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View Full Version : Is this problem caused by too much water?


island cassie
02-22-2007, 05:14 PM
It is the rainy season here and I am hoping that the huge amount of rain we have had has caused my problem. The stems of the plants have split horizontally and vertically at the base as if they are exploding from the inside out, causing a couple of the big plants to break off at the base and fall over. Even some of the pups are affected. Has anyone any experience with this sort of problem? I am just hoping it is not a virus of some kind, although the plants look normal as far as I can tell. Help!!!!!!

pitangadiego
02-22-2007, 09:02 PM
Send pictures.

island cassie
02-22-2007, 09:48 PM
tried to upload pics today but someone had changed my camera to super high definition and I didn't notice so uploads failed - will do again tomorrow.

island cassie
02-23-2007, 08:54 AM
Pictures in my gallery - can't seem to get them on this posting tho'. One of those weeks!!

mrbungalow
02-23-2007, 08:57 AM
Cassie, have you eliminated insects as a possibillity?

Erlend

island cassie
02-23-2007, 09:16 AM
There are none to be seen Erland - no ants, aphids, rats or mice. But we have had 20 inches of rain which is why I suspected that might be the problem, although it is dry now. Could weedkiller have had this effect if (say) the neighbours had sprayed on a breezy day? Even the tiny pups are affected.

Cassie

MediaHound
02-23-2007, 01:58 PM
Here ya go:

http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=2090&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=2090&ppuser=628)

http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=2089&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=2089&ppuser=628)

http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=2088&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=2088&ppuser=628)

http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=2087&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=2087&ppuser=628)

http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=2086&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=2086&ppuser=628)

island cassie
02-23-2007, 02:12 PM
Thanks Media - probably the tears in my eyes at the state of my nanas stopped me doing it right. But I'm munching my way through the bunch I cut before disaster struck and they are delicious - gonna need help before I get to the end though - 60lb takes a lot of munching. lol

Greenie
02-23-2007, 02:17 PM
were the 60lbs of nanas from this particular plant that had the prob.?,or did this the plant have NO bunch at the time?

island cassie
02-23-2007, 08:07 PM
The plant lying on the ground is newish and I was expecting its first flag any day. Here they call them rulos, and the fruit is short and very wide, tasting of apples. The plants showing the splits are the 4 ft tall pups from the harvested plant, which I think is a cavendish type. Even the tiny pups are split on nearly all my other plants.

pitangadiego
02-23-2007, 10:49 PM
In answer to the orginal question, the trunk and leaves look quite healthy, and overwatering would most likely lead to root rot, and the plant leaning or falling over, not snapping off. I would have to do a lot of sawing to be able to snap off a plant like that. Very strange.

D'Andra
02-23-2007, 10:58 PM
Unidentified Fruit Offenders (ufo's)?

It truly is sad though.:aliennaner:

D'Andra
02-23-2007, 11:03 PM
I've never tried pushing one over, but could some animal be climbing it or using it as a scratching post? Rubbing up against it.

MediaHound
02-23-2007, 11:22 PM
Reminds me of the guy on the Palm Society board who had his home caretaker go out and trash his plants one night in a drunken rage.

island cassie
02-24-2007, 09:13 AM
D'Andra - I have thought of that too, but the garden is walled and the trunks are unmarked. It is as if the core had absorbed too much water and split the outer. I have also heard a report of someone on Tortola whose bananas have suddenly fallen over. I will try to persue this one as Tortola is a dry island.

island cassie
02-26-2007, 08:07 AM
I think I have solved the mystery. WEEDKILLER!!!! The neighbours were spraying on a windy day and the drift has nailed my bananas, bougainvilla, balsa and goodness knows what else. I think my best bet is to cut the bananas to the ground and hope any surviving new growth is healthy. What do you think. Not much else I can do (before picking up my machete and going to interview the neighbours!!)

MediaHound
02-26-2007, 08:32 AM
I would be pissed off!!!!

I don't want to give bad advice, but do you think flooding the area with water would be a good or bad idea? It would push the chemicals away from the corm but it could bring them to the roots where they're not wanted either... then again if you used enough water to flood it for a couple days...

Maybe someone else will chime in with some ideas...

But this is why I don't use weedkiller in my yard!

Sorry to hear all this bad news, Cassie.

RIP
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=2003&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=2003&ppuser=628)

bencelest
02-26-2007, 08:36 AM
Wow! What a nice looking plant.

mrbungalow
02-26-2007, 08:58 AM
Guess you won't be inviting the neighbors over for fresh tostones anytime soon....

