Banana ID

aurelius · Post by **aurelius** » Sat Jul 28, 2012 9:55 pm

Hi everyone I am new here and this is my first post. I was wondering if someone could ID this banana plant for me? Is it a musa basjoo? I bought it at a local convience store next to my house and I thought I'd take a chance and hope its a basjoo. Thanks for your help in advance!

Godfryd · Post by **Godfryd** » Sun Jul 29, 2012 2:53 am

yes, it looks like Musa Basjoo for me

igor.glukhovtsev · Post by **igor.glukhovtsev** » Sun Jul 29, 2012 9:01 am

Looks like my banana that is not Basjoo I assume

seedscanada · Post by **seedscanada** » Sun Jul 29, 2012 3:38 pm

Welcome! No reason to think it is not basjoo. it likely is.

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Sun Jul 29, 2012 6:00 pm

Welcome aboard aurelius...a nice looking musa there!

Barb

sidpook · Post by **sidpook** » Sun Jul 29, 2012 6:14 pm

Hmmm...Loks like a banana plant to me! Hello again everyone....Hope all is well.....It does look like a musa to me though int he end....
mike

aurelius · Post by **aurelius** » Sun Jul 29, 2012 8:53 pm

Thank you everyone for your help and replies. I didn't realize how fast basjoos (or perhaps its banana plants in general) grow. That picture is from a few weeks ago and it has grown about 4 inches taller and there are 6 pups growing as well, 2 of them about 6 inches already! Thanks again to all those who replied much appreciated!

sidpook · Post by **sidpook** » Mon Jul 30, 2012 5:24 am

aurelius wrote:Thank you everyone for your help and replies. I didn't realize how fast basjoos (or perhaps its banana plants in general) grow. That picture is from a few weeks ago and it has grown about 4 inches taller and there are 6 pups growing as well, 2 of them about 6 inches already! Thanks again to all those who replied much appreciated!

Just wait, they get huge under the right conditions. Are you going to keep it in the ground overwinter?

aurelius · Post by **aurelius** » Mon Jul 30, 2012 11:10 am

sidpook wrote:
aurelius wrote:Thank you everyone for your help and replies. I didn't realize how fast basjoos (or perhaps its banana plants in general) grow. That picture is from a few weeks ago and it has grown about 4 inches taller and there are 6 pups growing as well, 2 of them about 6 inches already! Thanks again to all those who replied much appreciated!
Just wait, they get huge under the right conditions. Are you going to keep it in the ground overwinter?

I am going to keep it in the ground for the winter (with some winter protection of course). Hope it survives. It's a beautiful plant!

sidpook · Post by **sidpook** » Mon Jul 30, 2012 1:09 pm

aurelius wrote:
sidpook wrote:
aurelius wrote:Thank you everyone for your help and replies. I didn't realize how fast basjoos (or perhaps its banana plants in general) grow. That picture is from a few weeks ago and it has grown about 4 inches taller and there are 6 pups growing as well, 2 of them about 6 inches already! Thanks again to all those who replied much appreciated!
Just wait, they get huge under the right conditions. Are you going to keep it in the ground overwinter?
I am going to keep it in the ground for the winter (with some winter protection of course). Hope it survives. It's a beautiful plant!

What zone are you, where do you live?? I'm 7a (Southern New Jersey) and do protect with great success, esp this past winter.

aurelius · Post by **aurelius** » Mon Jul 30, 2012 7:51 pm

sidpook wrote:
aurelius wrote:
sidpook wrote: Just wait, they get huge under the right conditions. Are you going to keep it in the ground overwinter?
I am going to keep it in the ground for the winter (with some winter protection of course). Hope it survives. It's a beautiful plant!
What zone are you, where do you live?? I'm 7a (Southern New Jersey) and do protect with great success, esp this past winter.

I live near Toronto, Canada. I'm a zone 5b-6a. I plan on cutting the trunk (not sure if that is the correct term for a banana plant) to 3 ft or so and then i'm going to mulch heavily to just over the top of the trunk with a tarp on top. What do you do?

sidpook · Post by **sidpook** » Tue Jul 31, 2012 5:46 am

Well, I cut mine t about hip high, build a cage of chicken wire around them with top open, mulch with oak leaves and cover qith a grill cover. On warm days and nights like his past winter I lift off the grill cover to get air and sun. Most times I just left the top off anyway since it was so warm this year. I also put a christmas present box over top of the front ones to keep them looking "holidy-like" for the holiday seasons.....I thinka s long as they stay dry they will do well....Mine have come back with a vengeance the past few years.

aurelius · Post by **aurelius** » Tue Jul 31, 2012 9:54 am

sidpook wrote:Well, I cut mine t about hip high, build a cage of chicken wire around them with top open, mulch with oak leaves and cover qith a grill cover. On warm days and nights like his past winter I lift off the grill cover to get air and sun. Most times I just left the top off anyway since it was so warm this year. I also put a christmas present box over top of the front ones to keep them looking "holidy-like" for the holiday seasons.....I thinka s long as they stay dry they will do well....Mine have come back with a vengeance the past few years.

Very similar to the plan that I had in mind. Thanks for telling me your first hand experience with them!

sidpook · Post by **sidpook** » Tue Jul 31, 2012 1:06 pm

aurelius wrote:
sidpook wrote:Well, I cut mine t about hip high, build a cage of chicken wire around them with top open, mulch with oak leaves and cover qith a grill cover. On warm days and nights like his past winter I lift off the grill cover to get air and sun. Most times I just left the top off anyway since it was so warm this year. I also put a christmas present box over top of the front ones to keep them looking "holidy-like" for the holiday seasons.....I thinka s long as they stay dry they will do well....Mine have come back with a vengeance the past few years.
Very similar to the plan that I had in mind. Thanks for telling me your first hand experience with them!

Sure, you're welcome.

Here are 2 pics of bananas recently

Front yard (2 years in ground)

Back Yard (3 years in ground)

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Tue Jul 31, 2012 1:53 pm

I absolutely love that backyard pic, Mike, with the quaint garden shed.
Makes me smile every time I see it.

Barb

aurelius · Post by **aurelius** » Tue Jul 31, 2012 4:16 pm

That is impressive Mike! Hope I can get mine that big some day!

sidpook · Post by **sidpook** » Tue Jul 31, 2012 5:35 pm

lucky1 wrote:I absolutely love that backyard pic, Mike, with the quaint garden shed.
Makes me smile every time I see it.

Barb

Hey Barb, Glad to hear from ya. I have been wandering around the east coast for the past 3 weeks, busy busy busy! Hope you are well!!!!

sidpook · Post by **sidpook** » Tue Jul 31, 2012 5:36 pm

aurelius wrote:That is impressive Mike! Hope I can get mine that big some day!

Oh, they will, I never imagined mine would to be honest: I have been digging up pups and giving them away like crazy. They ar so prolific! Enjoy and keep us posted; good luck!

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Wed Aug 01, 2012 4:57 pm

wandering around the east coast for the past 3 weeks

We'll have to give you a map...

Hope you're having fun, Mike.