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sandy0225 · 02-16-2010, 10:29 AM

Actually, the leaf blade stems bending down is usually an indication that the plant is too dry. More specifically dry for too long in between waterings. The leaves expand, get heavy, and grow when there's enough water, and then the first time the plant dries out a little too much, that little narrow part where the leaf hooks to the main stem gets soft and spongy from lack of water, then the weight of the leaf causes it to bend down, eventually killing your leaf. It's a survival strategy for the plant actually. It needs to lose some surface area to stay alive, so it kills off some leaves. That way the plant doesn't dry out too much during drought, and when it gets better conditions, it starts growing new leaves again.
You might be going just a little too long in-between waterings. Our plant that is by a plate glass window at church is about 6 feet tall, it's a bordelon with two stems in a 14" pot. It currently requires approx 1/2-3/4 gallon of water a week, once a week. It does get good strong light, and temps down to 60 at night. Last week church was closed because of snow and for some reason I didn't think about that plant needing water even once during the week. So it went two weeks with no water. It lost two leaves due to them bending down like you described.
During summer, the same plant requires about 1-1.5 gallons of water in the same location.

02-16-2010, 10:29 AM	#10 (permalink)
sandy0225 Northern Tropics sandy0225's Photo Gallery Location: Muncie, Indiana zone 5 Find me on the map! Zone: zone 5 Name: Sandy Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 1,718 BananaBucks : 354,933 Feedback: 31 / 97% Said "Thanks" 38 Times Was Thanked 1,801 Times in 682 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 9 Times	Re: Watering nana's Actually, the leaf blade stems bending down is usually an indication that the plant is too dry. More specifically dry for too long in between waterings. The leaves expand, get heavy, and grow when there's enough water, and then the first time the plant dries out a little too much, that little narrow part where the leaf hooks to the main stem gets soft and spongy from lack of water, then the weight of the leaf causes it to bend down, eventually killing your leaf. It's a survival strategy for the plant actually. It needs to lose some surface area to stay alive, so it kills off some leaves. That way the plant doesn't dry out too much during drought, and when it gets better conditions, it starts growing new leaves again. You might be going just a little too long in-between waterings. Our plant that is by a plate glass window at church is about 6 feet tall, it's a bordelon with two stems in a 14" pot. It currently requires approx 1/2-3/4 gallon of water a week, once a week. It does get good strong light, and temps down to 60 at night. Last week church was closed because of snow and for some reason I didn't think about that plant needing water even once during the week. So it went two weeks with no water. It lost two leaves due to them bending down like you described. During summer, the same plant requires about 1-1.5 gallons of water in the same location. __________________ Sandy Burrell Northern Tropics Greenhouse 1501 East Fuson Road Muncie, IN 47302 www.northerntropics.com specializing in bananas, heirloom tomatoes and water gardening plants~ check out our new online store at our website!