Anybody dug up their Ensete Maurelii yet?

[musa_monkey]

I chopped the leaves of mine a few days ago and inverted them in the garage to drain away any water to help them dry out. I took a look at them this morning and they are still dripping

[plan b]

Mine is still outside keeping a close eye on the weather now though.

[DiCasS]

That graph explains it well Dave. It looks like being dry is the key to successfully overwintering, which fits in with what I've found here. The one thing I've learnt from last year is never visit a murellii whilst carrying water .

I chose last year to leave mine planted out. I now don't think there is any way under normal circumstances that you can leave them planted out as the soil just stays too wet over winter, unless, I think Cathy said, it is left bone dry in a pot under something to keep the rain off.

That's bad news about your's Dave. Hindsight's a wonderful thing and I think we (me at least) were caught out last year on how severe the temps would be in our areas (either that or didn't want to believe the forecasters) as last year I left my Basjoos unprotected (first time as well)
and they all collapsed and had to start again from pups. They had just started to get a decent height as well, allowing plants to be grown nearby, but now the new stems have moved further out so next Spring have to dig them up and put them somewhere else.

Has anyone seen these in flower? Do they flower in this country?

It will be interesting to hear how we all got on next Spring as there seems to be different ways people are overwintering. Will be good to see what does and doesn't work. Hopefully they all will.

Di

[Dave Brown]

Has anyone seen these in flower? Do they flower in this country?

Are you talking about Musa basjoo? They flower once then the stem dies. They do flower but in 16 years of growing them I have only had one flower. Basically too dry in many years and the wind wrecks them so I cut them back. Flowering is interesting but not the reason I grow them

It will be interesting to hear how we all got on next Spring as there seems to be different ways people are overwintering. Will be good to see what does and doesn't work. Hopefully they all will.

Di

Yes, it is as important to document the failures as the successes, that way we know what not to do as well as what works

[DiCasS]

Sorry Dave I did mean the murellii(sp?) I've never heard anyone mention it so wasn't sure they did in this country. I envy anyone who has had a Basjoo to flower, I've never been able to grow it big enough to get a flower, though I'm sure if it had survived this last Winter it would have been close. Never mind, perhaps in a few years.

Di

[Dave Brown]

If they take 7 to 15 years to reach flowering in their natural habitat, they might be a tough one to get that far here. I've never heard on anyone getting E. ventricosum or it's cultivars to flower, although there was an Ensete glaucumin flower at Wisley last December. As this is a different spieces the flowering time may be shorter.

E. ventricosum can reach 10 or 12m tall, but the E glaucum was only about 5 or 6m, so maybe matures earlier.

[Dale]

Was anyone like me sad enough to be watching Gardeners World tonight!? - anyway their Red Abyssinian Banana aka Ensette Maurielli (quite a nice looking specimen too they've got there for the cameras, not sprouting from the top distorted small leaves like one of mine was), anyway, they said they would keep it going in a cold greenhouse with a little water - I'm storing mine (the problematic one I have since decapitated with a Bread Knife on the back of a previous post showing some German Ensette Maurelli nut curing this sympton by doing this) under a Velex Window in my cheap loft conversion - I've read Dave's extremely interesting Post on their natural habitat, since which I'm confused about how much water if any I should be giving them this winter under the conditions I'm storing them?

[bobbyd44]

yes i did see that usually watch it on catch up but was in the break!!! i am going for the now water bread knife across the middle in a pretty dark garage!!! so they totally did the opposite!! never mind all learning points!!

[Jim Glazzard]

Has anyone seen these in flower? Do they flower in this country?
Di

Our basjoo stayed out last winter, and is too big to wrap. It flowered this summer. So don't give up hope.


Jim

[bobbyd44]

nice one jim... def like to se more pics of that garden!!!

[Adrian]

With Ensetes its not how you winter them but how big they are when you winter them.
Its only worth taking note of peoples wintering accounts with the bigger ones, anything 1 to 2 years old and potted will come through winter dead easily either inside or in a greenhouse, its the bigguns, 2 years plus that are hard to keep going probably due to the size and wieght and being too big to get into an average greenhouse, often a garage isnt enough for them.

I grow maurellii and nice ones but I dont worry about trying to winter them any more prefering to bring smaller ones on through winter and getting them into the ground early on.
Too much aggro with the strangles for me, had them too many times.
I will try a maurellii with the 'Freezepruf' if I get it early enough other wise it'll sit where it stands for as long as it stands, that'll be a good experiment but I will try to get the green form ventricosum potted and into the greenhouse (if it'll go).

[Adrian]

a couple of pics just taken

[Dave Brown]

Adrian, the experience I have, and the information from others is that whatever size of the plant... cold/wet = dead.

The green ventricosum, which I have been growing since about 1979, I have tried outside maybe 15 times, without success even in mild years, my conclusion before any conferring on forums was the cold wet did for it. I'd get them through to March or April at times but they would always croak. Left dry in pots they'd survive.

Will Giles swears by digging up and cutting roots off then storing dry. He currently has 17 Maurelii, of various sizes, he was saying. My view is if it is good enough to keep Will's garden stocked, it's good enough for me to try.

I think the difference in our approach is that you are content with a full good looking garden. and 6 to 8 foot Ensete fit the bill perfectly. Where as I have this hankering after monster plants. I think it was the Myles Challis book about the Victorians who had 25ft E.ventricosum that inspired this. Something I have never grown out of

[Dale]

Thanks Dave/Adrian for the considered responses - I guess I'll attempt to store them dry in the pots, just seems alien to me to sit them there unwatered for such a long period (they are currently dry now) in the light in my unheated loft, which is probably the best place I've got to overwinter, the only other place being a shed where they will be susceptible to freezing - Anyway and being careful not step out of subject for this thread, Adrian that ensete ventricosum is truly made for that position in your garden, lets hope you get it back to the same glory or even better next Summer

[Adrian]

You need something bigger than my 8'x6' greenhouse to get the 25' monsters Dave, I also have tried many Ensetes and I think I am at the stage where I know what I can realisticaly achieve.
Im not sure about having a 25 footer in the garden, very nice but not really for the average British garden