Melissa D
08-09-2016, 06:09 PM
I received my first ever banana plants on 7/13/16. I ordered a Seminole, and a Dwarf Cavendish and a greenhouse book. what was delivered: 2 dwarf cavendish, 2 Seminoles, 1 California Gold, 1 Goldfinger, 1 Basjoo. (to say there was a mix up with the shipper/supplier- is an understatement!) Anyway- I've always wanted banana plants, and I was blessed with 5 extra ones. I get them.. 7/13, my 2 ordered in one box in EXCELLENT shape, and the other 5 sadly crammed in the same size box, box was badly damaged in shipping, and at least 2 of them nearly dead from being crushed in shipping. Seller said his mistake is my gain.. I followed the directions identically as told-and it's not working!! I was instructed to use Miracle Grow MIX not SOIL. Water when dry after a few days of being dry. NO directly sunlight, put under shade trees ( or like situation if not trees available for shade.) I've had them since 7/13- today is 8/9. they received 1 cup of water on arrival, and 3/4 cup of water 10-12 days later. i just gave about 1/2 cup with Miracle Grow plant food in it for the first time today. Soil was a bit moist, but I'm desperate for them to live, so I thought adding the fertilizer/plant food might help them..And the water is ONLY distilled water. NOT TAP WATER - he was very specific to that. By the 4th day, the 2 that were the most badly damaged from shipping all but died (1 dead now i think.) The other bad one (upon arrival) had 3 leaves, i cut off 2 immediately by his instructions, and the ONE left was ok, but now dead. it's dead most lieky, ( i say this since the unrolled leaf that emerges from the stem is still unrolled after 3 weeks, and the other 1 leaf left is browned all sides. I come home today, the 3rd badly received one.. now dead, stalk bent over from the weight of the ONE leaf left (cut the other leaf off upon arrive, was damaged and broken so badly. the 2 i actually ordered in the box together were the best 2 received, as of now... one of them (seminole) is looking pretty good, and just unrolled a leaf in less than 3 days.. and the other one that was perfect upon receipt, is a stem only- 4 inches from the dirt. all cut off due to rot.
Since my house is very poorly lit, I moved them outside after about 7-10 days..because they were wilting back at the leaves and apparently not doing well at all, looking worse for the wear, I decided to purchase a 3ftH x 3ftW x 6ftL greenhouse with zipper. I've put window screens in front of the unzipped front flaps to allow a ton of air to flow through ,whereby keeping the temperature inside the greenhouse the same as the natural air. when it rains, i have a tarp that covers them and keeps them completely dry. they are getting TONS of indirect light from the greenhouse plastic (green and white plastic, not solid clear plastic.) I can provide a link to amazon for the one I purchased here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00V3H7MO6/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1 . I have bent over backwards, and lost countless hours of sleep trying to help them. And I do not know what I am doing wrong.. so today.. i dragged them out of the greenhouse, and they are sitting right now the last 10 minutes in direct sun, to dry up the water i just gave them with the Miracle Grow (blue crystal type mixed in water.) hoping making them dry up will make them absorb the plant food sooner to hopefully bring them back from the brink of death. Its been almost a month since getting them.. and already 2 dead, and 2 definitely dying.. and 2 in DECENT shape, (but not growing or developing at all..) and 1 that seems pretty good.
It's important to note that I've been in Horticulture and AG all my life, from exotic plants to veggie gardens, to living and working on the farm raising our own 'meat' and feed. It's all I've ever done, and place in every category i enter in the State fair every year for AG and horticulture.. I wanted to add that so it's known that I'm not a complete idiot.. :-P I know how to grow/propagate/harvest just about anything I've ever attempted. and now.. my dream of a small (hobby) banana farmer has absolutely went down the tubes. I don't know what to do and am desperate for help!! I cannot possibly be over watering them, as they dry out for 2-3 days before i water them again.. and they've received only a few cups of water in almost a month! please help me!I have plenty of subpar quality photos to offer if i can figure out how to do that. Thank you
Side note: seller advised to use either 8 or 10 inch pots. large holes in bottom of pot, (the tall black plastic pots, typically what nurseries/greenhouses sell their item in that you would throw away once you brought your new plant home and repotted it. that is what he said to use, and that is what i bought. every detail followed exactly.)
melissa
desperate wanna be banana farmer hobbyist
Kentucky
Since my house is very poorly lit, I moved them outside after about 7-10 days..because they were wilting back at the leaves and apparently not doing well at all, looking worse for the wear, I decided to purchase a 3ftH x 3ftW x 6ftL greenhouse with zipper. I've put window screens in front of the unzipped front flaps to allow a ton of air to flow through ,whereby keeping the temperature inside the greenhouse the same as the natural air. when it rains, i have a tarp that covers them and keeps them completely dry. they are getting TONS of indirect light from the greenhouse plastic (green and white plastic, not solid clear plastic.) I can provide a link to amazon for the one I purchased here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00V3H7MO6/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1 . I have bent over backwards, and lost countless hours of sleep trying to help them. And I do not know what I am doing wrong.. so today.. i dragged them out of the greenhouse, and they are sitting right now the last 10 minutes in direct sun, to dry up the water i just gave them with the Miracle Grow (blue crystal type mixed in water.) hoping making them dry up will make them absorb the plant food sooner to hopefully bring them back from the brink of death. Its been almost a month since getting them.. and already 2 dead, and 2 definitely dying.. and 2 in DECENT shape, (but not growing or developing at all..) and 1 that seems pretty good.
It's important to note that I've been in Horticulture and AG all my life, from exotic plants to veggie gardens, to living and working on the farm raising our own 'meat' and feed. It's all I've ever done, and place in every category i enter in the State fair every year for AG and horticulture.. I wanted to add that so it's known that I'm not a complete idiot.. :-P I know how to grow/propagate/harvest just about anything I've ever attempted. and now.. my dream of a small (hobby) banana farmer has absolutely went down the tubes. I don't know what to do and am desperate for help!! I cannot possibly be over watering them, as they dry out for 2-3 days before i water them again.. and they've received only a few cups of water in almost a month! please help me!I have plenty of subpar quality photos to offer if i can figure out how to do that. Thank you
Side note: seller advised to use either 8 or 10 inch pots. large holes in bottom of pot, (the tall black plastic pots, typically what nurseries/greenhouses sell their item in that you would throw away once you brought your new plant home and repotted it. that is what he said to use, and that is what i bought. every detail followed exactly.)
melissa
desperate wanna be banana farmer hobbyist
Kentucky