Plant Care

[mallyh]

can anyone tell me how i can look after my coconut and banana plants during the winter thanks x

[sandyRoe]

Cover them with fleece blankets?

[mallyh]

thanks sandyRoe will covering just the bottoms of the coconuts be ok as they are 6ft high

[heathfield]

Keep the central heating turned up.

[sandyRoe]

We'll need an experienced gardener to give a definitive answer. I just remember seeing a gardening programme where a banana tree was covered with a fleece. The leaves had suffered some damage but the covering had saved the tree.

[mallyh]

thanks heathfield i have them in the garden(in pots) at the moment ,they look great .

[Tilly2]

Did you actually get coconuts on your coconut tree, mallyh?

[Frank97]

Step by step guide to wrapping Bananas here
http://apps.rhs.org.uk/advicesearch/profile.aspx?PID=336

[Old_Geezer]

Keep them out of draughts, indoors, in the warm. Do not do what my parents did to my banana plant decades ago and that is, during the winter decide I can't have it in the warm living room any more and shove it into the cold hallway to wither and die. It's not good for it.

[Chipchopper]

The banana plant is technically a herb rather than a tree, it's leaves and stems will die down each year at the end of the growing season, but the root will keep dormant below ground and shoot will reappear in the spring when the weather warms up, with any luck!
It's often referred to as the "walking tree" as it will come up in a slightly different place each year. With protection from frost, it is possible to protect the roots with it's own dead leaves or as Sandy says with a horticultural fleece, outdoors in the UK. It's likely to become too big for the pot, if you want to keep it long term, so you may want to find a sunny spot in the open ground and care for it in the same way.

The coconut palms are sold in their thousands and although they look very robust and exotic, these sprouting nuts are really just a seedling and usually last for one season, as a house plant, then that's it!
It likes high humidity and can be kept looking happier for longer with regular misting with water.
Good Luck - Chip

[mallyh]

thankyou everyone for your tips .no tilly idon't get coconuts .they are the ones growing from a coconut so perhaps they will die off but i'll have a go at covering the roots thanks again x