Ensete Ventricosum Maurelii ready for winter

[Andrew Smith]

Following Yorkshire Kris's excellent video I have "hopefully" got my Maurellei ready for winter - STAGE 1.

When I dug it up I was surprised that there were so few roots supporting this plant.

As Kris recommends I used hose to wash off all ssoil from the roots.

I will leave it upside down in the dark for a couple of weeks in the dry, then store it the right way up until May 2012 somewhere dry.

Thanks Kris for your very useful video. Here are a few photos.
Her is a link to Yorkshire Kris's video for anyone else who needs to do this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BW9U0iEaupc

[Tom2006]

It doesn't look to healthy in terms of roots. Make sure its well dried as that looks soaked!

[nige pook]

Andrew,sorry to say it but your maurelii may be a little too small to stay dormant for the whole winter and survive I do hate to say it but I've found that plants with a stem diameter of less than six inches don't often have enough reserves to see them through. I do hope I'm wrong for your sake and it does make it but yours looks a bit ickle and not too much in the way of a big root system all the way around the stem. I do appreciate that you have cut them back though. The base looks very wet,hope its not mushy which would indicate signs of rot. At the end of the day you never know till you give it a go! Worse case and you lose it and if mine come through storage you can probably have one of mine. Hope both your and mine make it though and this years winter is not so severe as the last two. I certainly didn't reply to annoy you, just didnt want you to possibly lose it and be put off growing these lovely plants. P.S. make sure you dry it off for at least a week or two to avoid rot and keep it frost free of course. Nige

[kata]

It IS small against what I have seen growing,

Good luck Andy!!

[Andrew Smith]

Andrew,sorry to say it but your Ensete v Maurelii may be a little too small to stay dormant for the whole winter and survive I do hate to say it but I've found that plants with a stem diameter of less than six inches don't often have enough reserves to see them through. I do hope I'm wrong for your sake and it does make it but yours looks a bit ickle and not too much in the way of a big root system all the way around the stem. I do appreciate that you have cut them back though. The base looks very wet,hope its not mushy which would indicate signs of rot. At the end of the day you never know till you give it a go! Worse case and you lose it and if mine come through storage you can probably have one of mine. Hope both your and mine make it though and this years winter is not so severe as the last two. I certainly didn't reply to annoy you, just didnt want you to possibly lose it and be put off growing these lovely plants. P.S. make sure you dry it off for at least a week or two to avoid rot and keep it frost free of course. Nige

Thanks Nige. I overwintered this Maurelli last year successfully, but that's no guarantee it will survive this year. No harm in trying. I must admit I was surprised that it had so few roots. Time will tell though. Most of the growth occurred in end of August/September.

[nige pook]

Andrew do you mean that that is a two year old plant? By that I mean was it bought and grown last summer,then overwintered and grown again this year? Nige

[Yorkshire Kris]

Hi Andrew, thanks for sharing. The base of you ensete does look very soggy with rotten leaf bases Had it been growing well?

Regarding size, I got a small one through last winter than was very small. In May it was like a piece of dead wood, so so dry but amazingly it grew away fine. Fingers crossed for yours.

[kracker]

Mine is about the same size i have tucked it away in the consevatory with a couple other plants !!

[Dave Brown]

Andrew the Ensete does not look well. The leaves appear to be dying off and it looks like most of the roots have rotted in the ground. If there is any rot to start with it will spread during storage. If there are any soft bits on the base those will need to be cut out and the wound allowed to callus over before trying to store it.

There seems to be a myth on HTUK that you have to dry the plant out upside down. I have never heard that anywhere else and I don't do it myself. They get laid with the base slightly raised for a few hours to drain any excess water form the leaf bases. Left upside down or on it's side for too long in warmth will start the plant growing out of the side or base.

[Andy Martin]

I'm surprised to see it frost damaged What minimum temp did you get Andrew? I had -1.5C and there is no damage to leaves on my Ventricosum, Maurelli or Montbeliardi which even surprised me. Even my Colocasias were unaffected.

[Yorkshire Kris]

Andrew the Ensete does not look well. The leaves appear to be dying off and it looks like most of the roots have rotted in the ground. If there is any rot to start with it will spread during storage. If there are any soft bits on the base those will need to be cut out and the wound allowed to callus over before trying to store it.

There seems to be a myth on HTUK that you have to dry the plant out upside down. I have never heard that anywhere else and I don't do it myself. They get laid with the base slightly raised for a few hours to drain any excess water form the leaf bases. Left upside down or on it's side for too long in warmth will start the plant growing out of the side or base.

The reason I advocate draining for a week is that in previous years I have had them upside down for 3-6 days and this was fine for a few years. Last year with the ensete reaching a huge size the 5-6 days was not long enough and I lost some to rot last winter. Leaving for a longer period should hopefully guard against it.

Regarding growing the wrong way round, this is not an issue when drying out. My three ensete this year that were upside down for 7 days have since been up-righted and all have pushed out a few inches of new growth (the right way!)

I agree that they should not be stored upside down or on their side during winter as when they start into growth in spring with rising temps there is a danger that they will grow the wrong way and split the plant.

[Dave Brown]

Last year with the ensete reaching a huge size the 5-6 days was not long enough and I lost some to rot last winter. Leaving for a longer period should hopefully guard against it.

But standing upside down does not dry the plant out, only drains any excess water. In wet or damp conditions you may have to actively dry the plant out by standing in or near warmth, having a fan or fan heater blowing etc.

[parkeey]

this is my Enstete its my first one ive only had it a week or so, should i try the dry method in a few weeks as in the video or is it too small do u think.. thks

[dino]

Not even thinking about lifting mine yet

[kata]

Agree, we are having a second summer right now,