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View Full Version : Musa Cavendish please urgent help!


lius1986
08-21-2018, 03:35 PM
Hi everyone,

It s my first post here and I found this website as i am in the desperate need of some help!!

I bought on Sunday (2 days ago) a beautiful plant of Musa Cavendish around 1.6 meters tall.

I took it home, put in a sunny living room (facing souht and east) against a wall far from the window.
(it doesn't get direct light, but lots of indirect light).
The room temperature is around 25-26 Celsius degree, for a 49-50% of humidity average.

After 24 hours in the flat, the leaves started closing and going down, some of them becoming a bit more brown.

I did not water it, as is still humid and did not touch the original pot (quite small) which the plant came in.

As you can see from these pictures:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1FEjSXkFAlIPFQSAgUwdLkuaOC3Z9hqiu?usp=sharing
Some of the leaves actually broke and fell down.
Why is this happening??

Shall I bring it back where I bought and ask a replacement or is this normal?

I really don't know what to do, re-potting, moving in a full sun position, water it even if still humid...send it back...

If you could help with your experience it would be great as I want it to survive!!

thanks

edwmax
08-21-2018, 04:32 PM
The plant will transpire a lot of water. So it will need daily watering and misting 3 xs a day. A bigger pot will help by holding more water in the soil. The soil needs to be very fast draining about 50/50% soil & perlite.

lius1986
08-21-2018, 05:36 PM
The plant will transpire a lot of water. So it will need daily watering and misting 3 xs a day. A bigger pot will help by holding more water in the soil. The soil needs to be very fast draining about 50/50% soil & perlite.

thanks for your reply.
Do you think then that the leaves are curling down because of a lack of water?
The soil was still humid though!
Shall i mix perlite and soil or just use perlite at the bottom of the new pot and the soil on top?
Thanks

edwmax
08-21-2018, 07:14 PM
Yes, the leaves fold down due to high heat or lack of water. The soil should be damp but dry out between watering. The roots need air, so the soil does not need to be soaked. Thus the need for fast draining soil for the excess water to drain out of the pot. Mist the plant 2 or 3 Xs a day.



Mix the soil & perlite. A little bit of course pine bark would be good to. Make sure the pot will allow water to drain out and the drain holes are above the water in the saucer.



A banana plant this size should be in a pot about 18" to 24" diam.

lius1986
08-22-2018, 06:01 AM
Yes, the leaves fold down due to high heat or lack of water. The soil should be damp but dry out between watering. The roots need air, so the soil does not need to be soaked. Thus the need for fast draining soil for the excess water to drain out of the pot. Mist the plant 2 or 3 Xs a day.



Mix the soil & perlite. A little bit of course pine bark would be good to. Make sure the pot will allow water to drain out and the drain holes are above the water in the saucer.



A banana plant this size should be in a pot about 18" to 24" diam.

wow, the pot which came in is much smaller than this!

So I managed to contact the shop which sold me the plant, and they are happy to replace it with another one if I want too.

Would you do that?
What is going to happen to those broken leaves? Are they gonna turn brown and I will have to cut them?

I am just concerned that even getting a replacement, the same thing will happen with the leaves?

Or perhaps, I could take a new one, and repot it straight away with a better compost and water it properly?

SOrry for the number of questions!

edwmax
08-22-2018, 07:19 AM
The plant is fine and looks good. The small pot is normal as the plant was in a nursery receiving daily water or misting. The broke leaf is OK. If it turns brown or IF you Must just cut it off at the pstem (stalk).



The bigger pot will hold more water in the soil and reduce the need for daily watering. Depending on environmental factors, potted bananas should be OK being watered about every 7 to10 days. Top 2" of the pot soil needs to dry out between watering. Excess Water MUST drain from the pot. Standing or stagnate water in the bottom of the pot promote root rot and will kill the plant. The soil only needs to be moist.



Banana plants are a tropical plants use to high humidity and have large leaves for collection of morning tropical rains & dew. The home environment has a low humidity which is not good for bananas. Misting is need to prevent dehydration of the plant. Mist 2 or 3 Xs per day. ... Heck, I do this with my in ground banana outside.



Potting soil. Generally a mix of 50% commercial potting soil with 50% of perlite is good. I like to see water when poured on top start draining from the bottom in about 15 - 20 sec. for 10" or 12" pot. Contrary to other advice you may receive, Do not add extra peat or compost to the mix. These will hold water like sponge and drown the roots. Banana roots need air! And do not add bricks, rocks, pot/glass shards and the like to the bottom of the pot to save on potting soil.



Fertilizer: .... Use a balanced fertilizer for garden vegetables. These have the minor nutrients needed by the plant. A tablespoon or 2 for small pots; a handful for large pots. Apply at the top of the soil around the outer edge of the pot. Banana plant need potassium, so add about 3 or 4 tablespoon once a month Sulfate of Potash (SOP; potassium sulfate) or murate of Potash (MOP; potassium chloride).
On my potted Banana plants, I all so give a foliar spray of Miracle Grow about every 3 days. ... More info can be found on the forum wiki Info:Fertilizer - Bananas Wiki (http://www.bananas.org/wiki/Info:Fertilizer) ... there is too much to explain here.

lius1986
08-22-2018, 08:23 AM
The plant is fine and looks good. The small pot is normal as the plant was in a nursery receiving daily water or misting. The broke leaf is OK. If it turns brown or IF you Must just cut it off at the pstem (stalk).



