[walterturners]

Someone was getting rid of their mature banana trees on Craigslist, so I swooped them up. I had to dig, I pulled out about 3 large ones (8-10 feet) trying to take as much soil with them as possible. It's early winter and I'm in Portland OR (zone 8). I know this far from an ideal time to transplant, but leaving them in the ground until spring wasn't an option. My only question is, what's the best option from here? Should I get them in the ground immediately and mulch/insulate them or should I pot them for now and overwinter them in the garage until spring? Winter has been mild so far, but wet, and sometimes we get snow in February. Thanks in advance for any tips!

 

[grizcty]

Welcome to G&G from Alaska.
Stop by the Introduction thread and say hello.

 

[Dutch]

I have no advice, but that's pretty neat. I think I saw a banana tree in a botanical garden once, and I didn't know they could survive in North America.
Welcome to the forum.

 

[blaster]

Portland Or and you can grow bananas?? do you ever get fruit? I have a couple of banana patches in my yard but I live in S. Fla.

 

[White Rook]

I had a 10' Banana tree in my back yard when I was stationed in the Philippines. My pet monkey George, ate all of the banana's and then he ate the whole tree down to the ground.

 

[runfiverun]

you can grow Bananna tress in much of north america, but your not gonna get any Bananna's off them.

 

[blaster]

these just came ripe in my yard.

we are eating them now and they are delicious!! way better than store bought bananas that are picked green (about the same stage as the ones in my picture) shipped a thousand miles and gassed ripe.

 

[shanebrews]

you can grow Bananna tress in much of north america, but your not gonna get any Bananna's off them.

My neighbor Ed has a couple of banana trees growing side by side. They have not passed 7 or 8 feet tall. They'll bear from time to time but the bananas don't even get as big as my thumb.

 

[runfiverun]

they do that, as a member of the grass family they give off their first bunch as good normal size seeds.
after that they generally done their job and are just trees.
they'll do like you say and give off tiny fruits from time to time after that.

 

[blaster]

after the green bananas fill out, cut the "bud" off the bottom of the stalk and the bananas will get bigger & better. after you harvest, cut down the plant that fruited and the "pups" will growing at the base will grow faster & fruit. but depending on your Latitude, they may never give good fruit. here in Fla., bananas do better South of Lake Okeechobee / Caloosahatchee River. (South Fla.) occasionally I have heard of good fruit in Central Fl. but they are usually around a water body that protects them from frost.

 

[blaster]

they do that, as a member of the grass family they give off their first bunch as good normal size seeds

bananas don't seed. they grow from a rhizome root system. the largest plant will fruit but once it does it will die and the "pups" growing at its base will grow up and fruit. by cutting the plant that fruited down, more nutrients go to the pups. the pups can also be separated from the cluster and re-planted to make more plants. that is how they are propagated. you can't plant two different varieties together as the roots seem to produce a toxin that will kill a different plant. and its usually the the one that doesn't taste as good that survives and takes over the patch.

 

[runfiverun]

there are seeds inside the pod, that's what those little brown things in the middle are.
you can actually get them to sprout and plant a banana.

 

[blaster]

never heard of growing bananas from seed. 'll have to try it. as far as know they are all grown from cuttings . this plantation (in Belize) has recently been harvested. the future crop is sprouting up from the ryzome.

the bananas you buy in the store have been protected in plastic bags long before harvest. notice they even keep the "pups" trimmed so all the sap goes to the fruit.

 

[TXplt]

Once again I dramatically misread a thread by its title.

I did learn alot about bananas though and like the pictures