Definately do not plant them now - its too late. In Cincinnati, I would call it a risk to plant past mid July IMO.

It may just be the lack of light in my house, but I have never had much luck overwintering musa basjoos indoors as a house plant. If you have a bright house, they should be fine. They also respond well to flourescent lighting(the cheap kind). Watch for dust mites.

I have also heard some say its harder, as compared to other varieties, to overwinter musa basjoo indoors dormant... If you do let them go dormant, just remember that they will not look pretty come spring but that should change quickly - if not, buy a new one asap - times a waste'n... Also low low water(indoor) and no ferts(indoor). Do a search on this site for "overwintering musa basjoos" and try Bananas.org.

My advice in the future: buy your plants closer to planting time - say April...I'm curious which nursery in Ohio you bought them from? Good luck and the musa basjoo should be an easy plant to take care of eventually... & always very cool...

ok, well right now I have them by a window in my unheated garage, so i guess ill wait until it continuously gets below freezing at night and let them go dormant. Do you just not water them and cut off their leaves? Oh and I bought them from a place called Hirts in NE Ohio. They were selling them on amazon.com for like $10 so it seemed like a good deal to me.

10 bucks ain't bad... Due to the small size of the plant, it may be tricky to "wake" it up come spring. You might just try to keep this one going(somebody else feel free to chime in). Either way, at that size keep the leaves on it. If you're going the dormant route, water just enough to keep it from being bone dry - maybe once a month. Btw, there is a good mailorder in Louisville, called Brian's Botanicals(.net?),also has an Ebay store and I think you could go there in person - if you need more plants...

hopefully i wont need to buy anymore, but thats good to know in case i do.

If you got them from Hirt's for $10, then they're too small to go dormant. you need to grow them indoors as houseplants close to a south window, water sparingly and fertilize very sparingly only once or twice all winter.
At that size if they go "dormant" it's forever!

I have just got 3 pups in 3in pots and the pup are only 6in tall what size do I repot too. Thanks Connie

kypalms. I left my Basjoos in the ground last winter. Of course they all died back to the ground but came back in the spring. I just covered them over with some leaves. If I have the success next spring that I did this year I'll have Basjoos galore.
Im in Bardstown so contact me if you want some basjoos :)

how long were your basjoos in the ground before winter? and i may have to take you up on that if mine dont't make it through the winter lol.

northbeach what do u want for your basjoo pups? Thanks Connie

I have a basjoo in a pot that I bring in every winter. Contrary to what I have read here, I water a decent amount once a week. The leaves do eventually turn brown and I then cut them off. The plant doesn't really look that great by the end of the winter, but soon as I put it out in the spring it starts growing new leaves and is very happy. If someone can tell me how to post a picture on this forum I will show you my plant indoors...Thankyou very much.

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I figured it out. This is a picture of my Musa in for the winter.

Hi kypalms and ConnieÂ.. I don't sale my plants. If you want some contact me in the spring when things start coming up and I will fix you up with some if you pay the postage or if you're close to Bardstown you can just come get them. If you want to try it I can dig and send some now Â.but I don't know how they will do for you :)

northbeach I would like to try what is postage d-mail me Thanks Connie

I live in Canada and over winter at least 4 types of Bananas (including basjoo's). I find them extremely hardy and care free as long as they get as much light as you can give them. I feed them fish water every week and they are extremely healthy. My advice is making sure you inspect them regularly for mites; especially if they are near a heating vent. I have not yet tried to plant a basjoo and over winter it in the ground but i think i will try that next year!

If you have a south window I would definitely set them up there and try to get some growth out of them this winter,probably won't be much but the bigger head start the better for next year.If you can put a plastic tent over them and keep the humidity up they will grow surprisingly fast!the main prob is in Jan-Feb when inside air is dry they tend to lose most of there leaves,here are some pics of mine in a west window,the only window where sunset light actually reaches upper leaves-good luck!
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Hi Protempsfish,

What other varieties of bananas do you overwinter?

Thx,
Phil