Re: Looking
Main signs of overwatering is slow or stopped growth. Roots start dying very fast! Mostly around the cortex area of the corm. If you dig in you will see lots of black nasty roots! Eventually you will see browning of the edges of the leafs! This is one of the last warning signs. They can die faster than you think! On the other hand if you accidentally water too little it’s no big deal!
Go by the growth! Fast growth! Heat! Sand! You can water every day! The scary part is everyone’s environment and soil is different! So it varies a lot. Some areas is almost impossible to over water! Others just the rain can kill them! The major problems is when the pup is small! And when the temps are low! After the pup is 3’ or so it’s hard to mess up.
Things I have found and are my standard practice for every Musa!
- always grow in a pot first! Transplant to the ground only after you have a strong solid rootball! When transplanting be very careful not to disturb the rootball!
- when digging my hole I dig 1 shovel deep wide hole! In the middle under the rootball I dig an extra shovel deep and put my top (wash off) sand that is coarse in that hole. You can buy coarse sand at homedepot. Pool filter sand is best! If you don’t live in sand this step is a must! I would actually even dig more! It just provides better draining and an area to drain! Don’t worry about the roots! Only under the corm! The sand comes up 1/4th Of the lower rootball!
Do all that and you will never have an issue! The potting mix needs to be well draining also! Rice hulls and perlite are a must in my mix! The rootball will support the plant and be forgiving to mistakes until the plant gets larger! The extra sand under the corm/rootball will give plenty of drainage!
If you don’t live in sand or just want to be extra safe look up my bro Hector’s posts! He is an expert planter and grower! Just look at his results from his system! The way he plants I would consider perfect! If I only had a few plants I would do exactly what he does! Basically you want the water to drain through. Not stay! And on top you put all your organics and manure, etc.
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