New Member

[CW01]

Hi everyone my name is carl and i live on the east coast of essex.Have been into exotics for about five years.Problems i have are overwintering Ensete Maurelii, i keep them in pots don't water them yet on most occasions they rot from the inside .Anybody got any ideas????

[bev]

welcome carl

were the maureliis kept at a reasonable temperature? i overwintered two in a cool spare bedroom and hardly ever watered them. from almost touching the ceiling the leaves dried up and dropped but kept a roller. they are now growing well since i've started watering again.
one i tried to overwinter in the garage out of it's pot looks like it may be a gonner. i don't think it ever dried out properly. there is a bit of firmness to the base of the stem so i might try to get it to pup.


cheers


lee

[CW01]

Thanks Lee i try and keep them at around 10c in the greenhouse but they still seem to rot from the inside out

[sanatic1234]

Hi carl. welcome to Hardy Tropicals. it is going to be my first year over wintering my ensette ventricosum. I am even thinking about asking my fiancee if i can put it in our living room and keep on misting it twice a day and see how it goes?

[Dave Brown]

Hi Carl, and welcome

Ensete ventricosum and cultivars (Maurelii, Montbeliardii, Hiniba, Tandarra Red etc) come from Ethiopia, about 4 deg north of the equator, but at very high altitude... up to 3,300m. They can take cold including a degree or 2 of frost, BUT the sun is very high and the days warm up to at least 10C. In the coldest months there is virtually no rain, and humidity can be as low as 10%.

I bet your greenhouse can't mimmick that. I just successfully overwintered my E.v Montbelairdii by removing all leaves, digging out, removing all soil/compost, drain upturned for several hours, then dried out in front of a deumidifier for several days. It was then left dry in the consevatory over winter. It is now outside and will be planted in the next week See HERE for the full story.

I had 2 E v Maurelii in large pots in the conservatory they did not do as well, When I removed them from the pots a couple of weeks ago the compost was still wet in the middle where there was no plant activity and no evaporation. All roots had rotted so there was no advantage in leaving them potted. Only the possibility of rot setting in. I would strongly advise removing from pots and removing compost for overwintering. We just don'r have sufficent light to overwinter growing well

[CW01]

Thanks Dave i shall give that a try this winter

[Dave in Warrington]

Welcome Carl, Shame about the Ensete experience - been there too but hope to see photos and read of your 'tropical antics' on the site soon

[CW01]

Hi dave if you go to gallery,users photo's cw01 you will see some pictures i uploaded a while ago

[Dave in Warrington]

Checked out your photos Carl

I always forget new member s are new to the site and many have years of gardening experience

[CW01]

Some views of the garden summer 2009 Ricinus Zanzibarensis , Colocasia Mammoth, The Jungle

[Dave Brown]

Very nice, jungly garden Car l

[collins99]

Looking good Carl , nice and full, very jungly

Nick..