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Old 08-20-2013, 04:02 AM   #1 (permalink)
rwood1754
 
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Default banana plants all dying

Haven't been here for awhile. Live in Phoenix. Temperatures at my house ran from 17 degrees this last winter to 118 degrees in June. My banana plants survived the winter, growing good through May. A new leaf about every 1 & half weeks. June heat hits, not so good. Using screen on smaller plants. Older plants 5 to 8 feet tall on their own. All plants stopped growth or slowed down. High mineral content in water too. Too much water, the plants die from the center...from the corm up through new emerging leaf. This was different. Leaves started choking & stem not emerging. Then the largest plants were first. They were closest to potatoes & tomato plants in the ground. They started having large brown spots on the main stem & leaf stems, but not the leaves.. This turned into wholesale rot of the affected areas with outside stems falling away from plant. Grew worse, each layer from the outside affected. Insecticides, fungicides, nothing helped. Then the main stem started rotting from outside & top downward. Cutting stem back didn't help. Started spreading to other plants. Usually at bottom of stem below the leaf at main stem. Then on main stem looking like it was frozen or bruised. Some pups survived others died. One plant mother & pups all died at once. Had ice creams, goldfingers, orinocos, african rhino horn, kandarian & others...all affected. Smaller plants died within a week & a half. I have pineapple plants, apple tree, guava, Brazilian cherry tree, mango, bamboo among my collection in various parts of yard. One pineapple plant is three years old in a pot in full sun. Last summer in the ground & all winter in the ground with only leaves & a cloth sheet over it through the below freezing weather. I haven't contacted the agriculture dept yet. but I lost $ in banana plants...about 15 plants. Only one banana plant not affected yet as was never in close contact with others & in a different part of the back yard. Even the plants in front yard died.The question??? What is killing my plants so fast. Not the sun or water, which in June is hard on them . Bacteria, virus or insect?? Any ideas? Also, I tried withholding water on some plants to see the effect. Didn't see in difference on spread of the dying. Watering or not watering...all the same.

Last edited by rwood1754 : 08-20-2013 at 04:09 AM. Reason: additional info.
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