Orinoco and basjoo

wxman · Post by **wxman** » Sun Apr 10, 2011 12:12 pm

How cold can the pseudostems take before I'd need to protect them? 80 today so I decided to plant my orinoco and basjoo. Waiting a few weeks on the ensete maurelii yet as I heard they like to rot easy.

I chopped the leaves off as they were leggy from being indoors all winter so it's just a 3 foot pseudostem in the ground for each right now.

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Sun Apr 10, 2011 12:17 pm

Mine took 28F last week.

It depends how big they are
and how prolonged the cold is.

wxman · Post by **wxman** » Sun Apr 10, 2011 12:19 pm

hardyjim wrote:Mine took 28F last week.

It depends how big they are
and how prolonged the cold is.

I'd probably wrap each stem in blankets if the forecast low was 30 or below. That should be enough to get them through a night? We will not remain below freezing during the day anymore. Those days are over.

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Sun Apr 10, 2011 12:32 pm

Keep an eye on next Fri-Sat,I hope they are wrong!

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Mon Apr 11, 2011 8:09 am

Saturday night and Sunday there looks downright nasty!

I may employ some of my Palm protection( for Brugs,Bananas,etc) if it
gets much below 30F......to much to protect,to much to lose right now!

wxman · Post by **wxman** » Mon Apr 11, 2011 10:40 am

hardyjim wrote:Saturday night and Sunday there looks downright nasty!

I may employ some of my Palm protection( for Brugs,Bananas,etc) if it
gets much below 30F......to much to protect,to much to lose right now!

Yuck. My pseudostems are 3 feet tall. I'd have to cut 18 inches off to bit them under some plastic totes. I don't know how else to protect them without buying a bunch of crap. Don't wanna do that!

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Mon Apr 11, 2011 1:12 pm

Got any rubber trash cans?

You can always wrap with sheets and plastic trash bags for a few days.

TerdalFarm · Post by **TerdalFarm** » Mon Apr 11, 2011 3:02 pm

Sorry, guys,
It looks like I will stay just above freezing.

but not by much.

Based on my little experience, I try to keep Musa (and Canna, Colocassia) tissue from all cold. The brief dip to 30 F I had last week slowed Musa and Canna (Colocassia just popped up yesterday) down noticeably, so I suggest making the effort to protect them. An hour of your time will save you a week or more of growth. Just my $0.01.

wxman · Post by **wxman** » Mon Apr 11, 2011 6:12 pm

Covered.

Pounded four furring strips in around each group. Wrapped with plastic and put a light bulb inside. Warm ground plus light should keep them safe. Plus I will leave it on during the day to induce some rapid growth before May.

TerdalFarm · Post by **TerdalFarm** » Mon Apr 11, 2011 6:58 pm

An unwelcome hassle, but I think you'll appreciate the effort a week from now.
I've had way too much damage from those "light freeze" events to take them for granted.

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Tue Apr 12, 2011 9:09 am

Depends on the temps and duration of cold but upper
20s can basically finish off a very small Banana plant.

So far it looks to stay just above freezing here but that is
way to close for comfort!

This storm needs to be watched carefully as a little jog to
the south could mean snow for some

wxman · Post by **wxman** » Tue Apr 12, 2011 10:51 am

85 under the plastic, 50 outside. Maybe this is a blessing in disguise and I'll get a jumpstart on all of you.

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Tue Apr 12, 2011 1:50 pm

No doubt-

I started my Basjoos off that way last year

CTPalm · Post by **CTPalm** » Tue Apr 12, 2011 4:44 pm

Yeah we weren't supposed to go below 36F last week and 5 times it dropped to freezing and below. Thanks Barb for having me bring some stuff in!
Paul

wxman · Post by **wxman** » Tue Apr 12, 2011 5:18 pm

hardyjim wrote:No doubt-

I started my Basjoos off that way last year

How long did you leave the plastic on? How warm did you let it get inside? It got to 103 in there today and the soil temp was up near 60.

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Wed Apr 13, 2011 3:01 pm

I uncovered them March 21 of last year and covered with the
mini g-houses.

I left them covered until April 8.

Last April was pretty dang warm so I
took the g-houses off once they were growing pretty good.
I know the temp hit the 90s at least once in there-

Look how far along they were by April 15 of last year!

I need to do this again!!!!!!!!

TerdalFarm · Post by **TerdalFarm** » Wed Apr 13, 2011 3:22 pm

That's about how my Musa basjoo look like now.
I had given up on my sole remaining Musella lasiocarpa, but it popped up this afternoon