The Biggest Leaves in my UK Tropical Garden and Tetrapanax / Musa Basjoo Plant Competition Results!

[@emmagunston446]

OH MY GOODNESS!!!! WHOOP WHOOP! I am absolutely over the moon! Thank you so so soooooooo much George for running the competition and a MASSIVE thank you to Max for running to me! 😘😂😘 Thank you also for the congratulations from your other subscribers

[@GeorgesJungleGarden]

I’m pleased they’ve made you smile and are off to a good home, enjoy! 😃

[@paulpalmtree9295]

Congratulations Emma, I am sure you will have lots of fun with these wonderful plants 🌱. All the best, from Paul Palmtree.

[@stephenandrews8419]

Big congratulations to you Emma. I bet Max will be on your xmas card list now 😃🐶

[@GeorgesJungleGarden]

@@stephenandrews8419 Haha, he was very decisive!

[@nickyfenton6538]

Congratulations Emma. Enjoy your lovely plants!

[@paulpalmtree9295]

Hi George, the plant competition was good fun, perhaps a new competition once a year would be great fun. Congratulations to Emma, I am sure that she will enjoy them. 😃👍.

[@GeorgesJungleGarden]

Thanks Paul and that's kind of you. I'll see what I can do!

[@annebrown3688]

Congratulations Emma !!! love the fact max got to choose excellent

[@GeorgesJungleGarden]

Thank you Anne and sorry you missed out next time! It was a last minute thought I had today - just picking one name out of a hat would have been a bit boring 😂

[@annebrown3688]

@@GeorgesJungleGarden didnt miss out it was a great bit of fun and i enjoy watching the videos cant wait for ur garden tour this year i keep watching and wishing u would do a 360 turn wi the camera lol ive learned loads in such a short space of time purchased a few musa and a red banana i say red banana becoz i cant remember how to spell its proper name and dont want to look like a tube haha ! My bamboo is loving life and my fatsia its been so exciting watching everything do so well in the garden but heart is a little broken that am gonna be praying for leaves on the banana all summer to cut them off to over winter

[@oliverblackhall]

Well done

[@B4dlands]

Brilliant fun George - well done Emma

[@GeorgesJungleGarden]

Thanks, I’m pleased it was enjoyable even for those who didn’t win! Better luck next time 😃

[@msdrummerkitty]

More exciting than the football...!

[@GeorgesJungleGarden]

Haha you're not wrong there!

[@tidosuk5117]

Trying to get my hands on a Tetrapanix 🦖 … ha! No chance sold out in all places I’ve tried … ☹️😢 great channel… looking forward to seeing more from the channel. 👍

[@GeorgesJungleGarden]

Thank you very much and if you follow Turn it Tropical's Facebook page they've got some smaller plants available soon!

[@Omlittlebuddha]

You are so lovely. Thank you for all your expertise and help 🙏🏻

[@GeorgesJungleGarden]

Thank you for watching! 😃

[@IHeartMyShabbyDecor143]

I love your jungle garden George 😍. I am a new fan of your amazing garden!

[@GeorgesJungleGarden]

Thank you very much, that’s kind of you! 😃

[@Bee-io3id]

Sorry I missed the competition as it’s been a super busy week in the B&B but well done to the winner and Max for doing the final choice 😁

[@GeorgesJungleGarden]

No worries, sorry you missed out but I completely understand! I had to get Max involved somehow, he could have been more indecisive for extra drama though!

[@Bee-io3id]

@@GeorgesJungleGarden it’s good that he’s a dog that knows what he wants 😄

[@GeorgesJungleGarden]

@@Bee-io3id He certainly is that 😂

[@estherterrier6400]

Well done Emma, you should do more of these George 😀

[@GeorgesJungleGarden]

That’s kind of you, I might just do! 😃

[@parttimeninja5521]

Ahhw ♥ Im honored to be a finalist, sad to lose but happy to see Max got the final pick eventhough I wasnt his 1st choice ☺

[@GeorgesJungleGarden]

I’m sorry you didn’t make it to the top spot, if you’re ever in the North Lincolnshire region though you’re more than welcome to pop round, meet Max and I’ll sort something out for you!

[@parttimeninja5521]

@@GeorgesJungleGarden Ahw that so sweet but I live in the netherlands ☺ Would love to meet Max and see your whole garden irl, give that poorly judging but very cute hotdog a hug from me ♥

[@GeorgesJungleGarden]

@@parttimeninja5521 Oh right! I will, a little hug but also a few quiet words that he needs to be more careful with his choices in future 😂

[@stephenandrews8419]

Good luck & happy gardening to you in the Netherlands 😃👍🌴

[@Myrtuscommunis]

WOW, great leaves! Thanks for the video! 👍💚😀

[@GeorgesJungleGarden]

Thank you very much 😃

[@Marta-Lis]

Gunnera manicata is just straight from Alice in Wonderland. Awesome!

