flowering basjoo up north!

[Mr List]

is there any way to pevent flowering so you can keep your original main stem?

either preventative or reactive

[cordyman]

i used to chop the trunk down to 2 ft every winter before wrapping. then i started buying long canes and keeping as much trunk as possible.
!

Mumfie congrats on the flowering!

What do you do with the long canes and what wrap do you use to get tall stem through winter? cracking specimen you have

[Nathan]

That does seem strange, flowering at that height, mine are always about 15-18ft tall before they flower...

[sanatic1234]

congratulations mumfie.

[HarryandNess]

WoW! That's amazing! Is it a record for the furthest north? ...and could it be something to do with the warm weather we had back in April? Whatever....well done and thanks for sharing it with us

Ness

[JoelR]

I read somewhere (was it here?) a basjoo flowered in Castleford, West Yorks last year and it was the furthest known northerly lattitude for an permanantly planted outdoor grown banana. This would defo. beat that

[Yorkshire Kris]

I read somewhere (was it here?) a basjoo flowered in Castleford, West Yorks last year and it was the furthest known northerly lattitude for an permanantly planted outdoor grown banana. This would defo. beat that

Yep that's right. I started a topic about it on here.

[mumfie]

canes are about 7ft.
leaves are all cut off.
canes are stuck in the ground surrounding the trunk and tied at the top to make a wigwam with a min 3ft diameter at the bottom.
string spirals around from bottom to top for extra rigidity and to help hold straw in.
straw is stuffed firmly from bottom to top (obviously getting narrower in diameter as you go up)
hort. fleece is wrapped around the whole thing and tied in place.
heavy duty clear plastic sheeting is wrapped around the whole thing and tied in place.
the sheeting is pierced randomly with a sharp knife (like pricking sausages).
i do this at the end of october and leave until march.
in march, i "open the top of the wigwam" so it doesn't overheat on a sunny day.
roller begins to emerge out the top: i leave the roller to nature: usually gets ripped by wind and burnt by late frosts.
i keep the straw in place until early may to speed up early growth. when i finally remove the straw, the plant is already growing away nicely. in the past i've removed the straw too early: even though the plant survives the odd april frost, it remains dormant, so i prefer to keep wrapped.

[mushtaq86]

Very impressive mumfi

[mushtaq86]

That does seem strange, flowering at that height, mine are always about 15-18ft tall before they flower...

Some times nanas don't reach their full height before they flower,until their 2nd or 3rd cycle.

[derrick]

A clump in Southampton used to flower at that height 5 6 feet tops had two flowers one year .But last to years cut almost to the ground

[cordyman]

canes are about 7ft.
leaves are all cut off.
canes are stuck in the ground surrounding the trunk and tied at the top to make a wigwam with a min 3ft diameter at the bottom.
string spirals around from bottom to top for extra rigidity and to help hold straw in.
straw is stuffed firmly from bottom to top (obviously getting narrower in diameter as you go up)
hort. fleece is wrapped around the whole thing and tied in place.
heavy duty clear plastic sheeting is wrapped around the whole thing and tied in place.
the sheeting is pierced randomly with a sharp knife (like pricking sausages).
i do this at the end of october and leave until march.
in march, i "open the top of the wigwam" so it doesn't overheat on a sunny day.
roller begins to emerge out the top: i leave the roller to nature: usually gets ripped by wind and burnt by late frosts.
i keep the straw in place until early may to speed up early growth. when i finally remove the straw, the plant is already growing away nicely. in the past i've removed the straw too early: even though the plant survives the odd april frost, it remains dormant, so i prefer to keep wrapped.

thats some serious winter proofing!!! i have x7 nana's so think i'd only pick at least x2 to do something like that too

ones which just get covered in mulsh and grow back as loads of pups next year am I best to get rid of all the pups and leave only one from that corm to get the steam up to height again as quick as possible?

Can a pup get to a good height in one season?

[cordyman]

A clump in Southampton used to flower at that height 5 6 feet tops had two flowers one year .But last to years cut almost to the ground

Derrick can you describe whats going on in them pics! are they both nana's protected in different ways

[Scott Radford]

canes are about 7ft.
leaves are all cut off.
canes are stuck in the ground surrounding the trunk and tied at the top to make a wigwam with a min 3ft diameter at the bottom.
string spirals around from bottom to top for extra rigidity and to help hold straw in.
straw is stuffed firmly from bottom to top (obviously getting narrower in diameter as you go up)
hort. fleece is wrapped around the whole thing and tied in place.
heavy duty clear plastic sheeting is wrapped around the whole thing and tied in place.
the sheeting is pierced randomly with a sharp knife (like pricking sausages).
i do this at the end of october and leave until march.
in march, i "open the top of the wigwam" so it doesn't overheat on a sunny day.
roller begins to emerge out the top: i leave the roller to nature: usually gets ripped by wind and burnt by late frosts.
i keep the straw in place until early may to speed up early growth. when i finally remove the straw, the plant is already growing away nicely. in the past i've removed the straw too early: even though the plant survives the odd april frost, it remains dormant, so i prefer to keep wrapped.

Great advice

[derrick]

Something like Mumfie timber frame wrapped with plastic filled with straw leaves or insulation Mine was coverd from December to March