Before watching your video's I had the mind frame of thinking I would never be able to have the patience or knowledge to ever have any of these tropical wonders, to actually looking forward to giving them a go once I am able, thanks for all your knowledge George, especially the steps in each season
That’s great to hear and I’m pleased my videos have been encouraging! I don’t know everything and have made plenty of mistakes but try to make any tips and lessons for success I’ve learnt as straightforward as possible. A lot of them grow really quickly and easily so patience isn’t much of an issue!
They both are beautiful plants, but they are not meant for my windy 5 sqm balcony!.. Thanks to you, I just ordered a small Mahonia eurybracteata "Soft Caress" (It appears on the present video @0:47) I'm so excited! Thank you George!
Fantastic choice Bernard, as you can see, I’ve got a couple more to settle in here that I didn’t plant last autumn. They’re beautiful little plants and like you say, a far better option for a windy, small balcony! 😃
How do mate? I'm busy killing my 6 ensetes in 2 community pots outdoors due to a lack of indoor space. I'm lugging them in every night and sticking them out during the day. This is after a winter of brutal dry store. If they come back from this they'll survive in anything 🤣🤣. Great video as always mate
Hello Vincenze, all is good here thanks, I hope you are too! I’m sure there’ll be epic sagas written about your exotic gardening efforts, or at least short tales for others to learn from! Top marks for effort and they better make it through after that! 😂 Thanks 👍
Great video as slways George, did as you suggested with my ensetes and there's some green/white life there in my smaller ones so a relief after all the effort trying to keep them going with my paraffin heater on off on off for months 🤦. My big ones I had also kept in a pot and they're fine. I've brought the smaller ones indoors now by the patio door with plenty of light so hopefully they'll appreciate the more consistent warmth.
That’s great to hear John and I’m sure they’ll take off with more heat / light. Mine are just in a tiny end room, not ideal but the heating bill for a polytunnel is a scary thought!
Hey George great Info always I have a tropical garden but I'm struggling this year with my musa basjoo if I send a image please could u offer your thoughts many thanks
Hi Daisy and thank you very much. It's perfectly normal for them to look a bit rough at this time of year but if you send a pic to my Instagram or FB page I'll have a look for you, no worries.
I've only just discovered you because I'm finally getting to landscaping my (UK) garden. Massively into tropical houseplants though. Wish I found you sooner 😄 great tips, I don't know a thing about outdoor gardening. The first plants I've got for my garden are a little Golden Lotus Banana and Canary Island Date Palm that will arrive late April. Can't wait to see what I can do with them, at the very least learn how to look after them 😊
Thanks Marissa and I hope you enjoy the exciting process of transforming your garden! The Golden Lotus banana will ideally need to be dug up and kept frost free in a greenhouse or indoors over winter, the CIDP will be happy outside in a sheltered spot (depending on where you're located) but may need winter protection in colder winters, especially while it's small. They can definitely get big long term so be careful where you plant it. I've not done too many videos on those plants but if there's any other videos you want more info on then just leave a comment, I try to reply to them all.
@@GeorgesJungleGarden thanks for the tips, I've got on to your other videos which have really helped with picking some more hardy plants. Hopefully the lovely Kent weather will help them thrive this year (I don't think I missed out too much with last year's snow!) I'm wondering if you'll get to doing a video on how you made your beds for your plants? Your plants look great and super happy 😊
@@acharneth No worries and I'm pleased you're enjoying the videos - if you want to know any more on any of them just leave a comment. Hopefully we've got a lovely spring ahead and they grow well for both of us! How do you mean when you talk about the beds, physically digging them or the planting design side of things?
@@GeorgesJungleGarden I've got my fingers crossed for a good Spring! Yes the digging / prep aspect for your beds. Perhaps it depends on your soil type as well as other things? My soil is very thick clay with rocks, not the easiest to dig so maybe raised beds would be a better option for me. I'm also thinking that maybe I'd like to keep my staple centre pieces in pots in case I can never dig them out again if I move in the coming years 🙈
Hi Nick and thank you very much. There's a couple down there, Coleus 'China Rose' and then the slightly larger one is Iresine herbstii, both tender tropical style bedding plants that you can grow from cuttings.