Anyway, they are probably sorry, and will probably pay for your damages. If it was me who was your neighbor, I'd be REALLY embarassed.

The good news is that you now can start from scratch with new, different and exciting cultivars and plants. That's how I like to think, when the frost takes my butia palms year after year. How about a huge saba where your dwarf plant used to be? Or a black-stemmed Ele-ele in that corner?
:banana_ba

Erlend

island cassie
02-27-2007, 08:21 AM
I have never been able to find banana pups for sale here, and especially not unusual or named varieties. People just pass them over the fence saying this one is particularly good etc. I have posted on local message boards asking for different types of plant, but no replies so far. I will just have to keep my eyes open and ask around. The Dominicans seem to prize plantains above bananas for some reason. Well, this morning the men came to dig up the 4 plants that were worst affected, 1 seemed to have escaped and 1 they gave the benefit of the doubt to. They asked if I would like some pups to replace them with, but I don't know what they will bring.

Cassie

pitangadiego
02-28-2007, 01:21 AM
That seems like a strange reaction to weed killer. Not saying it couldn't be, but anything I have ever seen that had taken a hit from weed killer had some resulting brown leaves, etc.

island cassie
02-28-2007, 08:26 AM
There is nowhere I can get them tested, but the new leaves were starting to crinkle, and I think it was a systemic weedkiller of the sort that causes accelerated growth. The fruit on affected plants was also showing signs and I would never have been happy to eat it. They are all history now - dug up and gone. So now I am prowling around looking for replacements - doing what a girl does best - shopping!

island cassie
02-28-2007, 08:34 AM
Thinking about it - the 2 different types reacted differently. The cavendish type was slower to look bad, but of the small-fruited apple-tasting type, the large plant fell over quickly as you saw and on a smaller plant 3 of the 7 leaves turned pure yellow and the new leaf was growing deformed. I also have a very tall slim type which was not too badly affected and I have kept this just to see what happens.

Panaroma
02-28-2007, 11:31 AM
Your neighbours don't seem that fond of plants in general, i guesse! I would make sure, in a mild fashion, they don't repete that kind of behavour. I can imagine how you feel about it! It' your precious, and they just treat your surroundings like ****, just carelessly polluting.

I never use those weedkillers at all. But, ofcourse, it's a big industry. :nanertank: Easy to garden your way into a moonlandscape! There are many alternitive ways to kill particular plants in the garden....
I think if it's been a weedkiller based on chemicals the rootstock can still be ok, but if it was based on hormones everything will die off, even the rootstock. It's created for that kind of plants with rhizomes. The cells bearst open and the whole plant dies.

Anyway, i wish you all the best.

Greetings,
Gunther, Brussels

island cassie
02-28-2007, 11:59 AM
Thanks for your concern Gunther. I have had them dug out now as my fruit is all organic and I would never have been happy eating from those plants even if they had survived. Hopefully in about a year's time my new plants (as yet unfound) will be close to fruiting and I will have pictures to post.

Cassie

momoese
02-28-2007, 07:24 PM
What are your plans for cleaning the soil of the weed killer?

island cassie
02-28-2007, 09:07 PM
Actually I hadn't thought about that, assuming rightly or wrongly than it would deteriorate on contact with the soil like Paraquate et al. I really need to find out what it was exactly to know how to go on from here. Thanks for the prompt.

Panaroma
03-01-2007, 07:15 AM
Hi Cassie, you're probably right about the eating part.
About cleaning that soil, it's ofcourse quite dependant on the stuff they sprayed on it. I would scrape off the upper layer (5-10 cm's) and start mingling with a lot of compost. Inject the ground with lots of bacteriological life. Keep allowing air into the ground and let it bread for 4-6 weeks.

I hope you'll get a nice bananacultivar by then, something really special, tasty and beautifull. You desearve it after all that palaver. Maybe the breaders on this forum of Florida or LA could help you with sending some bananabulbs?!

Greets,
Gunther

island cassie
03-01-2007, 11:56 PM
aparently what they used was Porteron - which as far as I can tell is really toxic and only cleared for farm use - it clears broad leaved weeds and woody plants - my palms are also looking sick and I am negotiating with the sprayers. I have to stay calm or else I would lose it completely.

Panaroma
03-02-2007, 07:44 PM
Oh Cassie, your palms too, that's a real bugger! Keep us informed.

Greets,
Gunther