A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2005 Banana Trees

My mother has some Banana trees that die back here in zone 7, multiply and come back every year. I would like to transplant them to my house. Not sure about the species. Anyone have any knowledge about this? Thank You.

Musa basjoo is the most hardy banana. It's hardy to -3 degrees in the ground and -20 if mulched. Hardy to zone 5. The above ground parts will freeze, but the corm under ground will survive and shoot up new growth in spring.
There are other bananas though, that would survive in zone 7.
Musa basjoo gets to be about 14-15 feet high.
My mom has a young one. Hopefully I'll be able to get a start this year.

HI KingFisher thought i was the only one in here. from ala.i am from collinsville just below ft payne.i allso grow bannas but i dig mine up evry year and store in a warm dry place it give them a chance to grow larger it takes a few years but i have gotten small bannas from mine.my brother leaves his in the ground also and they come back for year to year.but do not grow as tall.yours could be moved ok.its up to you wether you wonna dig them up evry year or not but you need a place to store them if you do.your friend in gardening.mike57

Thanks for the info. Glad to be here. I have dug what I could this weekend but rain and storms ran me back inside. There is a large base corm (root) that I could not get because of the size and weight. There are several smaller ones kind of against the largest one. To reduce the weight would it be OK to seperate the smaller ones without to much damage to the main corm. Then transplant the them all. Thanks again.

HI KingFisher yes you can separate the small ones from the big one it will not hurt them or the big one.but if you get a chance to get the big one get it as well it will grow the largest banna tree.your friend in gardening.mike57
ROLL TIDE.

Thanks for the help Mike! All have been seperated and planted.