Ensete winter protection (w/pics)

[Barrie]

I planted a rather root bound Ensete ventricosum 'Maurellii' this past season. Trouble is it's not hardy here. Some folks have recomended digging the beast up and over wintering it in a frost free area, such a a crawl space. My back ain't what it used to be, so leaving it planted and protecting it seems like the best option. These are extremely heavy and cumbersome to move out.
Plan B is in full swing as I've now cut all the leaves back so only a stump remains (It's a foot wide at the base). I've constructed a plywood enclosure, insulated with polystyrene to cover the thing during frosty weather. A poly cover over the structure will keep the wood from getting wet. I can set up a string of old style Xmas lights inside if temps are forecast to be particularly nasty. Ideally, a double glazed top panel would be best, but for now this is what I have. I plan on using it only during the required times and removing it for fresh air otherwise. Any comments are welcome.

Cheers, Barrie.

[PALMETTOMAN]

Barrie...

Since your ground does not freeze up (or barely), I think your protection method is worth a shot..As long as you can keep the moisture off the main clump and keep the temps as such that its not going to freeze or rot, it may just work...

A good flood light pointed toward the ground will help keep the root area warm..

Palmettoman Z6-Ajax, On

[Alchris]

That looks good. I'd add a layer of polystyrene in each corner to keep the warmth from escaping through the corner blocking.

Have you thought of putting a mound of mulch around the base of the box to keep frost out of the tops of the roots?

It may be overkill. But I am the king of Overkill.

Allen

[PALMETTOMAN]

allen..how's your palm box holding up?



Palmettoman Z6-Ajax, On

[Alchris]

So far so good. It is only exposed to an East wind which we almost never got until I put the palms there. The wind chills do affect the shelter temperatures but not more than 2 or 3* so far. While we were up north the temperatures got down to -5.5*C. Since then they have stayed between -1.5 and -3.5*C.

These temps may kill the Yucca Elephantipes but should have limited effect on the palms and cycads. It has been over a week since the temps were above 0 in the shelter so I bought a heat lamp just in case. I haven't looked inside since it got cold but I am confident that nothing has died yet.

I am going to put up snow fence on the east side of the shelter between the gazebo and the house to break up the wind a bit. So far there is only about 2" of snow on the shelters roof compared with almost 6" on the ground. It is supposed to get up to -5*C on the weekend which should cause the snow to melt on the shelter's roof. I'll sweep it off before that and put the heat lamp inside with the cord outside of the shelter. That way if it gets below -30*C later this winter I can wade through the snow to plug it in and then unplug it later.

I still have my fingers crossed but I am quite pleased that It has handled temperatures below what I anticipated.

Allen

[macario]

Very nice Barrie! That looks very sturdy. Seems like everyones coming up with great solutions to the cold weather this year!!

[Laaz]

Barrie if it gets too warm in there it will continue to grow. We have quite a few of those here. I have been seeing them lately with the leaves cut back & then wrapped in burlap. I might have to try one next spring (If I have any room left)...

[ryan]

Barrie, rather then using Xmas lights may I suggest using a heating cable that is used to prevent pipes from freezing. The cable has a built in thermostat that switches on as the temperature approaches 0C. Xmas lights or other incandescent's may fry your ensete in such a small enclosure.

[Barrie]

Hey thanks Ryan. I did a trial run this afternoon with a string of about 25 of the outdoor lights. A half hour later it was 80f in there! I backed off about half of the bulbs so only half where lit and at that point it was 65f. I've since backed off more bulbs so only 7 of the original 25 are now lit. I'm hoping to hit about 50f (10c). With this set-up I can activate more or less bulbs as required. My low last night was 27f (-2.7c) and everything looked fine without any supplimental heat in the shelter.
This experiment is certainly a first for me

Cheers, Barrie.

[Cali-wanna-b]

Barrie, rather then using Xmas lights may I suggest using a heating cable that is used to prevent pipes from freezing. The cable has a built in thermostat that switches on as the temperature approaches 0C. Xmas lights or other incandescent's may fry your ensete in such a small enclosure.

I am using the same thing on a robusta I left in the ground. I wrapped the palm in 3 layers of felt type, heavy black landscape fabric then coiled the tape from the ground up the trunk. I wrapped an additional 3 layers of fabric around the tape and the palm making sure I extended the wrap a foot and a half around the base to help insulate the soil. A few large zip ties holds the wrap snug around the palm. At the top of the wrap i left extra fabric that I use as a "hood" that I can close and open depending on the weather. I finished off the wrap with a coating of Boot Dry water repellent to help keep the moisture away without inhibiting the water from escaping from within the fabric, like a plastic wrap does.

