Over Wintering Bananas, In San Antonio, Texas

Posted on by crazygreenthumbs
These bananas are giants. Quite a bit of work to prepare the bed for winter.
Just like the fruit, cut stalks quickly turn black from oxidation.
What banana stems look like on the inside. I used a pole saw on these. However, it was a lot of work. This year I’m going to buy an electric saw.

It’s hard to see in this photo but I just cut all of the bananas down and added a tarp. I didn’t bother with straw or lights this year.

I didn’t use lights this year because last year they kept blowing their fuses.
Covering the bed with a thick plastic sheet. I leave the banana stalks in place because they are too heavy to move when they are full of water. They dry out over winter and I move them in spring.
Late march 2023. The bananas are already putting on decent growth.
Spring for my four raised beds. As a grass relative (monocots) these love nitrogen. I have a two year old, short season, banana and a separate one year old variety. Hopefully they fruit this year because bananas are a lot of work just for foliage.

See you in the garden for our big tropical banana leaves!

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8 thoughts on “Over Wintering Bananas, In San Antonio, Texas”

    1. Bananas can’t freeze. If they freeze to the ground then they will need to start new growth in the length of time required for that variety to bear fruit. Most traditional banana varieties need two years of uninterrupted growth to fruit which means only the very southern parts of the US can get those varieties to fruit. Veinte cohol and Kokopo are two to try.

      Reply

      1. y, we don’t have frost but something killed this plant off. I don’t know the variety. Thanks for heads up on varieties. I-ll see what is available here in Portugal. I think our climate is simialr to southern US (where we live we don’t have frost). Our neighbours banana tree had fruit las year, so I think it’s a matter of findg the variety and a happy place. >)

      2. Kokopo grows here. It was not planned. We can grow others, since their pseudostems do not freeze, even if their leaves do. I am curious about the production of Kokopo regardless. Even though it fruits quickly, it can still start the process in autumn. If and when it does, the flowers or fruit deteriorate before they can finish.

      3. Well my plan is to get a giant rootball to try and support the growth I would need. However I’m about 5 years into banana growing and I may never get fruit. I love the look of the plants though, so it’s not a total loss!

      4. Well, that is what those who grow bananas say about them. They grow them because they enjoy doing so, and if they get a few dinky bananas, well, that would be nice also.

  3. We are fortunate in that we don’t get frost just icy winds from the Atlantic Ocean. I don’t know why my plant died off because the neighbours tree up the road had bananas. Maybe it was in the wrong spot. I have moved into a pot for now an moved to a sunny but more sheltered location. I will see if I can buy the varieties you mention. Thanks >)

    Reply

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