Thanks Barb! I'm sure you could add the heat cords after the fact. They have work amazing for me. I still have them pluged in now, they have thermostats to shut off at 72 degree's. What I figure is if it's not 72 under the bananas it should be.

I've always grown some good sized bananas but this year is crazy. My biggest basjoo's have 7 foot trunks! They are so much bigger than the last pictures, I almost can't believe it myself. It's funny that you mentioned the molasses in fertilizer to help bananas, there's a weird smell to the banana fuel, I wonder if it could be that. All I know is it works for sure, since the trunks where as fat as a beer bottle and about two feet high when I planted them this June. And June here SUCKED parden my language, coldest on record.

My goal this winter for this winter is to start off with six foot stems on these bad boys. I'm gonna us all my leaf bags from HD (around 30) around them and use mini lights with a tarp over the top. What do you think can it work? Thats alot of bags what difference does it make if I throw them out in the fall or the spring 😀 .

Bill

Just curious, Bill, so those will simply stay on in the winter and try to keep soil at, say, 45F around the plants?

I'm definitely going to look into those for my 32 year old Trachy, which is spending its first winter (OMG) in the ground.

As to your leaf bags...good idea, as long as you can keep damaging cold from getting between the bags.

One person here had severe damage when a cat (or something) decided to get warm and clawed a hole in plastic cover/tarp.
It wasn't noticed for some time, and the cold got in for several days.

While I've never yet done ANY winter protection, I've seen some "boxes" built with, say, 1x2 lumber.
The inside frame of that then has 1-inch styrofoam sheets caulked and placed to fit very well.
Ends up looking like a phone booth, but from all accounts was very effective.

Hope you'll take lots of pics, Storyman Bill, of your process.

Barb

Barb,
Here's the place that I got my heating cables from this was the cheapest I could find after looking for awhile. Your old trachy must be loving all the room it has to grow in it's new home. You already have the wierd warm spot where the snow melts for no reason, why not try some heat cables too can't hurt.

http://www.growerssolution.com/page/GS/PROD/heatmats/econcables

Bill

Great link, thanks Bill.

Especially their very informative PDF file http://growerssolution.com/pdf/soil_heating_cable.pdf.
At 3 and a half watts per lineal foot of cable, a four footer uses only 14 watts.
Cheap.

As long as it can run 24/7 for 5 months (a real Canadian winter, like our last one!) 😆 😆

Re the warm spot in the ground where the Trachy is planted, I bet it's a leak (concrete form tie, etc.) allowing heat out from the basement woodstove.

Barb

Just about three months of growth on the basjoo and there at 14 feet, guess the banana fuel and the heat cables work. The storage unit is 8 feet and I'm 6' 3" they were just about eye level. Here what they looked like when I planted them to now.

Bill

Proof of all your hard work, great pic of you on the shed roof.
Spectacular growth on those bananas.

With those heat cables, it'll be a race whether bananas will shade your palms, or vice versa.

I bet your neighbors love the tropical look 😀
Barb