Greetings. I live in Central Massachusetts and have grown three Musa Basjoo trees in 12" pots to a height of 6'. I don't want to winter them outdoors and was wondering if the pots can be brought indoors and put into the cellar which stays at about 55 degrees and has very low light. The root balls have filled the pots. Should they be tansplanted into larger pots? Do they need moisture under these conditions? Has anyone out there done anything like this with good results? All answers would be greatly appreciated.

Donald

Ideally you would want your temperature to stay around 45F, above that temperature your plant may want to grow. Best bet would be to keep your plants as dry and dark as possible plus watch out for Mites and other bugs that might be living off your plants.

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Regards

Thanks for the reply. Should I just leave the stalk and leaves do their thing naturally, or do any cutting etc.

Thank you.
Donald

Hi,

I started out with two 2-foot plants in early spring. I now have two 6+ foot plants, two 3-4 foot plants and about three or four 1 foot plants. According to all the info I've found, including a couple people that raise these (Musa basjoo) the best thing is to cut off all the leaves and cut the stalk down to 6-10 inches above the ground. It's best right after the first frost. Put them in the basement (in the dark), do not water and set them out in the spring. OR - dig them up, clean off all the dirt, cut off the leaves and cut the stalk down; put them in a cool dry place and re-plant in the spring. You should have great success with them popping back out to 5-6 feet tall through the growing season. I am going to dig mine up and store them in my basement. Since these are tropical plants, they may not survive very well if you try and keep the whole plant and there's no light.

Good luck with yours,

Maygirl