How long does it take banana to regenerate growth?

[Colin1110082]

Hello, my banana as of right now is around 5-6 feet tall. It grew about 3 feet over the summer. I planted it in June. It had around 2 feet of trunk. I’ll have to cut it back sometime in October and uncover it sometime in early May. How long does it take for it to regrow its trunk to at least 4 feet tall after its first spring in zone 6A? Do they regenerate quickly or not? I’ll probably leave the trunks around 1.5 feet tall when I cut them so it gives them a boost 

[Colin1110082]

This species is Basjoo I forgot to mention 

[happypalms]

On 9/2/2024 at 11:46 PM, Colin1110082 said:

Hello, my banana as of right now is around 5-6 feet tall. It grew about 3 feet over the summer. I planted it in June. It had around 2 feet of trunk. I’ll have to cut it back sometime in October and uncover it sometime in early May. How long does it take for it to regrow its trunk to at least 4 feet tall after its first spring in zone 6A? Do they regenerate quickly or not? I’ll probably leave the trunks around 1.5 feet tall when I cut them so it gives them a boost 

That’s cold for a banana to live in. Soil temperature is a good indicator of how fast it will grow and by the  sounds of it you won’t be getting a lot of that until summer. Soil temperature with good water and fertiliser are the key to banana growing along with good quality soil. The  corm will sit dormant in winter. Spring time it should start to wake up and get a move on giving you the same growth you had previously. As soon as it starts to get warm feet it should grow well.

[Xerarch]

When I lived in West Virginia, there was someone there that had what I assume to be a Musa basjoo, they did exactly what you are saying, cut back when frost came, mulched it, uncovered it in spring.  It grew huge every year, big enough, fast enough, that it was worthwhile.  I'm a tropical plant guy so I thought it was awesome.  I know that's not an exact answer to your question, and I'm sure it takes a couple years to develop the corm enough to really get it rock'n'.  But M. basjoo is very root hardy and grows super fast when conditions are good.

[Colin1110082]

15 hours ago, Xerarch said:

When I lived in West Virginia, there was someone there that had what I assume to be a Musa basjoo, they did exactly what you are saying, cut back when frost came, mulched it, uncovered it in spring.  It grew huge every year, big enough, fast enough, that it was worthwhile.  I'm a tropical plant guy so I thought it was awesome.  I know that's not an exact answer to your question, and I'm sure it takes a couple years to develop the corm enough to really get it rock'n'.  But M. basjoo is very root hardy and grows super fast when conditions are good.

Thank you. I just hope it is a big size by the beginning of summer. Do you think it being planted above the ground on a rock wall complicates things when it comes to frost? Benefit or set back?

[Colin1110082]

17 hours ago, happypalms said:

That’s cold for a banana to live in. Soil temperature is a good indicator of how fast it will grow and by the  sounds of it you won’t be getting a lot of that until summer. Soil temperature with good water and fertiliser are the key to banana growing along with good quality soil. The  corm will sit dormant in winter. Spring time it should start to wake up and get a move on giving you the same growth you had previously. As soon as it starts to get warm feet it should grow well.

I’ll try a different fertilizer when the time comes. I will try to leave the trunk high to give it a head start. Do you think I should cover the cage with a tarp to keep the trunk and corm dry? I probably should I bet

[happypalms]

4 hours ago, Colin1110082 said:

I’ll try a different fertilizer when the time comes. I will try to leave the trunk high to give it a head start. Do you think I should cover the cage with a tarp to keep the trunk and corm dry? I probably should I bet

By all means cover the cage with a tarp protect your banana. It sounds like a cold wet winter use whatever you can to protect the corm. Use thermal mass like rocks placed around it to trap any heat during the day and release it at night good luck.

[Xerarch]

6 hours ago, Colin1110082 said:

Thank you. I just hope it is a big size by the beginning of summer. Do you think it being planted above the ground on a rock wall complicates things when it comes to frost? Benefit or set back?

It can’t start growing in earnest until after all frost, so, being “big” already at the start of summer might be a tall order. Depending on your definition of big I guess. As far as cold tolerance is concerned. I don’t think elevating it will help, as the ground is the best insulation. I don’t know if or how much of a detriment it will be, sometimes you just gotta do whatever is you got and see how it goes.