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Pioutic
06-17-2018, 11:05 AM
Hello all! I joined a couple of weeks ago and have been reading a few posts here trying to learn from everyone's experience. I want to start off by saying I'm new to gardening in general, and bought this plant since it was discounted. Please be patient with me as I'm still learning, haha.

This plant was labeled as a "Cavendish banana." The main plant had fully dried out yet had a pup growing so I decided to buy it and give it a try. The main plant was so dry/brown it (being the pseudostem?) detached itself from what I believe is called the rhizome. I left the rhizome in case it could regrow and haven't messed with the pup, especially since it was growing so quickly. I was getting a new leaf about every week. I left this banana plant outside mostly under and between a bougainvillea and a peace lily. For the past couple weeks we've had plenty of rain and it seemed to do very well with all the water. I noticed it had some fungi growth and read that fungi was good for plants, but decided to move it into a sunnier spot to give the soil a chance to dry out since I was worried about root rot. It was moved yesterday early morning.

However, I noticed that the leaf that unfurled had some brown streaks in the center and the same leaf was also yellowed instead of that deep green the other leaves had. Could it be the change from light was too drastic and these are sunburn spots? I noticed the bottom leaves weren't as perky and they were sort of slouched, as if it needed water. I moved it back to its old spot hoping to prevent more damage to it.

I have a picture a few days before the leaf unfurled and the picture I took today at 11:45 AM when I went to check up on it. I also included a picture of its old spot in the yard.

I live in south Florida, zone 10b.

Before the leaf unfurled:
https://i.imgur.com/b9mvl1a.jpg?1

Damaged leaf:
https://i.imgur.com/dBUxdIA.png

The old (and current) spot before the yellowing/spotting:
https://i.imgur.com/4m1wJ2R.jpg?1

Akula
06-17-2018, 11:34 AM
That plant looks great to me.

Quite common for some plants to show dark, dusty, reddish splotches which are called wine stains. Most common at the pup stage that fade with growth. New leaves are usually light green when they first come appear and then turn darker over time. In my experience if the leaf begins to unroll unusually yellow it means the plant is growing fast either either from excess water/rain or fertilizer. If the leaf begins to droop the same thing. Next stage is the cigar leaf curling/hooking. New leaves harden and turn darker in time maybe a week or so.

I don't grow in pots but from all the material I've read on this site quite, 9 out of 10 times a plant has problems growing in the pot its from excessive watering or the pot doesn't have good drainage.

Again your plant looks normal to me. Maybe others see something.

Pioutic
06-17-2018, 11:43 AM
That plant looks great to me.

Quite common for some plants to show dark, dusty, reddish splotches which are called wine stains. Most common at the pup stage that fade with growth. New leaves are usually light green when they first come appear and then turn darker over time. In my experience if the leaf begins to unroll unusually yellow it means the plant is growing fast either either from excess water/rain or fertilizer. If the leaf begins to droop the same thing. Next stage is the cigar leaf curling/hooking. New leaves harden and turn darker in time maybe a week or so.

I don't grow in pots but from all the material I've read on this site quite, 9 out of 10 times a plant has problems growing in the pot its from excessive watering or the pot doesn't have good drainage.

Again your plant looks normal to me. Maybe others see something.

Thank you very much, Akula! Can I ask what you mean by leaves unrolling unusually yellow?
I have never used any fertilizer or compost, but I have left it in its original pot and soil that it was sold in from a major department store. It might be time to begin researching a good mix with better draining soil.
I have gotten very attached to the little guy taking pictures of it nearly every week so I got very nervous and sad when I saw this leaf. :ha:

Akula
06-17-2018, 12:27 PM
What I've seen on my plants is that the cigar leaf can come out from white to a light green color. Light green is the healthiest. The cigar leaf shade then begins to darken slightly and unrolls. I've noticed that if the cigar leaf is too far into the white/yellow spectrum then I get leaf problems i.e. curling of the cigar, mutated leaves, emerging leaves stuck in the prior leaf, etc.

In my case leaf issues are the result of over fertilizing the plant. I'm in northwest, Florida and our season is cut off by winter freeze at some point so I have to push the plant to grow to get bananas. I cut off the fertilizer until the plant corrects itself over the coming month when signs develop. This can also happen with too much water due to heavy rains but that corrects much quicker. Excess fertilizer and over watering issues are self correcting when the problem is identified.

Banana plants are pretty tough so don't sweat it!

Pioutic
06-17-2018, 02:14 PM
What I've seen on my plants is that the cigar leaf can come out from white to a light green color. Light green is the healthiest. The cigar leaf shade then begins to darken slightly and unrolls. I've noticed that if the cigar leaf is too far into the white/yellow spectrum then I get leaf problems i.e. curling of the cigar, mutated leaves, emerging leaves stuck in the prior leaf, etc.

In my case leaf issues are the result of over fertilizing the plant. I'm in northwest, Florida and our season is cut off by winter freeze at some point so I have to push the plant to grow to get bananas. I cut off the fertilizer until the plant corrects itself over the coming month when signs develop. This can also happen with too much water due to heavy rains but that corrects much quicker. Excess fertilizer and over watering issues are self correcting when the problem is identified.

