Log in

View Full Version : Weird Goldfinger


rich985
07-15-2009, 01:47 PM
I have a Goldfinger Banana and the leaves don't look normal. The leaves come out way uneven,one side is always shorter than the other and they always have a sharp curve to the left or the right. This has been happening the last 4 leaves, and when they come out, the uneven side is white, but it turns green later. Can anyone help me figure out the problem?
[/urlhttp://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=19319&size=1[/url[url=http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=19318]http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=19318&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=19319)

Jack Daw
07-15-2009, 01:58 PM
Way too much fertilizer. Or at least my Cavendishes produced such leaves after being terribly overfertilized. Stop fertilizing, if you do, for a month or so, until it is back to normal. Then start again with the 2nd normal leaf, but you know, sometimes LESS IS MORE.

rich985
07-15-2009, 03:58 PM
Well I bought some fertilizer 1 month ago and only fertilized once with 1/10th of the dose recommended, because I tried to use as little as possible. But i guess it makes sense because the problems started appearing around the same time.

Jack Daw
07-15-2009, 04:49 PM
Well I bought some fertilizer 1 month ago and only fertilized once with 1/10th of the dose recommended, because I tried to use as little as possible. But i guess it makes sense because the problems started appearing around the same time.
Picture is from Bananen, Anregungen u. Tips. (http://www.bananenhobby.de/)

This is the typical overfertilizing, your plant probably wasn't established yet or I dunno...
Just skip on the fertilizer.

Overfertilized DC...
http://www.bananenhobby.de/W-stoerung005.jpg

pitangadiego
07-15-2009, 05:22 PM
Looks like 10x the fertilizer, not 10%.

Scot Nelson
07-15-2009, 07:51 PM
The photos show symptoms of calcium deficiency.

rich985
07-16-2009, 10:50 AM
The photos show symptoms of calcium deficiency.

I was thinking that too, according to the CTAHR powerpoint pictures for banana plant deficiencies. http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/nelsons/banana/ripeningbunchmanagement.pdf

Bananaman88
07-16-2009, 12:01 PM
I agree with a nutrient deficiency. I actually think he needs to add micronutrients. Some of my plants are looking similar this year. I plan to get some good fert. w/ micros and possibly also spray with fish emulsion this weekend.

Alex
07-16-2009, 12:16 PM
I too live in Arizona and I have similar problems with several banana varieties - all in pots. My main problem has been that the leaves tend to curl, as in the pictures above. The leaves also come out very pale and take a few days to green up. They tend to sunburn when the shoots first come out.

I had this problem before and during the hot 105F+ temperatures. I tried various fertilizers, including Soil Sulfur (to lower PH), Iron, and Calcium Nitrate (for calcium deficiency). I can't say that any of them helped right away, so I can't be certain if they worked.

The problem seems to come and go in my case. Currently I have 3 out of 10 plants that have this problem: Ice Cream, 1000 Fingers and Williams hybrid, although the other Ice Cream does not have this problem.

rich985
07-16-2009, 01:44 PM
I've also tried adding eggshells to the soil for the calcium deficiency while a leaf was midway unfurled, and to my surprise,it worked immediately. The leaf came out nicely just like my Ice cream on the right, except it broke in half from the wind . But the next leaf came out a little deformed and the next a little better, it seems as if the plant was all confused. Now I don't know if it had too much calcium or too little, so I just stopped with the eggshells.

And just like yours Alex, my leaves also come out pale green to white and tend to sunburn before they green up, but that only started happening halfway through June. Also my pup doesn't seem to have the same problem as the mother, the leaves come out nice, like it's supposed to. I don't think the problem is from the dry air, because I mist my plants several times a day to keep the humidity up.