View Full Version : Banana disease?
breakintheweb
05-02-2011, 09:10 AM
I've only had banana plants for two months and having been reading a ton since then. I've noticed that my "dwarf cavendish" isn't growing much, has big black spots on new growth leaves. I was inspecting the stem which had black streaks and felt soft in spots.
I decided to cut them to the ground today and here are the resutling pics. The questions i have are, should i remove corm entirely? what are the risks to my other banana plants in the vicinity?
bottom side of removed stem
http://i.imgur.com/8i9BTh.jpg
remaining stem in corm after cutting.
http://i.imgur.com/Fkdxoh.jpg
another pic of the same
http://i.imgur.com/EWgyVh.jpg
New leaf growth on same stem
http://i.imgur.com/8bc1uh.jpg
leaf side view
http://i.imgur.com/7N9cah.jpg
Second stem after cutting (not nearly as bad)
http://i.imgur.com/aJrhgh.jpg
Area after both stems removed
http://i.imgur.com/MmQjEh.jpg
Entire album link
Photo Album - Imgur (http://imgur.com/a/v13dm)
pitangadiego
05-02-2011, 01:15 PM
Maybe I am missing something, but don't see a problem with the leaves, or the second stem. Hard to tell on the second corm, but it is helping the pup, so leave it.
breakintheweb
05-02-2011, 04:06 PM
I thought the big black spots on new leaf growth was a bad sign? I took the second stem out because i wasn't sure if was infected and i've recently planted 4 new varieties (TC) in the area and didn't want to take any chances.
I'm still unsure if the stems i removed were in fact diseased and it they were, what disease was the cause. I'm also unsure what the risks to my other plants are if this is a disease.
In the meantime i'm going to keep reading :2738:
pitangadiego
05-02-2011, 09:52 PM
Leaves are generally an indicator of plant health - but you have to understand that they report history, not current situation, in most cases. By the time a leaf emerges from the top of the pseudostem, the problems that it gives evidence of, such as under-watering, stress from a cold winter, over-fertilization, etc. are history, perhaps reporting events of a week, or two previous, or in the case of winter stress/damage, as much as 6 months ago. You may be looking at corms that were severely weakened by winter, and they may not survive, or they may continue to struggle for a while and then fade out. But that doesn't not mean they are diseased, just that they had a hard life. The second stem looks perfectly healthy. In general, there are few if ANY diseases that we experience with our banana plants. More often they suffer from inconsistent care, and the fact that we and they are not in Panama enjoying 90F every day. Betwe3en wind and cold, there is hardly a leaf on any of my banana plants (100+) that is recognizable at this point in the year. The onset of warm weather has caused them to push out their first new leaves in a long time.
The only real issue is with rotten portion of the pseudostem which is caused by a combination of cold and wet. The dark brown mushy portions need to be removed promptly, of they will affect neighboring leaf stems, until nothing is left. Other than that, chill out, sit back, and enjoy the ride.
Gabe15
05-03-2011, 12:48 AM
Where are you located?
breakintheweb
05-03-2011, 08:01 AM
I'm located in South West Florida (33901). We've had high temperatures in the 90's for the last month. We haven't had much rain but the humidity has been in the 50-70% range.
The banana's are in full sun with a very sandy soil that has been amended with a 20lb bag of compost per plant.
breakintheweb
05-15-2011, 06:19 PM
Here is an update from two weeks later. The corm has sent up 3 additional suckers. The two suckers that were present in the above pictures have grown several inches with the largest putting out 3 new leaves.
I'm thinking the issue was due to me being to liberal with the water hose and getting the leaves very wet. I'm now using a water can to water 6-12 inches from the stems.:bananas_b
http://i.imgur.com/1NWgJ.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/CN2Dd.jpg
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