Clueless
 

Hi everyone, my name is Terry, I live near Baltimore in MD and I have been wanting a banana tree for quite a while! I finally bought (idk the correct term) cutting from a person selling on FB. It was about 4' tall a fresh new leaf shoot waiting to open. I asked the person a couple time what to do with it, never got a response. She did tell me when I first made contact it would grow in a pot. So I planted it in a huge pot with good drainage in cactus soil. I kept in in the warm house next to a sunny window. Now the entire stalk is dead and little flying bugs are everywhere! I had to move it outside due to the bugs. My next thought is to take what is left in the pot, clean it up and try to root it in water. Any suggestions are greatly welcomed.

Re: Clueless
 

Take what's left of the corm wash it with bleach water (1 cup to 1 gallon of water) to kill the rot fungus and remove any black roots or black soft material. Good corm and roots will be white. Then repot in course builder's sand in a pot that drains excess water out. Give only a small amount of water every 14 days or so. The sand only needs to be slightly moist. .... Then wait, this may take a while to see new growth (weeks).


Banana roots need air. thus the potting soil must be a fast draining course soil and the pot must drain excess water out. The corm and plant stores water for its needs during a drought; so you only need to water when the potting soil has dry out. Banana plants do not like or tolerate stagnant stale water.

Re: Clueless
 

Thank you so much! I was planning on leaving it outside during the summer in a pot. Will it be OK with rain?

Re: Clueless
 

It will be as long as the pot drains and the soil drys out between watering. Also young plants needs some shading from the hot sun.

Re: Clueless
 

Insects .....argh...

When you replant in a great commercial soiless mix most of your issues all subside...
Tropical plants are a great addition ......to anything..:08:

Re: Clueless
 

Thank you, I'll try your suggestions. I have to walk down my dad's house to get it. I hope it survived. I had to put it outside b/c of the bugs, it's been wet and cold in MD these last couple days. I'll find said sand and try it out. Just to clarify, I'm cleaning it up, just put what's left in the sand? Does it have a top and bottom or will it sprout and grow upwards? I'm guessing it won't root in water like other plants, huh.

Re: Clueless
 

Hi Terry-

Welcome aboard the Banana Express. :nanerwaveytrain:

As Max indicated, you need something coarse in there to aid with drainage. One of the favored items on here, I think, is granulated pumice. You can find it at any tack store or farmer's supply. It's called Dri-Stall or Stall-Dri (I think there are a couple makers), but they'll know what you mean if you use one of those names. It works great. I now use it in ALL of my soli mixes to ensure excellent drainage.

Regarding storing it by a sunny window: Keep in mind that Low-E windows and the like are designed to remove the harmful UV rays that plants need, so just because it's a SUNNY window doesn't mean it's a HEALTHY window.

Now, if your variety is Musa basjoo, you won't have to bring it in. Just plant the corm a foot or so down and it will survive your winters fine. Do you know what you bought?

Re: Clueless
 

I added a photo to my gallery, idk if you can identify it from the pic. When I buy my sand or Stall-dry, do I mix it in the soil or use nothing but the sand etc.? BTW, love your gif

Re: Clueless
 

Mix it in, in small amounts like you would Perlite. All it's doing is allowing the water to drain more easily. I prefer the pumice over the sand because it's lighter. There's something about little pieces of Styrofoam in the soil that doesn't look right. The brand I'm using at the moment says PDZ or something, and Horse Stall Refresher Granules, but it's all the same stuff; pumice sand.

Ah the cat... that's George. He supposedly produces my podcast. He's not the brightest bulb in the fixture.

Re: Clueless
 

Actually, I was saying to pot into 100% course sand. This is to aid in air-rating the roots and promoting very fast draining of excess water to kill any fungus. .... What I have done also is to use 50/50 mix of potting soil & perlite in the bottom half of the pot and sand in the upper half with the corm in the sand. this will let the new roots grow into the soil.


Use Course builder's sand from the bo box stores .... Do not use 'play sand'. It is too fine and will hold too much water.