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View Full Version : Bananas taken indoor stopped growing


swatikrish
11-06-2009, 09:00 AM
I moved a 4-ft musa basjoo and two pups inside home and potted them. They were growing for 20 days or so after moving inside, but seems like now they stopped growing. The new leaf that emerged when it was growing is still rolled up and not growing any further. Its been almost a month.

Same with SDC and the pup. The SDS is also turning yellow and black but I think that has more to do with the compost (that I tried to make) I added in the pot. May be the compost is not completely ready, occasionally some mushrooms are growing out of the pot, so may be there is a fungus problem in the soil.

Do you guys have any suggestions?

sbl
11-06-2009, 09:47 AM
If your indoor temps are below 60 (soil is often cooler than room temp) the bananas will go dormant. When they go dormant, they do not use water, if the soil is moist it will cause the roots to rot. In addition, lower indoor light and shorter days will reduce growth and water use. So, when you bring bananas indoors, you should keep water to a minimum and expect slower growth.

browndrake
11-06-2009, 10:28 AM
also, if you just repotted them, to bring them inside, then they may also be suffering from some transplant shock.

So, watch the temps and the watering amount. But remember that it can take a few weeks after transplanting for some bananas to resume growing.

good luck

aaron

swatikrish
11-06-2009, 10:57 AM
thanks guys. i already increased the room temperature yesterday. i will limit the watering in future.

LilRaverBoi
11-06-2009, 01:14 PM
Yeah, I'd watch that you don't overwater. It's very possible it's just transplant shock and they're working on some roots before growing leaves again. My plants have been inside quite a while now and were growing fairly well, but this last week none of them have done anything...not sure what happened with them.

deruo
11-06-2009, 02:20 PM
I see you're just "down the road" from me ;-)

Be sure to lay off the water. Its a real balancing act with heat, water and humidity with what seems to be a good measure of luck. Right now I have two plants indoors. One in front of a southern window that isn't doing much of anything (and getting brown dry spots on its leaves) but had a cigar leaf that is taking forever to unroll. The other is in a bathroom with a grow light on it and still going great guns (except for the pups)

They can definitely tolerate underwatering more than overwatering, and the general concensus seems to be that at higher temperatures, they'll want more light. So a cool room with lowish light as long as you keep it dry isn't necessarily a bad thing. If you're like me, you just want to keep them alive until spring so they can go back outside.

swatikrish
11-06-2009, 03:11 PM
Thanks Liverboi

thanks deruo - is what exactly is happening..takings its time to unroll the new leaf. i will def. cut down watering coz i was watering once a week.

LilRaverBoi
11-06-2009, 06:08 PM
Thanks Liverboi
LMFAO...LiverBoi? I do like liver a lot, but that's not quite my name LOL.

moonboy87
11-07-2009, 01:25 AM
Yeah man, how is your liver doing lately? :)

LilRaverBoi
11-07-2009, 05:38 PM
Yeah man, how is your liver doing lately? :)

LOL...probably not that well with all the abuse it gets. :ha:

parid09
12-01-2009, 11:27 AM
Hey y'all! Jumping in a bit late on this thread, but one thing I tried this year was the addition of a small fan in my plant room. Last year, I had a lot of moisture "pocket" issues, that is, there were areas in the room that were a lot more humid than others. I have a lot of plants in a small area, and air movement was severely restricted around the leaves, resulting in fungal growth and rot. I also blast the leaves on the bananas with a 409 bottle and water to keep the mites down and this results in some super humid conditions afterwards. By this time last year, the nanners had for the most part, stopped growing, and the room resembled the aftermath of a cat 5. This year, growth is continuing normally with all species, and no fungus. Air temps in the upper 50s at night and around 68 to 72 during the day. I usually water only when the leaves kind of get a slightly drooped look about them and the drain holes in the bottom of the containers fail the "stick test". Also, keep constant vigilance for spider mites! they have a nasty way of sneaking up on you!! Good luck!!

Kevin
12-01-2009, 09:19 PM
If your indoor temps are below 60 (soil is often cooler than room temp) the bananas will go dormant. When they go dormant, they do not use water, if the soil is moist it will cause the roots to rot. In addition, lower indoor light and shorter days will reduce growth and water use. So, when you bring bananas indoors, you should keep water to a minimum and expect slower growth.

Is this true for all bananas? When you say 'below 60', do you mean the night temperature, or the max. day temp.? If the nights get cool, but the days are warm, do they still grow? I have a Dwarf Orinoco in a pot inside that is growing great, but normally, when it gets really cold out, the low temps in that room can get to 10 C (50F), but the day temps are in the mid 20's C (75F). Will I need to watch the watering?

Sorry for hijacking this thread, swatikrish, but I had this question also. Btw, what's SDC and SDS?

sbl
12-01-2009, 10:31 PM
Is this true for all bananas? When you say 'below 60', do you mean the night temperature, or the max. day temp.? If the nights get cool, but the days are warm, do they still grow? I have a Dwarf Orinoco in a pot inside that is growing great, but normally, when it gets really cold out, the low temps in that room can get to 10 C (50F), but the day temps are in the mid 20's C (75F). Will I need to watch the watering?

Sorry for hijacking this thread, swatikrish, but I had this question also. Btw, what's SDC and SDS?

SDC is super dwarf cavendish, not sure about the other. As for temps, many plants stop growing at temps in the 60s. I'm not sure of the exact temp when bananas stop, but day time temps in the 70s will probably support some growth. However, light levels are lower and soil temps are cooler than air temps, so growth will be minimal and the plants will not need much water.
I have not watered mine for a while. They are dry, showing some drooping, but no damage from the dry conditions--just not growing. We have had some temps in the 70s. If you do water, keep it light--slower growth is better than rot.

Abnshrek
12-01-2009, 11:58 PM
I keep mine in the mid 60's @ night and mid- 70's during the day.. I shall see how they fare.. I run the humidifier every other day.. only during the day..

parid09
12-02-2009, 11:07 AM
Hi Kevin. Below 60 generally means night time temps, or daily lows in my plant room. When the outside temps really take the plunge, say -10 or so, I have had the night time temps dip to below 50, but when this happens, I fire up the second heater and can get it back to 60 or so. If the sun is out during the day, the room usually will get back to at least 70, but if there is a ferocious wind outside, it usually will hang in the 60s (during the day). I have basjoos, sikkis, and darjeelings, plus the domestic cultivar, and they may slow a bit with cool temps, but still maintain noticeable growth. As mentioned earlier, the fan evens out the temp and humidity and my experience indicates a much happier plant all the way around. I am not talking about blasting them, but just a gentle amount of air moving across the leaves. I try to keep the humidity around 50 to 60 per cent. Also with the fan, I have noticed I can keep the soil a bit more damp without the usuall wintertime leaf spotting issues. Good luck, and keep that mite radar on!!

swatikrish
12-04-2009, 01:55 PM
Kevin - no problem
i think i typed only SDC. I dont know what SDS is?

Boi - I think its easy to call this way

Zacarias
07-31-2010, 09:55 PM
What about the "stick test" and drainage holes? How does that work? Do you just check that for nanners that are inside?

stevelau1911
08-01-2010, 05:15 PM
My 2 basjoos that I took indoors last November also stopped growing, started etoliating with the psuedostem turning brown and eventually rotting away and I kept the soil really dry too. I think bananas can't really handle low light conditions indoors very well, so it might take a 500 or more watt metal halide light bulb to keep them alive indoors over the winter.

This year, I have 3 basjoos that are already way bigger than what I had going into last year and they are all planted in the ground where they can keep on getting bigger. I think it is better to keep them outside, try to protect them with mulch and tarps over winter since they appear to be happier in outdoor conditions.

Jack Daw
08-01-2010, 05:20 PM
Insufficient amount of light might be the problem as well.

Jalon
08-11-2010, 12:56 PM
Has anyone tried to grow bananas in with the cabinets sell for growing marijuana? In them, the light is strong.

Julio