Hiya I am growing a few bananas from seeds I have a couple of musa skikamentas not sure how to spell it but something like that. Also have a ensete ventricosum it is about 1 foot tall from soil the the highest tip and others about 8inch what sort of growth could I expect this summer out of the two kinds. Thank you in advance
Hi Ryan, nice one! If they’ve germinated and got to that size they’re only going to speed up from there! They should get to 4/5 foot for sure, probably more with summer feeding and lots of water!
I have small plants (basjoo, ensete and simkimensis) that are about 14”tall at present, I’ve just repotted them into 5L pots as they were quite rootbound.. My question is will they be ok in an un-heated greenhouse over winter? I can only find answers about larger plants
Hi, the basjoo and sikkimensis should be fine in there if it’s not an extremely cold winter, the Ensete need to come inside really, you’re unlikely to get them through winter in an unheated greenhouse. They are always a bit tricky to get through winter in smaller sizes but I’d expect it to have filled the 5lt or a 10lt pot by October and have put on a good bit of size.
Ok that’s great, so I don’t have to chop it down and dry store it, I can just keep it semi dormant… they have grown so fast already, they were literally plug plants in april!
Hi Kev, personally I'd be tempted to try standing it up and see if it rights itself. Worst case just chop the whole top of the plant off top to where it's straight if it's only started growing, it'll soon push new (upright) leaves through when stood and potted up.
@@GeorgesJungleGarden Thanks George It’s potted up now and without water has pushed out a reasonable amount of leaf So I’ll give it some water and keep an eye on it
Hi and nice one for getting them to that size! In all honesty, once they get to that point, unless you have a really spacious and tall conservatory etc, pretty much the only option is total dormancy as the leaves are so big. It seems a shame to cut them back so much but I'd go with whatever you've had success with in previous years.
@@GeorgesJungleGarden it’s my first year they came out of a greenhouse, cause you don’t see them that big around they were 4 feet tall, and now they almost tripled because I planted them outside, I do have the the room height, I do question if you just let them grow, ,, if you want to come back, we just cut them right off from the top
Hi George. I've got my basjoo covered up outside, when would it be possible to take off the fleece and straw. Should I wait a few more weeks. It's their 1st winter out doors. I've got 2 big ensete indoors and their putting out their new central leafs. Im going to divide each into 2 or 3. Would they be ok this week to move potted up in new compost into the polytunnel without being watered but covered in fleece ?
Hi, personally I’d wait a few weeks but you could unwrap them later this week as long as you’re prepared to put fleece over them for any late cold snaps. As for the Ensete, I’d keep them inside while the nights are still cold. Personally I wouldn’t divide them as a big plant is so impressive and small plug plants will be readily available in spring but completely up to you and it’s a challenge I’ll take on one day! I imagine they’ll need more warmth for success.
With the Cavendish, I plant one or two out and by the end of the season I have a number of pups. I then pot up the pups, as I do not have room for the main plant and use them as house plants until the Spring and the cycle begins again.
That’s a good idea for sure! Mine has 4 or 5 pups, only small but I’m sure if I’d grown it in the ground and fed it more last year they’d definitely have been big enough to separate in Autumn. Something I might try in the future thanks!
Great idea. I do something similar with a couple of tender plants that grow like weeds. Take a few cuttings at the end of summer: they require almost no space to overwinter indoors, then plant outside in spring in place of the old big plant that has died with the frost.
I got a small Maurelii as a gift late last year and kept it indoors all winter where it put on a bit of growth. I did give it a bit of feed late April/ early May and then noticed some of the leaves started to get brown holes in them, existing and new ones. Its now outside and still putting in growth but I am still getting the brown holes and if anything its getting worse. Any ideas what this is and how I can stop it - thank you
Hi Nick, it’s hard to guess but I’d make sure it’s somewhere in full sun now, and keep it watered and fed well. Could it be sun damage from not being hardened off for long enough?
@@GeorgesJungleGarden Hi George. In the last month I've followed your advice and am now pleased to say my plant is now thriving. Lots of strong new leaves, no holes! Thanks again for your
Hi George, I've dry stored mine in pots in a coldish conservatory. Two leaves have stayed on throughout the winter and it seems to be doing well, no pests. Are there any negatives to leaving those leaves on for the whole of winter?