The heat tape has a built in thermostat that comes on when the temp dips to 38*F. The termostat really takes the guess work out of supplemental heating. In addition it will not over heat like the c-9 bulbs will. The heavy black fabric also helps heat up the palm during the day by absorbing the available sunlight, but lets the excesses moisture out. So far I have tested the inside tempature of the wrap three times.

1. A day time tempature of 28*F with partly sunny skies, 10 to 20 mph winds , the inside of the wrap was 50*F
2. A night time temp of 18*F, calm winds. Inside temp was 40*F.
3. A day time temp of 40*F with heavy rain. Inside temp was 42*F and dry.

I believe this set up would also work for hardy bananas. It meets all the requirements for over wintering hardy bananas. It keeps the root zone and plant above freezing , but not to the point where the plant wants to continue growth. It keeps the trunk, root zone and bud tissue dry,but lets internal moisture out. It provides protection from the drying effects of winter wind and sunlight. I plan on using this setup on one of my Ensete ventricosum 'Maurellii' next year.

Good luck Barrie!

[Barrie]

Cali-wanna-b
Basically I hate spending money on things I think will work for me, by using material that I have on hand. This is the only plant I have that will require special attention like this, as I really hate to fuss over things and have my garden appear like a shanty town. So for me it's live or die largely but a few execptions are to be expected when gardening exotically here on the west coast.

I appears as though you have a very reliable set up for your Washingtonia robusta. Are you able to post a pic or two? Are the leaves covered as well? Have you overwintered this palm previously using this or any other technique?

With my cover I've had to drop down to 3 lit bulbs (from an original 25) which kept the temp at 53f while the outside ambient temperature was close to freezing overnight. During the daytime today it was 36f and the temp inside was 42f with no additional heat source. Like I said the structure is in place during cold weather only and moves off quickly as needed. Fortunately serious weather is not a problem too often here, so devices are not needed for winter-long duration.

Cheers, Barrie.

[Cali-wanna-b]

Basically I hate spending money on things I think will work for me, by using material that I have on hand. This is the only plant I have that will require special attention like this, as I really hate to fuss over things and have my garden appear like a shanty town. So for me it's live or die largely but a few execptions are to be expected when gardening exotically here on the west coast.

I appears as though you have a very reliable set up for your Washingtonia robusta. Are you able to post a pic or two? Are the leaves covered as well? Have you overwintered this palm previously using this or any other technique?

With my cover I've had to drop down to 3 lit bulbs (from an original 25) which kept the temp at 53f while the outside ambient temperature was close to freezing overnight. During the daytime today it was 36f and the temp inside was 42f with no additional heat source. Like I said the structure is in place during cold weather only and moves off quickly as needed. Fortunately serious weather is not a problem too often here, so devices are not needed for winter-long duration.

Cheers, Barrie.

Barrie,
I can appreciate your "recycling" approach. All the material I used were salvaged or left over from work.

This is my first year trying this setup on an actual over-wintered plant. I did a lot of testing with other methods before I decided to use it on a actual plant. All the fronds where hit by a 25*F freeze we had in November so I cut them all off except a newly emerging spear and applied a fungicide. The new spear is still slowly growing as I type. I uncover the top of the wrap when the forcast is for above 32*F and dry. I will post a few pics this weekend.

I agree this setup would be over kill in your area. My goal is to create an outside, in ground environment that is comparable to an indoor, dormant, over- wintered banana.

[Barrie]

I've had to add another two feet of height to my Ensete ventricosum 'Maurellii' enclosure today. The thing keeps on growing slowly even with temps in the 40f - 50f range. I cut it back once, but figured I can't keep doing that, so I added another 2 feet of height. Now it should have enough space until this coming spring.

Cheers, Barrie.

[Alchris]

Your enclosure is obviously working just fine.

I hope that you don't have to add more to the enclosure before spring.

Allen

[Laaz]

The thing keeps on growing slowly even with temps in the 40f - 50f range

I told you... I don't protect any of my bananas. They burn when we get a heavy frost, but three or four days later they are pushing out again.

[Barrie]

The thing keeps on growing slowly even with temps in the 40f - 50f range

I told you... I don't protect any of my bananas. They burn when we get a heavy frost, but three or four days later they are pushing out again.

Laaz ... that would be nice if the same weather conditions applied here. Even the hardy Musa basjoo doesn't grow until spring here. In good winters the psuedostems stay intact but most years they collapse from freezing condtions. Nights are cool in the low to mid 30's lately and daytime no more than 50f (10c). So far I'll bet there's been 15 or 20 nights with frost this winter with a seasonal overnight low of 27.5f (-2.5c) one night. Most frosts have been in the 29f -31f range. We never get mild enough rebound weather to promote new growth on banana plants in winter, and if we're lucky the stay dormant and green until right around this time of year. Ensete wouldn't stand a chance here no matter how mild the winter without an enclosure like the one I devised. Even then, I don't know since I've never done this before with this kind of banana.

