edwmax

The plant looks good at this point. .... The black (or brown) spot on the pstem is normal coloration for most bananas. As long as it is not soft. The reddish color on the young leaf is a wine spot and normal for many banana varieties.


Now what I do see is some of the leaves have curl or wavy edge. This may be the beings of a problem. The leaf you cut off I wish we could have seen it. Did that leaf start turning black/brown from the out edges and progress to the middle stem? If so that would be an indication of too much water in the soil. (??????)


Now the potting soil does appear to have a large amount of peat. I don't see much perlite. So the fluffy & lite you described is from the peat. Peat holds water like a sponge, which then can become stagnate. And, that is not good for bananas in a pot. ... You need all excess free water to drain from the pot with the only remaining water is that which coated the surface of the soil particles and none being retained between the soil grain spaces. Thus a couple of hours after watering, the soil will feel slightly moist but not wet. You don't want any free water in the pot.


The plants do look good at this point. But if they start developing more wavy edges and/or yellowing & black edge, ... repot the plants in a different soil with lots of perlite and very little peat.

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