Are these Banana Plants (musa basjoo) ruined after winter? See how they look after seeing 15F (-10C)

Many people are concerned when they uncover their musa basjoo banana plants after winter. They often are very mushy and brown or black. If they were any other plant, I'd say they were dead, but not the musa basjoo. Take a look at what mine look like after cleaning them up for spring.
#coldhardy #musabasjoo #gardening

[@SlipMahoneyBowery]

Just uncovered mine in Zone 6A. I panicked after seeing everything had melted down even though I went crazy covering and protecting it. All videos of people uncovering showed the shoots surviving. I poked a knife down through the slush and did hit hard Rhizome. Your video gives me hope. This is its third year and I was expecting 10-12 ft this year. Thanks

[@vibonitatropics]

What did you do for protection? To survive, you just need a small piece of the corm to not freeze and it can grow back from that. They will be smaller if they mostly freeze, so if you can do more to protect them, you'll get bigger plants. They could still get 10+ feet depending on how warm your summer is and how much of the corm actually survived.

[@scrubjay93]

oh good. I have a clump of them in Olympia and although the pups are already growing, the three largest mother plants look like this and even had slugs under the layers - very sorry looking. I trimmed all the loose mush off and hope they pop out soon. Another of your videos helped me too - I had cut a couple pups off last week and didn't think one would make it because it only had two roots. A large chunk of the lower corm broke off the large pup complete with roots. Now I think both the two-rooted pup AND the corm with roots may live to make new plants. We shall see. I have no lack of pups. I love my giant bananas in the summer and people are always surprised they grow back into huge plants after being cut to the ground for winter.

[@vibonitatropics]

It's looking like they are going to be a bit smaller this year than normal. For all my neighbors as well. They took a beating this winter.

[@davidmaines8093]

I just uncovered mine this past weekend and I’m in north jersey. The stalks were solid and had new growth already coming up. Covered them different this year and was very happy with results. Hit them with a nice banana fuel fertilizer shower the following day to get them going for the season..

[@vibonitatropics]

Nice! We had a week of lows around 15F this winter and with nothing protecting these stems, they all turned to mush. It's the first year I didn't wrap any, so we'll see how bad it is. I will probably go back to wrapping a couple next year.

[@markchitty6505]

Can I ask how you protected yours ?

[@davidmaines8093]

@@markchitty6505 I got a bale of hay and stuck in between the stalks that I cut to bout 2ft tall. Then laid the hay on top of the banana plant Then laid the leaves of the plant on top of the hay to hold the hay down.

[@kmcquack8989]

Thank you

[@vibonitatropics]

Always happy to share

[@hydrangeaparadise674]

Im in zone 6a and i didn't cover mine . It looks just like what you showed us. I checked it last week and i was freaking out. I thought they death. Last year it came back and i did covered with frost bags. I didn't cover this winter😢 Wish me luck. Feeling better watching this video 😂

[@vibonitatropics]

As long as there's a few inches of the corm alive underground, you're good to go. Best of luck!

[@tntropics]

Musa Basjoo are zone 5 plants and super tough

[@vibonitatropics]

Yes they are!

[@markchitty6505]

Thanks for sharing ... I am following everything you suggest for my Banana Plants... started feeding mine and they are growing slowly, but steady here on the South Coast UK

[@vibonitatropics]

Mine grew slow the first 2 years I had them and really took off in year 3.

I grew two Musa Basjoo plants from small plants indoors. Last summer, I planted them outside and they grew so well that I left them in the ground covered with mulch in Illinois (Zone 7) over the winter. They both look mushy with zero signs of life. What is the general ground or air temperature for them to start showing growth?

[@vibonitatropics]

They will grow as long as temperatures are in the mid 40s, although very slowly at that temp. I don't see meaningful growth on mine until daytime temps are consistently in the 60s. Mine are struggling to wake up this spring but we are making progress.

[@SlipMahoneyBowery]

Exactly the same situation in Michigan 6b. I panicked when I uncovered them. Fingers crossed.

Thank you for the replies!

[@yamadkiddo8028]

its still pretty early in that zone, and i have a feeling its planted in the shade maybe?

[@vibonitatropics]

@@yamadkiddo8028 I have 2 patches. One gets morning and early afternoon sun (late afternoon shade) and the other gets early morning shade and sun late morning to dusk. We just get alot of water over the winter and very few days without rain or clouds so nothing is dry from October to May.

[@angelahopkins7357]

What happens to the mushy stalk?

[@vibonitatropics]

It will eventually dry out and peel off as new leaves push out from the middle.

[@medicalchannel006]

Why my banana tree dont come back after i cut it very down

[@vibonitatropics]

If it fruited, that stalk won't grow back. If the corm completely froze, it won't grow back. Disease could (not always) prevent it from coming back.