Hardy Tropicals UK

musa_monkey wrote:I never dry out basjoo. I simply take them into the garage and leave them to it. They dry out naturally and are not watered again until they come back out in spring.

I have done this too with no losses.

Thanks.

A could my big musa are in large pots, can they be taken out and put into smaller pots?

What is the time to bring in , would it be less than 10c day and night!

Hello
I am going to leave my nanas in their current pots. Going to bring them indoors Thursday or Friday. My pots have 50/50 perlite mix. Still do not know if they should be in darkness or should I uncover the windows in the garage?

Thanks in advance

Sat wrote:Thanks.

A could my big musa are in large pots, can they be taken out and put into smaller pots?

What is the time to bring in , would it be less than 10c day and night!

Yes they could if you are tight on space. Some of mine are in 0.5m diameter pots and i just bring them in the garage and leave them as is. I am going to experiment with dry storage this year, i.e. dig one up and store dry root. Should be interesting.

Most of mine came in last week end as i am time limited, in any case i would usually bring them in by the end of October latest to avoid any frost episodes.

Rachelpalm wrote:Hello
I am going to leave my nanas in their current pots. Going to bring them indoors Thursday or Friday. My pots have 50/50 perlite mix. Still do not know if they should be in darkness or should I uncover the windows in the garage?

Thanks in advance

Some light would be beneficial but not absolutely necessary. I have a double garage with one small window so its very dark in there and it doesn't seem to bother them.

I got one musa indoors , was thinking of leaving all winter, will it keep growing if given water and light. I know dry air is not good for it?

It has some pups growing, will these grow as well and be in good size for new plants in spring.

OR Will it do more damage than good if when take out next spring it is shocked by the colder weather?

So would I just be best to store in garage with others?

Sat wrote:I got one musa indoors , was thinking of leaving all winter, will it keep growing if given water and light. I know dry air is not good for it?

It has some pups growing, will these grow as well and be in good size for new plants in spring.

OR Will it do more damage than good if when take out next spring it is shocked by the colder weather?

So would I just be best to store in garage with others?

If you are looking to bulk up the size of the plant and pups then as long as it sees light, heat and food it will continue to grow over winter. When you take it outside wait until temps are constantly above 8c overnight then take it out preferably into a greenhouse or somewhere undercover for a week or two. The trick is to re acclimatise it to the outside slowly and avoid shocking the plant.

Dry air is bad but if you sit the pot on a tray full of pea shingle and water, it will help to keep humidity around the plant at a reasonable level. Note that the pot should sit on the shingle and the water level should be just below the top of the shingle. I have been doing this for a while with plants indoors now and find it helps a lot.

Thanks Musa-Monkey.

I just done what you said about combating dry air on one of the pups. Is it ok with smaller pups? I will do the big one tomorrow!

Is this what you mean? Some shingle (Well chipping in this case) and water up to shinle level and pot on top?

As for feeding, is this just water and what is the right balance of water during the winter months? Also by feed do you mean feed as well like miracle grow etc?

Next spring I will remember to re acclimatise them. I did lose 2 musa after winter by shock and I think it must have been the shock of colder weather when they been indoors or garage.

Looks like its sitting on a can of dog food, that's a new way of feeding it
Yes that's the sort of thing. I use a few standard size gravel trays and find i can get two 5 litre pots in each one.

As regards growing on over winter, i do this very rarely but will be doing it this year with a couple of banana plants. i will leave them in a room with temps to 20c and no lower than 15c overnight. They will get 12 hours of light a day from a 6400k 20w bulb. I will feed once a month with no more than 1/2 strength seaweed solution. As regards watering i use a meter to monitor it and tend to keep them on the dry side.

This type of thing;
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3-1-Hydroponi ... 375wt_1392

Ha ha, I see what you mean really does look like dog food!

Thanks

OK I see if got standard size gravel. I not going to get sophisticated, just keep indoors, gravel tray as you suggested, the temps will vary as in house (20 to 5C) when we out the heating is off.

My main thing it survives, grows a little and does not get any diesese lik Red Spider Mite etc.

Will do the gravel thing with all the pups.

Musa in pots, what is the minimum temp at night it need to be before they can suffer?

Just try to gauge when I need to take them in for cover as temp will be 4 - 6c from wed in my area, but then may pick up to 8c after that?

Is it worth keeping outdoor when temps daya nd ngiht ok and indoors (garage) when temp are low?