Hi Stellan - that’s exactly how I used to store mine and it sounds like you’ve done it perfectly. With the bright light and cool temps of a conservatory I’d leave the leaves on, although I suspect it doesn’t make a huge amount of difference. They’ll soon take off after a bit of watering when the spring sun comes out 😃
@@Salsa_Souls Yes, it’s quite amazing the amount of abuse and drought they can take and still reliably bounce back from really! I’m sure they’ll get really big for you this year 😃
Hi Heather, if you pot them into a big pot for summer they can definitely get big for sure! You can then ‘dig them up’ and pot them into a smaller pot for winter. I use all sorts for food, chicken manure pellets, liquid seaweed and tomato feed are my go to choices though 😃
Definitely come in handy as mine start to grow top video.👌👌👌👌
Thank you very much, I hope they grow well for you! 😃
Before watching your video's I had the mind frame of thinking I would never be able to have the patience or knowledge to ever have any of these tropical wonders, to actually looking forward to giving them a go once I am able, thanks for all your knowledge George, especially the steps in each season
That’s great to hear and I’m pleased my videos have been encouraging! I don’t know everything and have made plenty of mistakes but try to make any tips and lessons for success I’ve learnt as straightforward as possible. A lot of them grow really quickly and easily so patience isn’t much of an issue!
Your tree ferns look great!
Thank you, on the whole they do. Some browning on the more exposed ones and a few fronds snapped off but they’re mainly green which is good to see!
Great I formation bro I love plants we leave everything outside no snow or cold here
Thank you! You’re very lucky 😃
Looking like a nice April getting hot I'm told can't wait
Fingers crossed Steve. Chilly here tonight, rainy on Wednesday but then there’s beautiful sun symbols and milder nights after then! 🤞😃
They both are beautiful plants, but they are not meant for my windy 5 sqm balcony!..
Thanks to you, I just ordered a small Mahonia eurybracteata "Soft Caress" (It appears on the present video @0:47)
I'm so excited! Thank you George!
Fantastic choice Bernard, as you can see, I’ve got a couple more to settle in here that I didn’t plant last autumn. They’re beautiful little plants and like you say, a far better option for a windy, small balcony! 😃
How do mate? I'm busy killing my 6 ensetes in 2 community pots outdoors due to a lack of indoor space. I'm lugging them in every night and sticking them out during the day. This is after a winter of brutal dry store. If they come back from this they'll survive in anything 🤣🤣. Great video as always mate
Hello Vincenze, all is good here thanks, I hope you are too! I’m sure there’ll be epic sagas written about your exotic gardening efforts, or at least short tales for others to learn from! Top marks for effort and they better make it through after that! 😂 Thanks 👍
Great video as slways George, did as you suggested with my ensetes and there's some green/white life there in my smaller ones so a relief after all the effort trying to keep them going with my paraffin heater on off on off for months 🤦. My big ones I had also kept in a pot and they're fine. I've brought the smaller ones indoors now by the patio door with plenty of light so hopefully they'll appreciate the more consistent warmth.
That’s great to hear John and I’m sure they’ll take off with more heat / light. Mine are just in a tiny end room, not ideal but the heating bill for a polytunnel is a scary thought!
Hey George great Info always I have a tropical garden but I'm struggling this year with my musa basjoo if I send a image please could u offer your thoughts many thanks
Hi Daisy and thank you very much. It's perfectly normal for them to look a bit rough at this time of year but if you send a pic to my Instagram or FB page I'll have a look for you, no worries.
I've only just discovered you because I'm finally getting to landscaping my (UK) garden. Massively into tropical houseplants though. Wish I found you sooner 😄 great tips, I don't know a thing about outdoor gardening. The first plants I've got for my garden are a little Golden Lotus Banana and Canary Island Date Palm that will arrive late April. Can't wait to see what I can do with them, at the very least learn how to look after them 😊
Thanks Marissa and I hope you enjoy the exciting process of transforming your garden! The Golden Lotus banana will ideally need to be dug up and kept frost free in a greenhouse or indoors over winter, the CIDP will be happy outside in a sheltered spot (depending on where you're located) but may need winter protection in colder winters, especially while it's small. They can definitely get big long term so be careful where you plant it. I've not done too many videos on those plants but if there's any other videos you want more info on then just leave a comment, I try to reply to them all.
