edwmax

Your biggest problem is the radiant heat from the hot Sun. Bananas shut down and fold their leaves when air temps or radiant heat goes over 100 deg F. The leaves (surface temp) will burn when the temps are excess of 120 deg F (radiant heat). ... In Phoenix AZ, your plants need after noon shading from the hot Sun. ...Could you fry an egg on the sidewalk this summer???? ... so your nana plants were frying too.



Next Bananas transpire a large amount of water when trying to cool itself. The plant & roots can suck all the water out of the ground within its root zone quickly. ... Also, a problem of lost soil water due to evaporation to the atmosphere. This is a measurement tracked by your state Ag reports. This can also be a problem if not replaced or the roots can't reach the water table.



This summer, during our drought, I turned on the water sprinkler twice every day. My nana leaves did not fold down. The air temps were in the 90s to near 100 and the bright sun has radiant temps over 100 and much higher.



Your solution is to install sprinklers and shading.



Also, a PH of 8 is too high. It should be about 6.8 (6.2 to 7).

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