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View Full Version : Leave old leaves on or off?


siege2050
10-16-2013, 11:33 PM
Is it better to leave the sheath made from old leaves on the peudostem or off, should you remove it when its dry, or is it okay to remove it while its still green but missing its leaf? Why does water build up under it while its green, and is this bad?

Abnshrek
10-16-2013, 11:45 PM
If its in the ground it doesn't matter, if its in a pot and your going to bring it inside eventually I'd clean it up.. :^)

siege2050
10-16-2013, 11:49 PM
Should I lance it and let the water build up drain, can this cause rot?

sunfish
10-16-2013, 11:53 PM
Should I lance it and let the water build up drain, can this cause rot?

Turn it upside down :ha:

siege2050
10-16-2013, 11:55 PM
Turn it upside down :ha:

Ok it fell out of the pot and is lying on the floor, now what?.......just kidding lolol!:ha:

cannasrus
10-17-2013, 03:56 AM
Mine blead for about a day after I brought them in. I had to cut them back to get them in, they had 6 foot long leaves. so what are you going to do with yours in zone 7 2050 ???

siege2050
10-17-2013, 02:04 PM
Mine blead for about a day after I brought them in. I had to cut them back to get them in, they had 6 foot long leaves. so what are you going to do with yours in zone 7 2050 ???

I think I will grow mine indoors this winter because they are not adapted for the cold yet, then I will put them in the ground next spring. I have a couple of types like the pink velvet banana that some people say is hardy to zone 7, and some say higher, that I will take a established pup from next year, and see if it survives the winter, before trying it with the parent plant.

Olafhenny
10-17-2013, 06:21 PM
some people say is hardy to zone 7, and some say higher, that I will take a established pup from next year, and see if it survives the winter, before trying it with the parent plant.

That hardiness of bananas is a bit of a fuzzy and contentious area. The basjoo is supposed
to be hardy to Zone 5. But that pertains only to the corm and, I presume, only if it has been
planted deep enough. I left one mostly unprotected except for an 8 inch pile of leaves here
in HZ6. In spring it was frozen/rotten to a couple of inches below ground, and took forever to
start growing again. I know nothing about Velvet Bananas, but I would suspect, that the
Zone 7 hardiness also relates to the survival of the corm.

sunfish
10-17-2013, 06:52 PM
(Musa velutina aka pink velvet banana

siege2050
10-17-2013, 08:35 PM
(Musa velutina aka pink velvet banana

Yep that's the one.

dana mastro
10-17-2013, 11:31 PM
ok water getting anywhere on the top of it is good it love humidty and should love you drenching his leaves like a tossed salad :) cuz if i dont to mine they look like my lamp shade DUSTY!! and ive never gotten krown rot from doing so hardy is in there name!

LilRaverBoi
10-21-2013, 08:37 AM
You can remove anything brown/dry. Removing the leave sheaths on the pseudostem will expose more green areas of the stem which also contain chlorophyll like the leaves. Therefore, the plant produces more food. Don't remove anything green. I wouldn't worry about water trapped in the sheaths along the p-stem unless it is indoors overwinter. Then, maybe try to push a cloth down in there to soak up as much as you can, get it dried out and then avoid getting water back down in there. Outdoors, though....no problem.

sunfish
10-21-2013, 09:32 AM
You can remove anything brown/dry. Removing the leave sheaths on the pseudostem will expose more green areas of the stem which also contain chlorophyll like the leaves. Therefore, the plant produces more food. Don't remove anything green. I wouldn't worry about water trapped in the sheaths along the p-stem unless it is indoors overwinter. Then, maybe try to push a cloth down in there to soak up as much as you can, get it dried out and then avoid getting water back down in there. Outdoors, though....no problem.

Maybe a wet vac

Abnshrek
10-21-2013, 10:02 AM
You can remove anything brown/dry. Removing the leave sheaths on the pseudostem will expose more green areas of the stem which also contain chlorophyll like the leaves. Therefore, the plant produces more food. Don't remove anything green. I wouldn't worry about water trapped in the sheaths along the p-stem unless it is indoors overwinter. Then, maybe try to push a cloth down in there to soak up as much as you can, get it dried out and then avoid getting water back down in there. Outdoors, though....no problem.

How bout a Baster.. I use one to empty my permanent rain gauges. :^)

http://i1362.photobucket.com/albums/r698/Bucko13f/good-cook-nylon-baster_zpscee8e31d.jpg (http://s1362.photobucket.com/user/Bucko13f/media/good-cook-nylon-baster_zpscee8e31d.jpg.html)

dana mastro
10-21-2013, 05:18 PM
if you truly love your banana you would get a straw...... problem solved :ukkibannana:

siege2050
10-21-2013, 05:20 PM
if you truly love your banana you would get a straw...... problem solved :ukkibannana:

We are just friends, thats all lol:08:

Richard
10-21-2013, 11:00 PM
Follow pitangadiego's (http://www.bananas.org/member-pitangadiego.html) mantra: Green is good, brown is bad. If it is brown and you don't like the way it looks, cut it off. Otherwise, it will fall off in a few months anyway.

Bananas are tropical annuals. They have a corm (bulb like structure) and so they can over winter in less tropical environments. Eventually they are going to bloom and die, to be followed by one or more pup successors. Try not to view them as a perennial in your garden.

cannasrus
10-22-2013, 05:44 AM
although the staw may be a good plan for true Lovers, I am leaning towar a fan in my grow room to
keep air moving. All the outside temps have not come togetherer yet To get my grow room temps where
I want them ( wood furnace that feeds the house too) Once running the garage will be about 80 all winter
long...Then I plan to mist the plants every day. First freeze this eve. Winter is here.