@@GeorgesJungleGarden thanks for the tips, I've got on to your other videos which have really helped with picking some more hardy plants. Hopefully the lovely Kent weather will help them thrive this year (I don't think I missed out too much with last year's snow!) I'm wondering if you'll get to doing a video on how you made your beds for your plants? Your plants look great and super happy 😊
@@acharneth No worries and I'm pleased you're enjoying the videos - if you want to know any more on any of them just leave a comment. Hopefully we've got a lovely spring ahead and they grow well for both of us! How do you mean when you talk about the beds, physically digging them or the planting design side of things?
@@GeorgesJungleGarden I've got my fingers crossed for a good Spring! Yes the digging / prep aspect for your beds. Perhaps it depends on your soil type as well as other things? My soil is very thick clay with rocks, not the easiest to dig so maybe raised beds would be a better option for me. I'm also thinking that maybe I'd like to keep my staple centre pieces in pots in case I can never dig them out again if I move in the coming years 🙈
Hi George another really great video. I was wondering what is the plant with the red variagated leaves at the bottom of the shot at 1:20?
Hi Nick and thank you very much. There's a couple down there, Coleus 'China Rose' and then the slightly larger one is Iresine herbstii, both tender tropical style bedding plants that you can grow from cuttings.
Hiya I am growing a few bananas from seeds I have a couple of musa skikamentas not sure how to spell it but something like that. Also have a ensete ventricosum it is about 1 foot tall from soil the the highest tip and others about 8inch what sort of growth could I expect this summer out of the two kinds. Thank you in advance
Hi Ryan, nice one! If they’ve germinated and got to that size they’re only going to speed up from there! They should get to 4/5 foot for sure, probably more with summer feeding and lots of water!
I have small plants (basjoo, ensete and simkimensis) that are about 14”tall at present, I’ve just repotted them into 5L pots as they were quite rootbound..
My question is will they be ok in an un-heated greenhouse over winter? I can only find answers about larger plants
Hi, the basjoo and sikkimensis should be fine in there if it’s not an extremely cold winter, the Ensete need to come inside really, you’re unlikely to get them through winter in an unheated greenhouse. They are always a bit tricky to get through winter in smaller sizes but I’d expect it to have filled the 5lt or a 10lt pot by October and have put on a good bit of size.
Ok that’s great, so I don’t have to chop it down and dry store it, I can just keep it semi dormant… they have grown so fast already, they were literally plug plants in april!
Hi George
I’ve got a Ensette pushing out a leaf sideways due to been laying down , will it straighten out or should I do something to it
Thanks Kev
Hi Kev, personally I'd be tempted to try standing it up and see if it rights itself. Worst case just chop the whole top of the plant off top to where it's straight if it's only started growing, it'll soon push new (upright) leaves through when stood and potted up.
@@GeorgesJungleGarden Thanks George
It’s potted up now and without water has pushed out a reasonable amount of leaf
So I’ll give it some water and keep an eye on it
@@kevincahalan9994 Nice one, good luck with it 😃
I have two ensete,,12 feet tall,, I’m going to make them go dormant and put them in my garage and hopefully next year they will grow larger
Nice one, sounds like a plan! That's a good size considering how cool it's been this summer!
@@GeorgesJungleGarden I got a good deal on them,,I think,they were 4 feet tall for 99.00 each
Nice one, they're not usually available in larger sizes and that's a great price considering how huge they are now!@@larrydemonte2218
George,,my tress are now 14 feet tall and I’m still torn about either cutting them down to 4 feet and potting them in my house or go total dormancy
Hi and nice one for getting them to that size! In all honesty, once they get to that point, unless you have a really spacious and tall conservatory etc, pretty much the only option is total dormancy as the leaves are so big. It seems a shame to cut them back so much but I'd go with whatever you've had success with in previous years.
@@GeorgesJungleGarden it’s my first year they came out of a greenhouse, cause you don’t see them that big around they were 4 feet tall, and now they almost tripled because I planted them outside, I do have the the room height, I do question if you just let them grow, ,, if you want to come back, we just cut them right off from the top
Hi George. I've got my basjoo covered up outside, when would it be possible to take off the fleece and straw. Should I wait a few more weeks. It's their 1st winter out doors.
