Banana Growth Update

[wxman]

First I'll show you the progression of my strip along the sidewalk.

6/22/2010

<img src="http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y255/w ... 2407-1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket">

7/10/2010

<img src="http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y255/w ... G_2505.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket">

7/23/2010

<img src="http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y255/w ... G_2560.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket">

And here's "Banana Circle"

6/22/2010

<img src="http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y255/w ... 2406-1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket">

7/10/2010

<img src="http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y255/w ... G_2503.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket">

7/23/2010

<img src="http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y255/w ... G_2559.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket">

The strip along the sidewalk has musa basjoo, ensete maurelii and black magic EE's. "Banana Circle" has musa orinoco and siam ruby.

[BILL MA]

Those are growing nicely for you this year. I bet by the time you dig them up the corms will be ginormous!

Bill

[TerdalFarm]

Wow! You've had heat, water + long day lengths. It shows. They are growing better than mine down here.
To follow up on what Bill said, watch your back. My best fried down here hurt his back bad in Fall 2008 bringing in 300 lb 'nanas. Medical bills cost more than buying new bananas would have. --Erik

[canadianplant]

Nice shots again! Im amazed at how fast they grow. Im assuming WI is wisconson? ( sry dont know the US abbreviations). Im in thunder bay, a few hours north on lake superior. The weather has been hot, humid, and latley the perfect amount of rain. My basjoo were small starter plants, barly 3 inches high. They started to grow faster and faster. Then within the last 2 or 3 weeks, like your photos show as well, they just exploded with growth. Your colocasia seemed to have done the same thing.

This wasnt isolated only to the basjoo. My passiflora, cyperus, bamboo, wisteria, and calla/canna are all going absolutly crazy, not to mention the tomato plants. My morning glory vines, have been growing a minimum an inch a day, they now has leaves well larger then my hand. Even the potted houseplants have exploded with growth.

This year has been an amazing growing season up here. Short, warm winter, followed by an above average spring ( very dry i must say), and an almost perfect summer ( temp and precipitation wise), has made it very easy for the plants to just thrive!

Have you had the same experience down there?

ALso, speakin of diggin up corms...... My basjoo is going to be about the size of the siam ruby are now ( hard to judge form the pics, ill say 2-4 ft). The way to dig em up is similar to bulbs correct? Dig around about 8 inches away, and about 4-12 inches down ( depending on size), and lift up? I got some colocasia and alocasia i need to dig up too.......

[wxman]

Thanks for the comments.

canadianplant,

Yes WI is Wisconsin, just south of you. This past spring and summer has been stellar -- about the best you can ask for in these northern climates! In the fall, dig the corms up in the same manner as the bulbs. Rinse off all the soil and store them in dry peat moss until spring. That's what I did last year for my orinocos and they didn't skip a beat once I planted them.

[canadianplant]

awsome

Im gonna leave one of he musa out there. Theyll be small enough where i wont have to cut em down, but id have to try to multch the whole plant. Which I thikn is better the first year...... ill jstu cut off the mushy stuff int he spring..... and if all fails, i have the one i dug up.

Did you notice any size difference in the platns this year?