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dbrya1

Ensete Maurelli

dbrya1
15 years ago

Having this one now for 3 summers,starting from a pup to 20ft to the tip of it's leaves.

I'm faced with a decision,although I would love to see it flower,and was hoping it would this summer,but alas to no avail!

So I either try to pot it up and continue growing if I can pick it up enough to put in a pot,and my greenhouse is pretty much full already,and is only 10ft tall,not near tall enough for it,or try to grow plants from quartering the corm,has anyone been successful at attempting this procedure?

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The trunk at the bottom is 14inches in Diameter,and this is resting on a 10x8 tarp.

Comments (13)

  • v1rt
    15 years ago

    After seeing your pics, looks like I don't want to continue my ensete m journey here in zone 5a. That's friggin huge but gorgeous!!! :D

    How do you manage to make it sturdy when you plant it again in spring assuming it came from the basement after make it sleep? That's the thing I have been thinking for weeks and I still haven't found any answers.

  • v1rt
    15 years ago

    With that size, how deep do you dig the ground? Do you also put a string around then to the ground to make it strong?

  • dbrya1
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Well it was only about half that size when I planted it in April.
    Yes I stake it on three sides with stakes and tie with rope,it's roots have to re grow into the soil,but I never remove the stakes,for the wind is always blowing here,last week we gust to 54 mph,and it blew it over on top of my brugs,that's the only thing keeping it from hitting the ground,4 inches of rain,soften the soil so the stakes were no longer doing there job.I went ahead and potted it into a 20 inch container,and will keep it growing,just barely tho.
    After I cut the leaves off that were 10ft long,it still weighed couple hundred pounds full of water from all that rain we had.I keep it in a 10x8x10 bubble greenhouse,remember one leaf is as tall as my greenhouse,so I have to cut them in half when they reach the ceiling.

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  • v1rt
    15 years ago

    OMG, I didn't know that they can reach 100 lbs. I don't know if I will be able to carry that myself in the future. Can they be cut down to 4 ft then make them dormant in the basement? Or is it ideal for them to go dormant with few leaves intact?

  • dbrya1
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Yes you can cut them back to just above the corm or base,but then you will cut the flower that might be somewhere in the trunk,that's whats important to me,but if just grown for the ornamental valve,then cut back all you need to.
    They say it's best to leave at least one to 2 leaves to help it take off where it stopped growing,but it's not necessary.

  • v1rt
    15 years ago

    Awesome!!! :D

  • v1rt
    15 years ago

    Here are my 2 ensete ms at the back. Both of them grew new leaf even if it only gets 30 mins of sunlight in the basement. Maybe because of the the humic acid I poured. :D

    Oh, the "Preparing for bedtime" is for my canna rhizomes, hehehe.

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  • dbrya1
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Everything looks great,white walls will reflect all the sunlight you get,which will help the bananas,even more if you leave a light above them for 12 hours,fluorescent is great for bananas,and very cost effective as well.
    Never knew anyone cleaned the roots on cannas completely.
    I always just shook as much as I could get off,let dry a few days outside,and put them in peatmoss in those clear plastic blanket boxes and kept in the garage until springtime,and usually they were always growing when I uncovered the blankets that I kept on them to keep from freezing,and took off the lid,they may have already be 6 inches of stem showing.

  • v1rt
    15 years ago

    Any specific flourescent I need to get?

  • dbrya1
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    I just use the shop lights with one cool white ,which gives off the blue looking light,and one hot,that gives off the yellow glow,they have a fairly new bulb called a sunshine or daylight bulb,I've been buying it lately to replace the old 40watt hot bulb.These 2 bulbs in the light fixture should give you a close enough sunlight to keep your plants growing,if you leave on at least 12 hours a day.

  • Dave in NoVA • N. Virginia • zone 7A
    15 years ago

    You're making good use the weight bench I see. LOL!

  • jimhardy
    15 years ago

    Very cool guys!keep them nanars growing as big as you can!
    dbryal,you could allways lay it down in the green house,I dug up my musa basjoo because I did not want to risk starting with new little plants next year,they will definitely stay in the ground next year,I can't wait to see how big they get(yours too!)Heres a pic of mine dragged up to the second floor,my ceilings are 9'
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  • dbrya1
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Jim,you must be a young man to haul those up A FLIGHT OF STAIRS!!!!
    Lean that fan about on a 45* and blow it under the back side of those leaves to keep the spider mites down,and mist as often as you can will also help fight the mites.

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