Musa basjoo how hardy

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derrick

Musa basjoo how hardy

Post by derrick »

How root hardy are they .The stem gone to almost ground level on 3 plants .I didnt insulate this year .Do they usually return or will it rot to the ground .The lasiocarpa i had 1 outside insulated looked ok but the inside had had gone brown. Lucky i have 1 basjoo and 2 lasiocarpa maurelli inside.help please.
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simon
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Re: mussa basjoo how hardy

Post by simon »

I think Dave Brown quoted some figures on minimum temperatures for leaf, stem and roots for basjoo. I don't know where they came from or how reliable they are.

Root hrdiness is probably the hardest figure to pin down because presumably the figures banded about are air temperature figures. As the root and corm are not exposed to the air, the figure is abit meaningless. Ground temperature fluctuates much less than air temperature and the rate at which the ground temperture drops is more dependant upon radiation losses and gains than upon the air temperature.

Much of the really cold weather we have had this year was due to incoming cold air (advection) rather than localised radiation loss, so the ground temperature may have remained higher than you might expect.

in summary, I think you basjoos will reshoot from the ground . :DD
musa_monkey

Re: mussa basjoo how hardy

Post by musa_monkey »

As black adder would say they are hardier than a very hardy thing :lol:
I think overall basjoos are probably my favorite nana for that very reason.

Assuming you have reasonable drainage i doubt it will rot.
Like Simon i think it will be waving hello to you again from the earth as soon as the weather perks up icon_thumleft
derrick

Re: mussa basjoo how hardy

Post by derrick »

Its funny how it goes. There some one on the same road as mine there basjoo are fine .Theres are close to house and are growing from the top already .Are have to dig em up at night . thanks
Vic

Re: mussa basjoo how hardy

Post by Vic »

I don't know how root hardy basjoo are, but i doubt if many people will loose them planted out in the UK? Mine were cut to the ground in january after -8.9c which i was pleased about as i had already decided they were going after the trashing they got all of last summer., i had to dig down 2.5 feet all the way around the clump (which had only been in 3 years) i was suprised that at least 2ft down were new bananas coming, so i would take some serious cold to kill these little fellas.

ps: they really did not want to come out either, took me 2 hours to get rid of them :x
derrick

Re: mussa basjoo how hardy

Post by derrick »

They dont look good most the summer due to wind damage .But they fill the gap.
turtile

Re: mussa basjoo how hardy

Post by turtile »

Mature Musa basjoo can survive down to around 0F and lower if you mulch them.
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Dave Brown
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Re: mussa basjoo how hardy

Post by Dave Brown »

You just have to ensure the rhizome does not freeze. It maybe is not outright cold, but a period of freezing days will gradually freeze the ground. I have dial soil thermometer at 30cm depth which went down to just below 3C, and the soil froze to about 2 inches at the worst point. I did not get the really cold temps that some had so the ground freeze could have been worse where it was colder. If you are really worried chuck whatever you can over the ground to stop it losing heat :wink: As Simon said it was not radiation freezes on most occasions, although there were a couple of very still, clear nights where grass surface temps were below -9C here. :ahhh!:

Basjoo stems hardiness depends on thinkness but 4 to 6 inch diameter stems should be good for -6 to -8C but again it depends on duration :roll: The longer it goes on the futher into the stem the freeze goes :wink:
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Dave
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simon
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Re: mussa basjoo how hardy

Post by simon »

Dave, have you been regularly recording data from your soil thermometer? The upper layer of soil has a daily temperature oscillation coinciding with the flux of radiation. Below a certain depth, the oscillation becomes annual and should probably be on the rise by now. I can't remember where 30cm sits in relation to this . icon_scratch
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Re: mussa basjoo how hardy

Post by Dave Brown »

It certainly was on the rise back in March and was up to about 8C at 30cm depth. I remember this as the Washingtonia started to grow which surprised me with such a low soil temp. The temps fluctuate slightly at this depth over a few days rising in warms spells and cooling off in cold spells. :wink:
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Libby

Re: Musa basjoo how hardy

Post by Libby »

My 4 year old basjoo was cut to the ground last winter. But has gone mental this summer and on last count had over 21 pups!!
This year I may cut them back anyway as I have to reduce the amount of pups before the enter the neighbours garden!!!!!!
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simon
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Re: Musa basjoo how hardy

Post by simon »

I had the same issue, Libby. I think you will need to put the spade through the corm and dig it out where it is too close the fence or encroaching on other plants. If you just remove the pups they will come back next year.
Libby

Re: Musa basjoo how hardy

Post by Libby »

:shock: cripes!! as much as I like the plantation, look it is actually a bit big for my garden now :(
derrick

Re: Musa basjoo how hardy

Post by derrick »

The cats having a wash and dry nice
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Re: Musa basjoo how hardy

Post by Dave Brown »

simon wrote:I had the same issue, Libby. I think you will need to put the spade through the corm and dig it out where it is too close the fence or encroaching on other plants. If you just remove the pups they will come back next year.
I removed a whole clump back in March, obviously did not get it all out as now have 4 pups the tallest 7 feet tall :lol:
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