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View Full Version : Folded leaves, soil still moist, recent root rot


sevenlilies
08-14-2019, 01:31 PM
Hi friends, I have a dwarf banana (musa "truly tiny") and a couple of pups. One is still attached and another has been repotted on its own.

Their leaves are folding down the spine which I know is either an indication of lack of water or high heat - but they are indoors, and the soil is still moist from the repot following root rot treatment. I am worried that too much of their roots had to be discarded, but they may just be recovering from a really stressful situation.

I also just cut off a yellowing leaf from each plant, which may have been premature, as they might have just been old leaves dying, but I was paranoid about a pest problem..

What would you do to try to make sure these are healthy? I'm wondering if I shouldn't just leave them alone to recover...

http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=65132&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=65132&ppuser=30596)
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=65130&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=65130&ppuser=30596)
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=65131&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=65131&ppuser=30596)

Problems leading up:
I recently discovered that they had root rot - or at least, I think it was. Rather than the brown, mushy stems I saw online with root rot, these were all black and withered.
They recently also have gotten through a battle with scale (I think it's over, anyways, I haven't seen new scale bugs in a few days, and I check every day and will continue to do so for a while.)

Care:

They typically got watered when the top 2-3 inches of the soil was dry. They were watered all the way through and allowed to drain. However, they were in a plastic pot before and are now in terracotta.
They are in a room with east-ish facing windows and get a lot of morning/early afternoon sun. Not sure if this is enough.
I added systemic insecticide to the soil I planted them in, but they have not been fed beyond what was in the potting mix to begin with.
I've been misting with a spray bottle since the leaves started folding; I'm hesitant to water again because of the root rot but they may need it, being tropical plants.
I treated the scale with neem oil, both wiping down the leaves and using neem + paper towel to pick off individual insects.

cincinnana
08-15-2019, 07:55 AM
Hi friends, I have a dwarf banana (musa "truly tiny") and a couple of pups. One is still attached and another has been repotted on its own.

Their leaves are folding down the spine which I know is either an indication of lack of water or high heat - but they are indoors, and the soil is still moist from the repot following root rot treatment. I am worried that too much of their roots had to be discarded, but they may just be recovering from a really stressful situation.

I also just cut off a yellowing leaf from each plant, which may have been premature, as they might have just been old leaves dying, but I was paranoid about a pest problem..

What would you do to try to make sure these are healthy? I'm wondering if I shouldn't just leave them alone to recover...

http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=65132&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=65132&ppuser=30596)
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=65130&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=65130&ppuser=30596)
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=65131&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=65131&ppuser=30596)

Problems leading up:
I recently discovered that they had root rot - or at least, I think it was. Rather than the brown, mushy stems I saw online with root rot, these were all black and withered.
They recently also have gotten through a battle with scale (I think it's over, anyways, I haven't seen new scale bugs in a few days, and I check every day and will continue to do so for a while.)

Care:

They typically got watered when the top 2-3 inches of the soil was dry. They were watered all the way through and allowed to drain. However, they were in a plastic pot before and are now in terracotta.
They are in a room with east-ish facing windows and get a lot of morning/early afternoon sun. Not sure if this is enough.
I added systemic insecticide to the soil I planted them in, but they have not been fed beyond what was in the potting mix to begin with.
I've been misting with a spray bottle since the leaves started folding; I'm hesitant to water again because of the root rot but they may need it, being tropical plants.
I treated the scale with neem oil, both wiping down the leaves and using neem + paper towel to pick off individual insects.


Sounds like you got it under control.
Give them a month or two to sort themselves out.
If the plants are indoors you might want to move them out doors for a bit.