The bigger pot will hold more water in the soil and reduce the need for daily watering. Depending on environmental factors, potted bananas should be OK being watered about every 7 to10 days. Top 2" of the pot soil needs to dry out between watering. Excess Water MUST drain from the pot. Standing or stagnate water in the bottom of the pot promote root rot and will kill the plant. The soil only needs to be moist.



Banana plants are a tropical plants use to high humidity and have large leaves for collection of morning tropical rains & dew. The home environment has a low humidity which is not good for bananas. Misting is need to prevent dehydration of the plant. Mist 2 or 3 Xs per day. ... Heck, I do this with my in ground banana outside.



Potting soil. Generally a mix of 50% commercial potting soil with 50% of perlite is good. I like to see water when poured on top start draining from the bottom in about 15 - 20 sec. for 10" or 12" pot. Contrary to other advice you may receive, Do not add extra peat or compost to the mix. These will hold water like sponge and drown the roots. Banana roots need air! And do not add bricks, rocks, pot/glass shards and the like to the bottom of the pot to save on potting soil.



Fertilizer: .... Use a balanced fertilizer for garden vegetables. These have the minor nutrients needed by the plant. A tablespoon or 2 for small pots; a handful for large pots. Apply at the top of the soil around the outer edge of the pot. Banana plant need potassium, so add about 3 or 4 tablespoon once a month Sulfate of Potash (SOP; potassium sulfate) or murate of Potash (MOP; potassium chloride).
On my potted Banana plants, I all so give a foliar spray of Miracle Grow about every 3 days. ... More info can be found on the forum wiki Info:Fertilizer - Bananas Wiki (http://www.bananas.org/wiki/Info:Fertilizer) ... there is too much to explain here.

Thanks a lot for all these advice!!!

I just can't understand why, if the plant needed water, the soil was still humid?! Probably the soil which has is not draining enough?

I water it by immersion last night, as soon as it will dry out I will move it to a bigger pot then, with the right compost following your advice!

edwmax
08-22-2018, 08:36 AM
Perhaps it was the drier humidity of the house. ... This is the big pit-fall of those growing potted bananas, when the leave fold down they add water to the pot.



Beside checking the top 2" of the pot, also put your finger through a bottom drain hole if the bottom is very wet or soggy water is not needed. ... Better is to get a long stem moisture meter from the garden center to check at several place around the pot and different depths.

lius1986
08-22-2018, 08:45 AM
Perhaps it was the drier humidity of the house. ... This is the big pit-fall of those growing potted bananas, when the leave fold down they add water to the pot.



Beside checking the top 2" of the pot, also put your finger through a bottom drain hole if the bottom is very wet or soggy water is not needed. ... Better is to get a long stem moisture meter from the garden center to check at several place around the pot and different depths.

Thanks for the tip!

Before you said i should cut the leaf back to the stem, i looked on the wiki but couldn t find any information.
In another website they were suggesting to just pull down the stem, but it doesn t look like a clean job to me.
Is any video/guide i could follow on how to make a nice cut?

edwmax
08-22-2018, 08:57 AM
Thanks for the tip!

Before you said i should cut the leaf back to the stem, i looked on the wiki but couldn t find any information.
In another website they were suggesting to just pull down the stem, but it doesn t look like a clean job to me.
Is any video/guide i could follow on how to make a nice cut?


The cut is no big deal. Use you pocket knife or large knife and cut the petiole a few inches from the pstem. Leave the flat part that runs down the pstem. This is the leaf sheaf and builds up the pstem. ... I used a sharp machete with a swing through petiole on my big plants.

kaczercat
08-22-2018, 10:05 PM
They grow best outside until just before a frost if you can.. That way these issues will only happen from Nov-April and not year round:) It can grow somewhat naturally with proper sun, rain and so on.

Bringing it back and replacing would be pointless only because the new one would most likely do the exact same. When indoors watering is much different then if it were outside. A lot less because there is no sun to dry out the pot.

I hope it turns around for you it's a nice size.

sputinc7
08-22-2018, 10:28 PM
The plant is in great shape. From your description I expected much worse. It does need a bigger pot, though and more light. Bananas in nature like full sun, but in pots likely less but still at least a few hours sun a day as long as you can.
I would repot it in a much larger pot and put it outside in mostly shade at first, gradually moving to more sun until at least 4 hours of sun.

lius1986
08-23-2018, 05:15 AM
They grow best outside until just before a frost if you can.. That way these issues will only happen from Nov-April and not year round:) It can grow somewhat naturally with proper sun, rain and so on.

Bringing it back and replacing would be pointless only because the new one would most likely do the exact same. When indoors watering is much different then if it were outside. A lot less because there is no sun to dry out the pot.

I hope it turns around for you it's a nice size.

Thanks for this.
I live in a top floor facing south-east, which mean it could get a lot of light but a lot of wind too!
will it survive to wind? I live in central London, so we are talking about 8-10 mph winds.

The other problem is that obviously, we bought it for decorative reasons, and right now it looks like a dead body in the living room!
Can I cut those broken leaves now, or do I need to wait for them to turn brown?