Okay, here's the strategy I've developed. I figure if the roots are having trouble with rot, it would be good to get them more air. I could remove the plant from the soil and increase the percentage of perlite but I'd prefer not to disturb the plant any more than absolutely necessary. At the same time, I was wondering if CO2 levels might get too high in the "tent". Thinking back to a university hydroponics experiment back a little over 30 years ago (yikes, I'm old!), I decided to purchase an aquarium air pump and use it to aerate the soil. I purchased a cheap (little over $5 at WalMart) pump rated at 1200cc/minute pump. I used air stones to help distribute the air and prevent plugging of the tubbing and placed three stones up through the bottom drain holes of the pot and taped them in to help prevent air flowing right back out of the bottom. I then placed a poly bag over the bottom and taped it at the top to further prevent air from flowing out the bottom. My hopes is that this will aerate the soil, reduce risk of rot, stimulate root growth, and increase oxygen in the air of the bag. As long as the soil is moist, this should also increase humidity. Total cost of this experiment was about $11.
The humidity level in the tent as 65% before removing the banana from the pot but dropped to 42% as soon as I removed it. About 10 minutes after pumping air with the tent back on, it's up to 55%.
Let's see if this helps! Any thoughts on this would be most welcome. I thought my cat wouldn't go for the idea as the pump is about a foot from where she sleeps but she didn't budge. LOL
