Log in

View Full Version : Drooping Leaves!


SoFloBanana
04-26-2019, 04:24 PM
My alleged ice cream banana plant leaves are drooping. A few were drooping yesterday but I thought it was the usual course of things and trimmed them off. Today, more are drooping and I'm not sure this is normal. One of the pups has a leaf that is also bent down but it's not at the attachment point to the P-stem so I don't know if it was damage from a mother plant leaf smacking into it or not.

The banana plant gets adequate water and I've hose-watered it the past few days in a row (it often goes a day or two without getting watered, though. I believe it to be in good soil that I had originally prepared with compost and buried fish carcasses (before I originally transplanted the banana 8/2018).

I don't see any discoloration, spots, or insects. I fertilized it with organic fertilizer a few weeks ago.

The only recent change with the plant is that I removed one of the three pups and refilled the area with a good quality soil. I don't think I damaged the mother plant corm and it didn't seem like I removed excess root mass though I'm still learning so I can't be sure.

I'm posting pictures below including a close-up of a leaf and the attachment point of a leaf to the P-stem. The leaves on the ground are chopped up pieces I put over the mulch yesterday. I'd really appreciate any advice anyone might have.

Thank you!

http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=64543&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=64543&ppuser=29056)

http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=64542&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=64542&ppuser=29056)

http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=64544&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=64544&ppuser=29056)

beam2050
04-26-2019, 07:13 PM
https://media.mnn.com/assets/images/2014/12/gray-squirrel-uc-berkeley.jpg.1080x0_q100_crop-scale.jpg

got squirrels?

Lancelot
04-26-2019, 08:27 PM
Mine get like that when I bring them outdoors after being inside for the winter. They aren't used to the wind and they bend easily. Subsequent leaves that come out will be stronger and be able to take general breezes.

SoFloBanana
04-26-2019, 08:57 PM
https://media.mnn.com/assets/images/2014/12/gray-squirrel-uc-berkeley.jpg.1080x0_q100_crop-scale.jpg

got squirrels?

There are squirrels around but not a ton. I don't know why they'd start jumping all over the banana plant all of a sudden in the past couple of days but I'll try to keep an eye out for them. There are raccoons around as well...

SoFloBanana
04-26-2019, 08:58 PM
Mine get like that when I bring them outdoors after being inside for the winter. They aren't used to the wind and they bend easily. Subsequent leaves that come out will be stronger and be able to take general breezes.

I'm in south Florida so mine has been in the ground and exposed to the wind since fall. I don't think we've had any particularly strong winds lately.

beam2050
04-27-2019, 07:41 AM
There are squirrels around but not a ton. I don't know why they'd start jumping all over the banana plant all of a sudden in the past couple of days but I'll try to keep an eye out for them. There are raccoons around as well...

me neither got squirrels and lots of other critters around. but the random top leaf and the scratches on the p-stem suggest something might have clumb up it.

SoFloBanana
04-27-2019, 09:03 AM
me neither got squirrels and lots of other critters around. but the random top leaf and the scratches on the p-stem suggest something might have clumb up it.

I've been giving your suggestion (and excellent deductive skills) some thouoght and took a look around the yard. Here's what I found:

Broken Dracaena marginata
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=64546&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=64546&ppuser=29056)

An ~8 foot sunflower down in the background. A taller (~10 foot sunflower in the foreground still standing)
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=64547&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=64547&ppuser=29056)

Closer picture of the downed sunflower
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=64545&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=64545&ppuser=29056)

You're right. Some critter has definitely been causing some havoc in the backyard. I know there are raccoons out there at night so that's my best guess. I really hope the little jerks cut it out.

beam2050
04-27-2019, 09:07 AM
:ha: me too.

what got me is your plant looks extraordinarily healthy. luck