Hardy Tropicals UK

I have unwrapped my Basjoo on 6th May after wrapping in straw and fleece over the winter.
It was my first year growing it and planned to grow more this year.
Unfortunately after it was unwrapped the top of the stem was dry and black (nice and warm in the straw)
About two thirds down it started to get soggy (both straw and stem)
- how can I prevent water from being drawn up and soaking into the straw, which I think has happened?

The stem is black and looks rotten, I have sliced some off and the centre is gooey.
- can this be rescued?


I have two new ones (bought a week before unwrapping )
- can I plant still in the pot and remove in winter?

I can keep it in a garage or unheated greenhouse, where would be best to keep it and what overwintering to I need to carry out before storing?

Thanks,
Jon

musa bajoo are root hardy so will resprout from the root anyway.
1 would continue to cut the pseudostem a liitle at a time until you find(hopefully} a grren center core. This is where the new growth will come from.Assuming its not rotten all the way down/
Prevent the straw from drawing moisture up from the soil is fairly easy dont let the straw touch the soil. use layer of fleece or similar.A plastic bag is also needed over the top to prevent water ingress from above.

Thanks, yes the bag over the top has prevented water coming in plus it was nice and warm.
I watched videos of overwintering and none of them put anything between the straw and ground, I'll use a plastic sheet next time!

if you look at yorkshire kris video episode 12 overwintering Basjo you will see he uses fleece .
edit i should have said yorkshire kris YOU TUBE video

Some good ideas here. You shouldn't have to wait long for something to develop. If the middle of the pseudostem doesn't do anything soon it should still pup from the base.

If you have two more in the wings I'd be inclined to take advantage of options and pot one and plant one.

Thanks, I’ll cut the pseudo stem tomorrow as see if I can see any sign of life. It was really soggy so there is a risk that the roots have rotted.
If I don’t see anything , do i just cut all the way to the bottom and see if it regrows from the root?

Hi Jonty. Don't worry. It will reshoot from the base. The winter before last I dug out a cherry tree that was planted next to one of my MBs. The hole was 3 foot deep and exposed the roots of the MB. Then the beast from the east hit and the hole (in heavy clay soil) filled with water and froze. As expected the MB disappeared. However, by May I had 3 new healthy shoots that ended the summer 6 feet high. Ive stopped protecting them now. Either the pseudostem comes through winter intact, or it doesn't and several new shoots appear.

If you are trying to grow them very tall and therefore want to protect the pseudostem, my advice would be not to stuff the straw in too tightly. Thats when they get very wet and are prone to rotting.

Thank, I've cut back all the way to the base now and no sign of any green. It’s been like this for a week now, is it ok to leave as it is or cut back further?

Jonty2
i would leave now and wait for shoot/s from base.Have a look under that ground cover it may have already started under there.

Hi Jonty, I'm not sure how cold it gets in Chester but I wouldn't think it gets much colder than were I live, -5C. All I do with ,mine is pile some dead leaves round the roots I also have a 6 foot length of 100 mm plastic drain pipe covered in aluminium bubble wrap which slide over the stem which work for me (nothing touching the stem). As for more exotic Bananas, I leave them permanently in pots, keep them frost free over winter drag them out in the spring and bury the pots. Save all the drying and restarting again.

Thanks kid, where do you keep the pots over winter? Would a unheated greenhouse be ok?
With the drainpipe, do you cut the top of the musa when it is still green?

It's that time of the year (cold) and need some advice regarding my 2 basjoos.
I am reluctant to wrap these 2 as i lost last years due to a rotten stem, my options this year are:
- leave in the ground and mulch (disadvantage of losing all of this years height)
- remove and place in a pot in a cold garage
- remove and place in a pot in an unheated garage
- remove and place in a pot indoors (least likely due to space)

If i choose to place in a pot do i need to do it before the frost? I want to keep as much height as possible for next year

There are also pups at the base of each basjoo, is it best to dig to whole plant as one and place in a large pot?

Good to see the pups in growth. Shows that the rootstock is in good order. You also bought two more plants

It looks like you could cover both options. Leave one in the ground and protect. The other could be dug up now complete and housed somewhere frost free. There are more pups now to increase the success of any insurance policy. But don't separate the pups too soon. They need to be a reasonable size before they can survive on their own roots.