no experience with ensetes yet so im not sure).

Great job, your backyard is definately inspirational.

Kevin,

I was wrong. I dug it too early last week. Next year, should I wait until hard frost?

This week, our weather has been so hot. It would have been better for them. :(

Should I plant it again?

You should try Ensete Superbum:
{{gwi:420736}}

Thanks tropicalzone7. I bought all of my ensete from a local nursurery as small plants for $7 each. It only takes a couple years to get some size to them. They've not flowered yet, but I've seen pictures of them. The flowers are a ruby red color. Maybe next year the tallest one will bloom, if I can keep it alive inside through another winter.

V1rt0us1ty, I wouldn't replant. I'd take the potted banana back outside into the sun however. I think I'll pot my smaller ensete plants in a week or two just so I won't have so much to repot when a killing frost looks likely.

Struwwelpeter, Nice plants! Where did you buy your superbum? I tried growing some from seed a couple of years ago but they never grew. I'd like to try a plant. Did you buy it on-line?

Kevin

I grew the E. superbum from seed and only about 1 in 10 germinated. My pic is several years old and I don't remember where I bought the seed.

I actually just recently bought a Ensete Maurelii off ebay. I heard they grow the fastest in the ground, but I wont be putting mine in the ground until next spring because by the time their roots get settled they will have to be chopped up for winter storage. Also how do you store your bananas for the winter? I heard of alot of techniques, but most of them dont tell you how to cut off all those roots. Do you use a shovel to break the roots up? Im looking forward to working with this banana. So far I have a dwarf cavendish and a little prince banana and both dont really get alot of size on them (since their dwarfs they get alot of leaves but gain very little height with each one). This will actually be the first banana I have that has the potential of growing to monster proportions.

Also I did a search for E. superbum on ebay. There is one and its a sprouted seed for only 13 dollars. Im not sure if I can give a seller's name on this fourm so ill just tell you that you have to search ensete superbum to get it. Their is only 1 day left as of now. The plant is about a foot tall. The seller is also reliable and does have superbums selling from time to time.

Good luck!

Thanks for the info, struwwelpeter, I'll have to order some seeds and try it again!

Tropicalzone7, Regarding how I store them in winter, I've always transplanted them into 15 gallon pots, and either kept them growing in the heat and light, or have cut off the plants to a 3 foot stump and put them in an unheated, unlit basement room, and watered them maybe once or twice in the winter, just so the roots would not dry out. They will stay in a dormant condition until Spring.

Thanks alot for the info, I really appreciate it.

Tropicalzone, if you just purchased your Ensete Maurelii off ebay, it must be a fairly small plant, correct? If so I would just try to overwinter it as a houseplant, giving it the brightest window possible. Ideally you need a sunny window, but I overwinter mine in a north window, not ideal but does the job.

Its a good size for a mail order banana, but definately not big enought to plant in the ground. Its about two feet tall from the bottom of the soil to the top of the trunk. Im going to keep it growing through the winter by a sunny southwest window.
Then if it grew enough by sping Ill dig a hole in the ground about 3 feet wide and 4 feet deep and cover it in garbage bags and put potting soil on top of the bags (to cover the hole). Then the banana will be planted where I did all of that so the roots have more room to grow than in a pot, but dont grow to out of reach (because of the bags which hopefully will act as a barrier) so that way I can easily dig it up to bring it in come fall.
As of now it only has 1 leaf (the one comming up) because I cut all the others off. It seems to be responding well to the pruning I gave it because the plant is in the pot much firmer and the new leaf is starting to open some more, but we still have about a month in a half of frost free weather here so it does have time to get going for the winter.

Wish me luck, if all goes well it might be a impressive plant come this time next year.