Cold Hardy Palm Trees,Bananas and Tropical Plants for almost any Climate

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Many are native to high elevations in distant lands, such as Trachycarpus fortunei the Windmill Palm, which is from China.

Banana Tree Plant Care: How To Grow Banana Trees

Perhaps best of all, there are one or more palms that will grow in all but a handful of states. If you are an adventurous gardener who would like the way snow could turn a palm tree in your garden into a conversation piece, here is a guide to help you choose and care for cold-hardy palms.

Matching plant temperature minimums and your plant hardiness zone is a good place to start. However, if you have a protected microclimate, it may be possible for you to cheat a little on your hardiness zones. Also bear in mind that hardiness zones have been creeping northward i.

The Banana Plant Isn’t Really a Tree!

All palms want a well-drained site. If in doubt about whether a palm can survive your winters, plant it in a protected area — preferably one with a southern exposure. Palms, like almost any tree, are most vulnerable in their first three years. Your best chance to help a young palm live through these initial winters is to protect it from the elements.

Some might suggest the best way to do that is to put a wire basket around it and fill the basket with leaves to serve as insulation. That may work for elephant ears and bananas which go dormant , but is not such a good idea for palms, which are evergreen. To avoid temperature extremes, plant new banana trees after all danger of frost passes. Most types of bananas prefer full sun. Some variegated varieties with their leaves ability to easily scorch do better in partial shade.

Give bananas plenty of room to grow by digging a deep hole to accommodate it.

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For the best results, prepare the soil well before planting. The soil should be well-drained, deep and organically amended. Slightly acidic soil 5. Banana plants require lots of nourishment.

These heavy feeders need ample amounts of organic matter , such as green sand. Pay close attention to potassium levels. Potassium is an extremely important element as bananas are filled with potassium, so this is a very necessary nutrient for the plant. Remember banana trees are tropical and hail from rain forests.

What can I do to prevent this in the future?

They need a lot of water, and they need plenty of moisture in the air. This is one reason why they do best planted in groups rather than as single specimens. Being close together helps them retain moisture in the leaves. Provide one or 2 inches of water weekly and check frequently to make certain the soil stays evenly moist. Position your plants in such a way to protect them against strong winds.

Their large leaves damage easily with inclement weather. Strong winds 30 mph will merely shred the leaves; however, exposure to winds over 40 miles an hour will break the pseudostem and knock the plant down. Protect plants against temperature extremes as much as possible. Low temperatures slow down growth, and very cold temperatures cause plants to die back. To guard against temperature extremes, plant in sheltered locations. Provide more protection by bringing your plants indoors or taking winterization steps when cold weather hits.

Banana trees will grow in containers but realize the containers must be very large. Fifteen gallon pots is the minimum size required for optimum growth. You can protect it very well against cold and inclement weather. Growing bananas in containers does present particular challenges, though. Because these are very hungry and thirsty plants, you may find it difficult to keep up with the feeding and watering requirements. Younger, smaller plants may do fine with watering every couple of days; however, larger more mature plants need a daily drenching daily.

All potted banana plants need very frequent and copious applications of fertilizer. Repot and divide container grown banana plants at least once every three years. Use a very high quality of potting mix and make sure to fertilize regularly. In wintertime, move container banana plants indoors and keep it as a houseplant — provided you have enough room to accommodate it. Remember banana plants can grow to reach 12 to 18 feet high.

In addition to plenty of headroom, provide your indoor banana tree with ample light, warmth and humidity. It is quite challenging to keep a banana plant as an indoor plant in the wintertime. Many gardeners choose to overwinter plants in a cool dark space, such as a basement. Others take steps to winterize their plants inside. During winter you can protect banana plants against temperature extremes in many different ways.

However, you can dig a plant up in autumn and store it in a cool location where it will be safe from freezing. When you do this, the plant will go into a dormant phase for overwintering. It is also possible to leave your banana plant in place, cut back the leaves, insulate the pseudostem and mulch heavily. Or simply cut the plant back almost to the ground and mulch very heavily over and around it.

Dozens of species of these tropical-looking trees can survive freezing temperatures.

If you can successfully protect the pseudostem throughout the winter, your banana plant will start growing from that point again in the coming year. If you cut the plant all the way down to the ground, it will need to start from the ground, and not attain as much height. However, with proper care plants can grow to reach 12 to 18 feet high during the growing season!

If you decide that having a very tall banana plant is important to you, you will need to decide how you want to insulate the pseudostem against damage. Depending on the severity of your winter and personal preferences, you can use several different materials to protect the pseudostem and to mulch. You may wish to:. All of these are good choices, and you may wish to experiment with all of them if you have several banana plants to protect.

No matter which one you choose, you will want to mulch heavily around the base of the plant to keep the soil from freezing. Keep in mind that even if the insulated pseudostem of your plant dies back, if you have mulched heavily over and around it the rhizome should survive. The main thing is to get good insulation over and around the heart of the plant for the winter. The very best material to use for mulching is shredded leaves. Whole leaves may tend to hold too much moisture in place. No matter what you decide, be sure to do it before the first frost.

Keep up with Mother Nature

Prepare your banana tree for winter shortly before first frost. Once all danger of frost passes in the springtime, disassemble your winterization steps. Simply spread it around and work it into the soil to help hold moisture in and continue feeding your plant. A well cared for banana plant will resist most pests and diseases , but you may occasionally experience problems with insects, such as grasshoppers or spider mites.

When this happens, you may need to use a commercially prepared miticide or insecticide to deal with them. Also, keep in mind that in some places banana leaves and stalks are used as livestock fodder. You may want to put up fencing to protect plants against being eaten. In tropical regions, fungus can be an issue for banana plants; however, in areas with very cold wintertime temperatures this problem is lessened.

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