Banana plants are pretty tough so don't sweat it!

Thanks for the info! Wow there's definitely a lot more to banana plants than I could have imagined. All the rain here must have affected its leaf. I'm relieved to hear the plant can correct itself as long as the affecting issues are fixed. Do you prune or remove leaves that are mutated, curled, stuck, etc? Or do they shed later on on their own?

cincinnana
06-21-2018, 03:53 AM
Hello all! I joined a couple of weeks ago and have been reading a few posts here trying to learn from everyone's experience. I want to start off by saying I'm new to gardening in general, and bought this plant since it was discounted. Please be patient with me as I'm still learning, haha.

This plant was labeled as a "Cavendish banana." The main plant had fully dried out yet had a pup growing so I decided to buy it and give it a try. The main plant was so dry/brown it (being the pseudostem?) detached itself from what I believe is called the rhizome. I left the rhizome in case it could regrow and haven't messed with the pup, especially since it was growing so quickly. I was getting a new leaf about every week. I left this banana plant outside mostly under and between a bougainvillea and a peace lily. For the past couple weeks we've had plenty of rain and it seemed to do very well with all the water. I noticed it had some fungi growth and read that fungi was good for plants, but decided to move it into a sunnier spot to give the soil a chance to dry out since I was worried about root rot. It was moved yesterday early morning.

However, I noticed that the leaf that unfurled had some brown streaks in the center and the same leaf was also yellowed instead of that deep green the other leaves had. Could it be the change from light was too drastic and these are sunburn spots? I noticed the bottom leaves weren't as perky and they were sort of slouched, as if it needed water. I moved it back to its old spot hoping to prevent more damage to it.

I have a picture a few days before the leaf unfurled and the picture I took today at 11:45 AM when I went to check up on it. I also included a picture of its old spot in the yard.

I live in south Florida, zone 10b.


Pioutic

Similar to what has been said by Akula when plants are small they will give different looks as they mature.
Some leaves loose all wine spots as they mature and remain green as they grow
Some leaves are purple on the underside.
This plant has deep rich wine spots and dark green leaves
.https://farm1.staticflickr.com/896/42211616354_d0fe31cedf_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/27j6yUS)
Leaf coloration (https://flic.kr/p/27j6yUS) by
Hostafarian (https://www.flickr.com/photos/hostafarian/),
on Flickr

Pioutic
06-22-2018, 02:33 AM
Pioutic

Similar to what has been said by Akula when plants are small they will give different looks as they mature.
Some leaves loose all wine spots as they mature and remain green as they grow
Some leaves are purple on the underside.
This plant has deep rich wine spots and dark green leaves
.https://farm1.staticflickr.com/896/42211616354_d0fe31cedf_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/27j6yUS)
Leaf coloration (https://flic.kr/p/27j6yUS) by
Hostafarian (https://www.flickr.com/photos/hostafarian/),
on Flickr

Thank you for the picture, Cincinnana! I'm definitely much calmer after finding out they're wine stains and seeing the plant continue to thrive. :) Excitedly waiting for its new leaf to unfurl!

sputinc7
06-22-2018, 09:49 AM
Looking at the soil in your pic, there seems to be plenty of fertilizer on the top of the soil in the pot, probably put there by the store... It is doing fine.
Being in Miami, why mess with a pot...why not put it in the ground?

Pioutic
06-22-2018, 11:37 AM
Looking at the soil in your pic, there seems to be plenty of fertilizer on the top of the soil in the pot, probably put there by the store... It is doing fine.
Being in Miami, why mess with a pot...why not put it in the ground?
Wow, I was under the impression fertilizer was a liquid... but looking it up now it comes in those little beads too.

I have all my plants in pots for mobility, mostly. I'm a renter as well so in case I do move again I want to be able to lift the pots and take them with me wherever I go. I imagine I can do harm or ruin the plant if it doesn't take kindly being removed from the earth since I can damage roots in the process. I know very little if anything about gardening so I figured keeping stuff potted was a good start for me until I acquired more experience.

However, I had read just last night that apparently potting soil isn't for pots at all? That it's meant to be temporary for plants until it's fully planted in the ground... So that's definitely another worm hole I have to get into and find out a good "soil mix" for the banana plant. Especially considering that today is 89F and the leaves were droopy again as if it were thirsty, but the soil felt a little moist? Given, I'm definitely still learning and need to get used to what's bone dry and what's actually moist. I suppose with a more airy mix of soil/a couple inches of mulch I can reduce my chances of root rot while still being able to keep the plant moist.

That being said, I'm more interested in this banana plant to be ornamental for me as I'm not looking for fruits. I'm in love with the rubbery, deep green leaves. I had read that Cavendish can grow to 20ft, and the "dwarf" variety can still get to 10ft... So I'm interested in trying to stop its growth since I can't have a plant so massive in a rental! :ha: