JCDerrick
02-10-2010, 02:53 PM
Figured a few of you have had to deal with this problem a time or two before.
I acquired some Hawaiian "Apple" banana corms last October and since it gets cold here around the start of November, I had to pot them and put them indoors under the halides. Both started out growing really well - but stretched a bit more than I'd like. I tried to keep watering to a min since I know bananas can rot easily indoors in the winter.
Unfortunately one of them has decided to "give up" on it's growth and the stretched growth fell over. I went ahead and removed the growth down to near the corm and discovered it had actually started to decay a bit.
I took the corm (which is rather large actually) - bigger than a large potato) and washed it off really well. It's still very firm, though it didn't really grow any new roots - which I suspect is what caused some of the problems.
Is it better than I leave it out of the soil and let it dry out some? Or should I replant it in the pot and try and keep it as warm as possible? Or should I put the corm in water and let it try and grow roots (that's usually how I handle my other banana corms).
This banana corm is especially important to me because of where I acquired it, so I really want to make sure I take the right steps to protect/save it. I went ahead and moved the other one closer to the Halide light in hopes it'll stop stretching if it's closer to the actual source of light. I tried that last year when some of my Sabas and IC's started to stretch and it seemed to help a bit. I've got at least another good month or so before I can put them outdoors - El Nino is keeping it rather chilly down here this winter.
Thanks guys,
John
I acquired some Hawaiian "Apple" banana corms last October and since it gets cold here around the start of November, I had to pot them and put them indoors under the halides. Both started out growing really well - but stretched a bit more than I'd like. I tried to keep watering to a min since I know bananas can rot easily indoors in the winter.
Unfortunately one of them has decided to "give up" on it's growth and the stretched growth fell over. I went ahead and removed the growth down to near the corm and discovered it had actually started to decay a bit.
I took the corm (which is rather large actually) - bigger than a large potato) and washed it off really well. It's still very firm, though it didn't really grow any new roots - which I suspect is what caused some of the problems.
Is it better than I leave it out of the soil and let it dry out some? Or should I replant it in the pot and try and keep it as warm as possible? Or should I put the corm in water and let it try and grow roots (that's usually how I handle my other banana corms).
This banana corm is especially important to me because of where I acquired it, so I really want to make sure I take the right steps to protect/save it. I went ahead and moved the other one closer to the Halide light in hopes it'll stop stretching if it's closer to the actual source of light. I tried that last year when some of my Sabas and IC's started to stretch and it seemed to help a bit. I've got at least another good month or so before I can put them outdoors - El Nino is keeping it rather chilly down here this winter.
Thanks guys,
John