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dg7080
06-06-2013, 10:51 AM
I'm kinda new to the world of growing banana trees. This is year two by the way.. Last summer all seemed to do fine..

This year, not so... I've got a number of plants that seem to have a serious problem :)..

Their leaves started turning yellowish in color and they look really "sickly" for a lack of a better term as you can see in the pictures.

Last but not least, I have one stalk that seems healthy but has yet to produce the first leaf.

Ok, looking for opinions as to what I need to do to correct....

thanks in advance! Dennis

http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b604/dg7080/tree2_zpsc7ee4470.jpg

http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b604/dg7080/tree-1_zpsd38f512d.jpg

http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b604/dg7080/tree3_zps9662f67d.jpg

http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b604/dg7080/tree4_zpsa18c9a66.jpg

LilRaverBoi
06-06-2013, 08:56 PM
Maybe some sort of nutrient deficiency. Do you fertilize? If so, with what, how much and how often?

Duckfood
06-06-2013, 09:41 PM
Maybe too much water??? When did you plant them???

sunfish
06-06-2013, 09:41 PM
Looks like to much of something to me

dg7080
06-07-2013, 09:05 AM
Thanks for the responses...

These plants were planted last year.

I have spread a little 13-13-13 fertilizer over the flower bed, but not excessive.. It was just one time about 1.5 weeks ago and this condition was already happening. Not all the plants are showing this problem, only some.

We've had a lot of rain in our area this Spring and the soil under my flower bed is hard clay.. So I am wondering if it is holding the water and maybe it's a too much water thing.

Duckfood
06-07-2013, 09:44 AM
That is what I was thinking... Knoxville had a very cold and rainy April (something like 13 inches over average for the year so far) and some bananas are having a long, hard time waking up...

Abnshrek
06-07-2013, 10:35 AM
On a simular note my winter and late freezes didn't help a couple corms, and my Shampoo Ginger is finally breaking ground.. I hit them with Plumeria Fert to see what happens now.. :^)

dg7080
06-07-2013, 02:42 PM
I think this weekend I'll dig one of them up, increase the size of the hole and fill it with a mountain of good potting soil and replant it on top to see if it perks up.. This should eliminate the clay soil/too much water not draining away theory... worth a try anyway...

I just don't believe they are diseased..

Kostas
06-09-2013, 11:16 AM
I don't know what they have but exactly the same thing happened to my 'Ice Cream'(the Pisang Awak one)after its first winter in the ground. It's pseudostem stopped growing,its leafs became like on yours and it finally grew two pups after 1-2 months of inactivity. Afterwards,the main pseudostem rotted to the ground fast while the pups continued growing at a medium pace due to me neglecting it(i was pretty pissed off after losing the main pseudostem).
I wouldn't suggest to dig it up in this condition. I would just fertilize and wait for pups. They will come! If you feel a little more adventurous,you could start cutting the main pseudostem till you find the newest leaf. It may be stuck in there,unable to come out and that can cause rot in there. If you free it,the main pseudostem may survive,if not already rotten inside.

Wish you the best with your bananas! I don't think it's life threatening for them but annoying it is!

dg7080
06-10-2013, 02:00 PM
Very annoying Kostas.

I did dig one up this past weekend and cleaned all the hard packed clay soil from around the root and then replanted it in new rich soil and the trimmed off all the old yellow leaves. Now waiting to see what happens!