DaveE

I have a 7' Orinoco that is doing the same thing. It was in a 20 gallon pot inside a greenhouse where it grew all winter. Transplanting was uneventful yet every leaf progressively gets smaller.

I have 4 other large Orinoco that I purchased bare root, like the one Dean posted, and they are not doing this even though two are planted in very harsh circumstances. One of which had a good size bruise 3/4 up the stem and it was rotting under two layers. After I cleaned it up, it recovered quickly and is now growing normally. All the leaves are about the same size, but not as large as the largest from the potted plant.

I think Michael is right on the money and our plants are just focusing more energy on root production.

Why are the leaves getting smaller? Here is my theory. In your case the plant was inside with minimal light. When it started to grow the leaves grew large, using energy from the corm, to gather every bit of light they could. At the same time I am sure the roots were starting to grow also. You move it out in the sun and now it is getting all the light it needs and the sun warms the soil triggering an explosion of root growth which uses up available energy.

In my case it was the same except the plant was in a greenhouse growing in the winter with less daylight. There were other plants around it blocking some light and the plastic cover on the greenhouse must diffuse some of the light also. I plant it outside in full sun with the daylight getting longer and it now has all the light it could want. I fertilize it with Miracle-Gro which is a little high in phosphorus for a banana and it shifts focus to root production.

My other large transplants have always been outside in the sun so they never started producing the larger leaves and they have put their energy into root production from day one so they stay constant.

I hope I am wrong and its going to flower, but that wouldn't explain yours.

Dave

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