I've got 2 big ensete indoors and their putting out their new central leafs. Im going to divide each into 2 or 3. Would they be ok this week to move potted up in new compost into the polytunnel without being watered but covered in fleece ?
Hi, personally I’d wait a few weeks but you could unwrap them later this week as long as you’re prepared to put fleece over them for any late cold snaps. As for the Ensete, I’d keep them inside while the nights are still cold. Personally I wouldn’t divide them as a big plant is so impressive and small plug plants will be readily available in spring but completely up to you and it’s a challenge I’ll take on one day! I imagine they’ll need more warmth for success.
What do you do with all the pups that grow?
Hi Luke, Ensete don’t pup but ‘Dwarf Cavendish do, this time I’ll be keeping my plant as a large clump, they look cool like that! 😃
With the Cavendish, I plant one or two out and by the end of the season I have a number of pups. I then pot up the pups, as I do not have room for the main plant and use them as house plants until the Spring and the cycle begins again.
That’s a good idea for sure! Mine has 4 or 5 pups, only small but I’m sure if I’d grown it in the ground and fed it more last year they’d definitely have been big enough to separate in Autumn. Something I might try in the future thanks!
Great idea. I do something similar with a couple of tender plants that grow like weeds. Take a few cuttings at the end of summer: they require almost no space to overwinter indoors, then plant outside in spring in place of the old big plant that has died with the frost.
@@pansepot1490 I used to do that with Coleus too, which plants have you had success with?
I got a small Maurelii as a gift late last year and kept it indoors all winter where it put on a bit of growth. I did give it a bit of feed late April/ early May and then noticed some of the leaves started to get brown holes in them, existing and new ones. Its now outside and still putting in growth but I am still getting the brown holes and if anything its getting worse. Any ideas what this is and how I can stop it - thank you
Hi Nick, it’s hard to guess but I’d make sure it’s somewhere in full sun now, and keep it watered and fed well. Could it be sun damage from not being hardened off for long enough?
Many thanks George I will give it a try. Really appreciate you taking the time to reply. Well done for appearing on GW too.
@@GeorgesJungleGarden Hi George. In the last month I've followed your advice and am now pleased to say my plant is now thriving. Lots of strong new leaves, no holes! Thanks again for your
@@nickdown8638 That’s fantastic Nick, great to hear! I’m sure it’ll grow well in this warm spell 😃
Hi George, I've dry stored mine in pots in a coldish conservatory. Two leaves have stayed on throughout the winter and it seems to be doing well, no pests. Are there any negatives to leaving those leaves on for the whole of winter?
Hi Stellan - that’s exactly how I used to store mine and it sounds like you’ve done it perfectly. With the bright light and cool temps of a conservatory I’d leave the leaves on, although I suspect it doesn’t make a huge amount of difference. They’ll soon take off after a bit of watering when the spring sun comes out 😃
@@GeorgesJungleGarden O.k. thanks! I watered them only when the soil was dry as a bone, maybe once a month if that. Cheers!
@@Salsa_Souls Yes, it’s quite amazing the amount of abuse and drought they can take and still reliably bounce back from really! I’m sure they’ll get really big for you this year 😃
👌👌👌👌
Thanks! 😃
Hi George. If I was to keep my Ensete in a pot would I still get big leaves? Also what feed do you use?
Hi Heather, if you pot them into a big pot for summer they can definitely get big for sure! You can then ‘dig them up’ and pot them into a smaller pot for winter. I use all sorts for food, chicken manure pellets, liquid seaweed and tomato feed are my go to choices though 😃
@@GeorgesJungleGarden thanks George. 😊
@@heatherfindler6950 No worries!
Hello Sir hear from New York City 🏙️ I have a Ice Cream Banana Plant with a Minor Spider Mites problem what can I do before it gets bad😢
Hi Matthew and apologies for my delayed reply. I'd generally recommend SB invigorator, is that something you can get where you are?
Si much plants I. The Caribbean island rainy season now
Thanks, they’re lovely! I bet the plant growth during the rains is incredible to see 😃
@@GeorgesJungleGarden agree the plants are greener a. Looks great an are happy I love them
We in the raintly season now my bro God bless