Ensete 'maurelii'

Watching the snow falling outside today - reminded me that its time to rouse my maureliis from their winter slumber.


I cut them back in the autumn - as I had seen other people on the net advise, and stored them in the attic. I got them out today, gave them a spray of copper compound to kill any mould and put them on the top of the boiler to dry.


I then put them in my Heat Box, which consists of two plastic boxes from Morrisons (£2.50 each), with a 12 watt reptile heating mat in the bottom (about £20 from the local garden centre - but I am sure you can get them cheaper on the net). The benefit of the box, of course, is the size. You can get bigger boxes - but they tend to be a lot more expensive.


I had played with the boxes earlier and found that with the heating mat the temperature inside the box could be raised by about 5C above ambient - similar to a heated propagator. However, I found that If I wrapped the box in a duvet the temperature would rise to about 12C above ambient. No light can get in, of course, but until the rhizomes start into growth they don't need any. But I need to keep inspecting and look for possible mould as there is no ventilation.

I have never done this before, so I don't know what I should be doing. What are you other guys doing? and is this the right time?

I had plans to use the box afterwords, for other things like Cannas and Dahlias. But looking at my pots with Cannas in - I thought that they were so big that I needed something larger. So I bought a heated under-blanket from Morrisons for £9 (since reduced to £7.98) Its a lot cheaper than any horticultural heating mat, and because its designed for people I suspect it is at least as safe if not safer. The label says that it can be put in a washing machine - so damp can't be a problem. It has 3 settings of 14, 32 and 61 watts - which makes it more versatile than other heat mats. However it has a safety device that turns if off automatically after 12 hours. But that can be easily overcome with a time switch to turn it off for 15 minutes two or three times a day.

 

Great Peters , I was actually looking at mine today and 3 out of 8 have start to move
must have been trigged by the good weather last week .
really looking forward to see your progress .

 

I've only got the one plant and its been overwintering in the green in the greenhouse.

I'm interested as to how they get on Peter as they dont look very large to me.
I was under the impression that they needed to be fairly big before going through the drying out process for winter.
I'd be very happy to be wrong on this, as if it works, it could save us all a lot of space next winter.

Not well up on electrics, you probably know more than me about the subject, but are not underblankets supposed to be turned off before getting into bed, doesn't it cause hot spots?
Also, I'm guessing it would be OK in a washing machine, but need to be thoroughly dry before connecting to the mains.

 

Pete , last summer at the end of the season I got 2 for maurelli free , really small ,
I`ve used the same system , but they look like in bad condition ....
I was actually think as well that they need to be big , also try to overwintering a snow banana and an ensete ventricosum indoor and alive , lost one and the other don`t look really good.

 

I had one, a couple of years ago. Once planted out it got big very quickly! Putting it in the greenhouse to overwinter wasn't really an option as I don't heat. So, I had to accept that I was going to lose it. No big deal in itself, as it was only a few quid. It'll be interesting to see how you get on

 

Looks fine to me. But they look rather small to be "dry stored" ... time will tell.

Best not to give any water until they start to shoot some white roots - otherwise they will be prone to rotting. Stand in a pot with some dry compost in it, initially.

My understanding is that the Etiopians dig them up and dry-store them in their drought season, so no need for heated greenhouse, frost free will do - attic for example. Cut off all roots, and leaves. Dry out well - upside down for a couple of days, initially, to drain all water out. Not sure about cutting the top off - I think best to remove the leave (i.e. you will have all the pseudostem to the point where the leaves branch out).

Make sure the attic does not freeze! i.e. if the insulation is on the ceiling, rather than under the roof tiles, the attic may fall below zero ... frost free garage will do of course.

 

You may be right Pete and Kristen - thats something I hadn't considered. I just assumed that they were big enough. I will let you know how they get on.

The instructions say that it can be left on overnight. And it has to be well insulated so that you wouldn't be electrocuted if you wet the bed - that wouldn't be good publicity for them. You can feel the heating wires which are not that close together, so parts will be hotter than others. But if you put a plant in a pot on top, the soil in the pot will even out the variations in temperature. The main thing to consider is that it can't overheat locally and burst into flames. But then its designed to not do that when a person is sleeping on it - I hope.

I suspect that you could put any of the old blankets in a washing machine, if you dried them out very carefully. But not everyone would - so they had to say don't do it. However, when they advertise that you can, I suspect that it is foolproof and you could apply the power to a wet blanket - but I don't think I will try.

 

Mines a small shriveled mess but i tried

 

I am guessing that a Gravel Tray would distribute the heat too? - and keep the moisture and soil / muck off the blanket too

Its a cure though ... of sorts

 

Sal - where have you been keeping yours? It must be pretty warm to start into life by itself. Its really cold here now. How did you overwinter yours ? - did you cut anything off?, or did you just keep it an an entire plant.

Jools - sorry to hear that. What happened and how did you overwinter it.

 

Hi I have all mine in the conservatory. Last autumn I dug them up, chopped of the leaves because they were too tall, and then turned them upside down to dry out for about a week or two . I then just popped them all into an empty plant pot in the conservatory. They continued to grow because they hadn't dried out completely and I just chopped off any emerging leaves. Eventually they did stop and they were left like that up until February.I then potted each one up in dry compost, no watering, and since then, because the conservatory has been warm on sunny days, they have started growing again. They have only had the smallest amount of water maybe three times since then. You must not water them until they start growing properly, and then only when it is warm, possibly first thing in the morning before the temps drop again at night, or you risk losing them to rot.I will try and post some pictures for you tomorrow.This is what I have done for the past 2 winters and never had a problem

 

those are mine , not great pictures as it was really cold outside



the first big one popping out



all the muse are awake as well



really need a dry hot day .

 

Hi don't give up on it yet!. Just pot it up in some dry compost and place it somewhere warm, but do not water it.Unless it is completely desicated, it should start to grow again.

 

Thanks dorothy,i have and im willing it to come to life with all my might but it isnt
I think it was too small/young,last summer wasnt great for growth i should of left it in the gh all summer its still in shallow planting..maybe a miracle could happen