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palmetto_pal

Musa Basjoo still alive? HELP!

palmetto-pal
13 years ago

Last summer, a friend gave me a 1 gal. Musa Basjoo hardy banana. For winter protection, i cut the crown off all the trunks and covered around the bottom with mulch. When i removed the mulch in spring, the trunks pulled out of the ground. A few days ago, i dug into the ground a little bit and got into hard, white tissue. I know this is supposed to mean it will come back, but NOTHING IS HAPPENING! Is it dead? I figured it would have already started sprouting if it was alive. My friend's bananas are coming back, but i live on a mountain, nearly 1000 ft. higher up than he does. I need help, BAD! thanks in advance. Heres a pic of that banana before i cut the tops off.

Comments (7)

  • gatraffic
    13 years ago

    I just planted musa's this year for the first time about 1 month ago seems they are a bit slow taking off, today I put some manure mix & mulch on top of them.Yours looked pretty good! You can also try asking over at the banana forum.

    http://www.bananas.org/f15/

  • anttisepp
    13 years ago

    Mine basjoo is also still alive but don't move yet, because it's cold enough here. Let's wait some time. I'd recommend to take the ground off and to cut carefully till the healthy tissue, then to care with some fungicide, e.g. sulfur and to put some kind of mini-greenhouse above it.

  • tropicalzone7
    13 years ago

    From what Ive been reading, some people have them up already and others dont yet, but they are probably still alive, maybe they just arent getting enough sun to get them started quickly (although you probably took that pic around the time when the sun was setting).

    Give it a few more weeks and it should be up.

    Hope it comes back for you, good luck!

  • palmetto-pal
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    tropicalzone7 -
    it is still kinda cool here. Had a couple of weeks of hot weather and now its cool again. Also, this basjoo is on the north corner of the porch and doesnt get evening sun. Gets fairly good morning and mid-day sun light tho.

  • tropicalzone7
    13 years ago

    Same here, it was a warm a few weeks ago and these past few weeks have been on the cool side. My banana plants havent grown much this week or last because of the cooler weather. This week looks much warmer (high 70s and maybe some low 80s here) so maybe you will see them popping up soon!

    Good luck!

  • wsg89
    13 years ago

    Yes- Give it more time. I have 2 separate "groups" of bananas planted beside each other 5 years apart. The first group is 18 inches tall,5 or6 plants. The second has 1 plant just poking up...

  • thompsdqcca
    13 years ago

    Yes I think that it is likely still alive. You might want to spray a copper based anti-fungicide onto the white root stump and the surrounding soil to discourage rot. Look for new shoots coming up from the surrounding soil. I would suggest trying to keep the soil moderately dry - avoid soaking.

    Some of the Musa B's that I brought indoors last November died. But several months later new shoots emerged from the roots in the pots.

    The plant that I kept outdoors this winter was cut to about 1 1/2 feet in height and was located against the foundation of my home in a courtyard well protected from the dominant winds (W, N, NE). I covered it with straw and then insulating bubble pack snuggled up against the concrete foundation.

    On Easter weekend, I uncovered it. The main stalk was half rotted, and white mould was growing around the base. So I cut it back by about 1/2 and sprayed it with anti-fungicide. Younger shoots from the soil have actually out-performed the main stalk and are already showing leaves. This is my first year of overwintering a M.B. here in Montreal.

    Good luck and let us know if something comes up.

    /David.

    Good luck.

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