Hello,

I live in a northern clime, and bought last year a 'Hardy Banana' which is supposed to be able to survive to -30 degrees celcius.. It was recommended that during the winter the crown be cut off and the stem mulched to preserve it.

We did that, but now in the spring, when the mulch was removed, the stem is pretty much soup. I cut it off to the base and am curious if there is any chance of it coming back this spring? So far no action from it...

Any thoughts would be appreciated!

Peter Frost

Give it a couple of weeks, as long as the corm is in sound condition you see life soon.

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Regards

Thanks,

we'll wait 'er out and see what happens!

before you wrap it for the winter, you should spray it with a fungicide such as copper hydroxide to insure its not attacked by fungus or bacteria. Good luck to you.

I too have a Hardy Chinese Banana tree (that after the leaves died off in the winter, I cut back and mounded W/mulch) that started the sping as a smelly bowl of soup. About 3 weeks ago shoots appeared around the base of the plant. Now I have 6 or 7 8'" stems-turning to leaves all around the old center. My question is ; should I select 1 stem to be the new plant and clip off the others? or do I let several or all continue to grow? this is the 1st spring I've had the plant so I have no prior experience with new groth habits. 2nd question; If the plant produces new shoots outside of the old center how do prevent it from "leaving" the area I planted it (if this pattern repeats year after year the plant will be several feet away from where it was planted). Any guidance would be apreciated.
Thanks