PlantFiles: Yunnan Banana
Musa itinerans 'Gigantea'

I didn't realize that I had purchased the "gigantea" variety of the Yunnan until I re-checked the receipt, today. I planted a small cute little banana, 2 years ago, in a back corner of our house. I was hoping that it would survive.

In the first year, 2005, it grew to about 4-6 feet tall. Last year, 2006, our spring began early, the end of March. I was worried that the banana didn't survive the winter. I hadn't done much to protect it for winter except a few inches of mulch. It quickly emerged in mid-May with not one but 3 plants, and they quickly grew to 6 feet high within about a month. By end of summer, the plants were nearly 10 feet high! (see my photo). The plant continued to grow even more, into mid-October and was by that time up beyond the roof's edge. We had an early frost in mid-October, which damaged the leaves, but the plant continued to recover and regenerate until the weather finally dropped into the teens (F). The leaves browned and gradually drooped over the plants.

I did nothing to protect the plant this past winter. I merely left the drooped brown leaves to self-mulch the plant. Our winter had a week-long spell of nearly zero degrees F. This April 2007, yesterday in fact, I pulled off the dried leaves and found new growth, beneath. Plus, I discovered that the plant now had 4 huge rhyzomes! There were also several offshoots growing along extended root-runners.

I dug out one of the rhyzomes to give to a friend. It tightly fit into a 2-gallon plastic pot! I realized that as tough as the rhyzome was to divide, and as fast as the plant was multiplying, it may well damage the house-foundation, after I checked and discovered that it is the "gigantea" variety. Apparently each banana tree can develop a 20-inch wide base!

It took me an hour to just get the mass of 3 remaining intact rhyzomes loosened and freed from the ground. However-- the mass is about 20 inches in diameter and 16 inches in depth, and probably 60 to 80 US pounds in weight!

I'll be posting photos of the rhyzomes, shortly.