[@GeorgesJungleGarden]

It is indeed, a crazy looking plant!

[@barrymcgee2078]

Well done Emma

[@julzireay]

Well done Emma 🌱🍌🏆🎉

[@GeorgesJungleGarden]

That’s kind of you Julie and sorry you missed out! Better luck next time 😃

[@stephenandrews8419]

Great competition George, very generous of you. Congratulations to the winner Emma. I was wondering if there is any chance of you hiring Max to uefa. Maybe we would have more chance of winning. Rather than having to keep relying on penalties. 🐶⚽️

[@GeorgesJungleGarden]

Thanks Stephen, it's nice to give something back! Haha those Italians wouldn't be scoring once Max had sunk his teeth into the ball!

[@craigrogers3864]

Had no idea about this! Great job George 👍⭐

[@GeorgesJungleGarden]

Sorry Craig, it was a bit of a last minute thing! Thank you though 😃

[@craigrogers3864]

@@GeorgesJungleGarden Got a few palms on the go, but I'm desperate for a Musa Basjoo next 🤣🍌

[@GeorgesJungleGarden]

@@craigrogers3864 Awesome, there’s a good few about so hopefully you can get one 😃

[@ejk181186]

Congratulations to Emma. I pre-ordered a Tetrapanax in March but I was told in May their suppliers crop had been killed by a surprise frost. So I decided to buy some Tetrapanax seeds from Amazon. I received an email on Friday informing me I was getting a full refund from Amazon because my seeds had been destroyed by UK customs ☹. Looks like I'm destined not to have one this year.

[@GeorgesJungleGarden]

Sorry to hear that - head over to Turn it Tropical as they will have some Tetrapanax for sale soon!

[@OssyDL]

Congrats emma. And love the gunnera George. Mines still a baby. On the subject of big leaves a stray football from a neighbour's kid wiped out my ricinus impala do you think i could sow one today an get it to a half decent size or is it too late?

[@GeorgesJungleGarden]

Hi Danny, thanks the Gunnera is definitely one of my highlight plants so far this year! Sorry to hear about the Ricinus - in all honestly you might struggle to get it to a decent size now, still worth a go if you've got seeds but if not I'd probably be tempted to buy a bedding plant etc. for it's place...

[@OssyDL]

@@GeorgesJungleGarden thanks George. I have a box full of seeds with allsorts in so iv soaked one and potted it with bottom heat hopefully it might speed things up. If not iv seen a fatsia polycarpa that is begging to come and live in my garden. Just need to sneak it past my wife.the other day she told me it looked like a jungle out there....🤗 so im getting there.

[@GeorgesJungleGarden]

@@OssyDL Fingers crossed then and the Fatsia is always there as a backup! It sounds like you’re well on your way to having a fantastic garden then, another little plant would definitely help 😂

[@roguedungeondelver5738]

It looks like Jurassic Park or Daintree Forest in OZ!! George I have a question for you have a ficus carica Brown Turkey I'm planting in-front of near a single Robusta bamboo? I'm letting the Fig reach it's ultimate height 30 to 40ft and thought the Robusta would make a nice screen and insulater. Also have you grown or had any luck with Luma Apiculata or Polyelpis Australis, the Filo Pastry tree, it's like a Paperpark maple but with better bark and semi-evergreen, thanks again.

[@GeorgesJungleGarden]

Hi Killian and thanks! I had to Google the Daintree Rainforest but wow, what a place! The Robusta will definite grow a lot faster to it's max height than the fig but I'm presuming you know that. I can see their foliage working well together though. To answer your question, I've no particular experience of growing those two myself so I'd probably use the search function over at the Growing on the Edge forum and find some experiences on there. It's always interesting to find out what's hardy in most of the UK vs. the most sheltered areas only.

[@roguedungeondelver5738]

@@GeorgesJungleGarden Thanks George it is interesting to see what you can get away with here. During the freeze of 2010 and Beast from the East all the Red and Green Cordyline, Phormiums Yuccas and Crinodendrons survived without any damage. Cordyline Australis has been noted to grow out of cracks since starlings will eat and disperse the seeds even Passiflora Caerula is Semi-Evergreen herre!!!

[@GeorgesJungleGarden]

@@roguedungeondelver5738 That’s impressive! Definitely worth pushing the boundaries of what we can’t grow reliably here then!

[@edgardner6798]

I giggled when saw that giant leaf.

[@GeorgesJungleGarden]

😂 They’re massive, hopefully even bigger next year!