Cheers, Barrie.

[Laaz]

Barrie I think any of the banana species will continue to grow if the ground does not freeze & the stem is kept frost free.

[Barrie]

I was always under the impression that banana plants growth range is 53f - 100f. So they won't grow at temps less than 53 and stop growing when temps reach 100f.

Cheers, Barrie.

[lucky1]

Well done, guys!
How about a pic Ryan?

Barrie, I don't know what type of Xmas lights I was reading the label from last month (they're up on the roof, so can't look again right now), but there was a warning.
Something about replacing spent bulbs to prevent overheating and the risk of fire

I'm no electrician but a 36 light string, with only 5 or 6 bulbs lit, might be what they're warning against.
Hopefully I'm way off base.

It's only January...you might have to add 4 feet soon

Barb

[Barrie]

Geez Barb ... thanks for the heads up. It's something I hadn't considered but I'll run it past one of the electricians at work. So far, six weeks into it, I haven't noticed anything that would cause me concern but I'll have a close look today. Any electricians out there that would care to advise?

Cheers, Barrie.

[lucky1]

I hope an electrician can chime in.

Just occurred to me that I bought ONE string only (the kind of bulbs that produce heat!) because I wanted to use it in a propagating box for palm seeds. I did tear the tag off after reading it.

Outdoors we've got all those new low-volt unbreakable strings/bulbs.
Barb

[Laaz]

I was always under the impression that banana plants growth range is 53f - 100f

Thats what I have been told as well, but mine keep on pushing. May be that the soil temp is still up there...

[Barrie]

The ambient air temperature inside the enclosure is in the 40 - 50 degree range and has been so for about 6 weeks. I don't know what soil temps are like but I doubt at this point it would be signifigent. Oh well, either way I'm fine with it's slow steady growth.
Ha...one neighbor passing by thought I was starting a beehive after seeing the plywood box. Should I have told her to mind her own bees wax? Ohh, that was poor.

Cheers, Barrie.

[Barrie]

A look a the box with the added height.







Cheers, Barrie.

[lucky1]

Barrie nice work
Still too short
Barb

[Alchris]

The box looks good. It is almost as if you have the nanner growing in a well.

My son, the electrician, has told me that, if I want to have some of the light bulbs off, to loosen them until they don't light up. He said not to leave an open socket as refuse could get in it and cause a short.

If you are going to have a lot of the bulbs out of use, I would take them out and tape over the open socket with electrical tape. That way there is less chance of them accidentally lighting up and overheating your nanner.

His official opinion as to whether or not I should use xmas lights to warm seed beds or outside shelters is not printable.

Allen

[Barrie]

Thanks Allen "His official opinion as to whether or not I should use xmas lights to warm seed beds or outside shelters is not printable." I got a chuckle out of that one. He's obviously not gardening inclined. Everything else outlined there is what I've done. I've looked over the whole thing and it looks fine.

Barb, the enclosure ain't getting any taller. If it every reaches the top before spring, I'll just cut it back.

Cheers, Barrie.

[lucky1]

That ensete looks as though it'll be 7 feet tall by April
Barb

[Wes North Van]

As an electrician, I would agree with Allen's son. Do not leave a socket open or without proyection if you have the cord plugged in. You can get dirtor worse water in a socket and cause a short. Protect the socket. What I do is put a light bulb that is burnt out and screw it in the socket. I use Christmas lights to protect my lemon trees when it gets really cold -5C or below. I have a string of 25 lights but only 7 actually work and light up, the rest have burnt out. This seems to provide enough heat under a bed comforter.

[Alchris]

He lives in an apartment. The closest thing to a planter on his balcony is a portable beer cooler.

Allen

[Cali-wanna-b]

He lives in an apartment. The closest thing to a planter on his balcony is a portable beer cooler.

Hey, I used a keg tub as a planter in college!!! Hmmmm, maybe I need to drink more beer, it worked pretty good from what I remember.

[Barrie]

As an electrician, I would agree with Allen's son. Do not leave a socket open or without proyection if you have the cord plugged in. You can get dirtor worse water in a socket and cause a short. Protect the socket. What I do is put a light bulb that is burnt out and screw it in the socket. I use Christmas lights to protect my lemon trees when it gets really cold -5C or below. I have a string of 25 lights but only 7 actually work and light up, the rest have burnt out. This seems to provide enough heat under a bed comforter.

Thanks Wes,
I don't have enough burnt out bulbs to do that. I have backed off the bulbs enough so they don't light up. All are dry and out of the way of any conductive material. The plug-in is wrapped in poly to keep the rain off. I've looked the whole thing over and all is in fine so far after over a month.

Cheers, Barrie.