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View Full Version : Black sigatoka or something else?


katykat
10-06-2017, 10:08 AM
My sweet African Red bloomed and put out fruit last month, and then Hurricane Harvey came for a visit. We made it though with nothing worse than some (very) tattered leaves, but now the plant--and the very large pup next to it--have developed these black streaks on some of the older/lower leaves. New growth is bright green and healthy-looking but some mature leaves are starting to show some yellowing. I have 8 other mats of different bananas and their older leaves don't look like this--they just turn yellow/brown and die. I don't want them infected! Should probably mention that I'm outside the Houston area--days in the 80s/90s right now; nights in the 70s. If need be, I will dig this plant up and toss it, but I don't want to if it can be saved. Thanks for looking!
Lower/older leaves: http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=62442 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=62442)http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=62443 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=62443)
Younger/healthier leaves: http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=62441 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=62441) http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=62444 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=62444)

Mudturkle
10-11-2017, 10:03 PM
Howdy! I'm in the Lake Somerville area of Texas. (Do we know each other from TRFG? I'm John Reno.) Anyway - I'd say if you are concerned that it might be Sigatoka, cut off the affected leaves and burn them. Also maybe clean the area around the base of the bananas, as Sigatoka is a fungal infection. Then see how they do. Since the new leaves look good, maybe that is all you need to do. Now let's see what the experts here say. I'm a beginner kinda-sorta compared to others here.

Gabe15
10-12-2017, 01:20 AM
It's not Sigatoka, and even if it was, there would be no reason to kill the plant, it's not that kind of disease which needs such drastic treatment.

If the first photo is of the one which just flowered, depending on how long the bloom has been growing, that is fairly normal as the leaves will continue to age without being replaced, and eventually start to senesce anyway. It could just be exacerbated by the storm. The other photos don't really seem to show anything to be concerned about, again could just be from getting tossed around a bit, slight changes in season even if subtle, or some other mystery issue which to me looks like nothing serious.