[@N000-reply]

Definitely got me back into gardening 😂 I'm struggling to find the t rex plant do you know any suppliers ?

[@GeorgesJungleGarden]

Awesome! 😃 Turn it Tropical will have some again soon, it’s worth following their FB page.

[@zm8176]

Hey George! I live in Surrey and I’ve been gaining interest over the past year in converting an area of my garden (west facing) into a small tropical area. I have my list of plants I’d love to put in this themed border ready, but I’m not sure how to go about doing it or what’s next after I figure out what shape I want this border to be. So I’ve been thinking it might be worth starting in October. I plan on doing a double dig method on the soil, get rid of any builders rubble that may be there. I hear tropical plants are super hungry so I plan on laying down loads of compost, horse manure and sprinkle in mycorrhizal fungi. Is there anything else you’d recommend I’d do it add to the soil? Any help or advice is appreciated & thanks for all your helpful videos x

[@GeorgesJungleGarden]

Hi and thanks for watching! That sounds like an exciting project and as you say, you don't need to rush into it, it's worth planning it out. I did a video on planting up a tropical border if it helps but getting a list of plants and a rough idea of heights in 5 years etc is always a good start. Personally I didn't dig a lot of our new garden but if you know that there's rubble then it's worth getting it started properly. I wouldn't worry about the fungi, it needs to be applied to the roots but compost, horse manure, soil conditioner etc. are all great, you can't go wrong with those during autumn and winter especially. Personally I wouldn't plant too many borderline or tender plants in October, they'd be better off waiting until May / June next year but Sep / Oct is a good time for getting hardier plants in.

[@53peace]

I’m a new subscriber and very interested in tropical plants. At the moment I have loads of tropical vegetables in greenhouse and outside and absolutely love this channel. My large garden has typical English trees and plants and I would like to plant some Musa basjoos, green and red ones. Will it look strange amongst apple and plum and pear trees? Not sure how or where to plant them. Any advice please? Thank you. Great competition,didn’t enter though.

[@GeorgesJungleGarden]

Hi and that sounds fantastic, for what it’s worth I think they’ll transform the feel of the garden and give it all an exotic vibe rather than clash with the fruit trees. If you look at the trees in a lot of exotic locations they’re often quite ‘normal’ - it’s the plants like basjoo and Ensetes that’ll be the stars of the show. As long as the soil is good and they’ve got enough space and some sun they’ll be just fine.

[@GeorgesJungleGarden]

If you watch my vid Ensete vs Musa Basjoo that’ll hopefully give you a good start with them 😃

[@53peace]

@@GeorgesJungleGarden already watched your Musa basjoo videos a few times and they were truly helpful. For the moment the 3 Musa beauties are in pots in my sun room being admired all day. Thank you so very much for replying.

[@GeorgesJungleGarden]

@@53peace That’s great. Maybe put a few sketches together over this summer as something to work towards next year, you don’t have to rush these things. Pinterest and the UK Tropical Look Garden groups on FB are great for inspiration 😃

[@gaynorkinnaird800]

Hi George bit new to this .have several musa bajoo and musella lasiocarpa in pots .having problems with leaves wilting and turning yellow.thinking I am overwatering in this heat we are having .do they need much water on a really hot day ?would you only water every 2 or 3 days ?thanks for great content on videos .hooked now on growing exotics

[@GeorgesJungleGarden]

Hi Gaynor and thanks! It might be the intensity of the sun that’s getting them, a bit of feed could help too. While it’s as hot as this watering every day shouldn’t cause any issues at all - pots dry out very quickly. Mine don’t look pristine but they’ll grow strongly in these temperatures.

[@gaynorkinnaird800]

Thanks mate ,it’s Gaynor s husband Gil boy who’s trying to create the tropical garden . Just always comes up under her name . Last year surrounded ourselves with date palms this year cannas and bananas . Your videos have been a massive help Keep them coming

[@GeorgesJungleGarden]

@@gaynorkinnaird800 No worries - it’s easy to lose track of usernames on here! Thanks and I hope you’ve found some time to enjoy the sun out there!

[@raphlvlogs271]

viruses can also cause harmless mutations on animals and humans.

[@GeorgesJungleGarden]

Interesting how a ‘virus’ can produce such an interesting visual effect!

[@alisonconway2051]

WD Emma

[@GeorgesJungleGarden]

That’s very kind of you Alison and sorry it wasn’t you this time! Good luck for the next one! 😃

[@alisonconway2051]

@@GeorgesJungleGarden awh thankyou

[@fluffypenguin6695]

Hi!!

[@GeorgesJungleGarden]

Hi from me and Max! 🐶