tmc2009

Hi, Happy July 4th everyone. I bought my first banana plants in May and live in Massachusetts. We haven't been having the best summer weather here to say the least. I think from May thru June we might of had 5 days of sun and temps above 70 F. I purchased an Ice Cream, Misi Luki, Raja Puri, and a Novak Super Dwarf. Instead of sticking my toe in the water I just dove in and bought these. The Raja Puri is stuck and is not doing anything. The others are growing and producing new leafs. The leafs were cut off for shipping. I don't see how the Raja Puri will be able to push out another leaf from the top. Should I trim down the P-stem? I have been peeling the dead stuff off like an onion to date and now the stem diameter is about half of what is was. I repotted to day. The soil was very wet but I don't think the bulb is rotted. There was only a couple of roots that had new white roots on them. I cut the roots back with scissors and added more perlite to the soil to loosen it up.
Thanks
Tom

Bob

Welcome and yeah it's been cooler than normal for a lot of us. Only trim back the p-stem if you think its choking back new growth. I did this 3 times with different bananas when I thought the new growth was being bottled up and it worked well.

__________________

ewitte

Lol you can have as much of our heat as you want. Its been unusually hot down here about 60% of the days over 100F and 99% over 95F.

banfan

Welcome to the org tmc2009 and happy growing to you!

__________________
Sigi

LilRaverBoi

Welcome to the site! I hope you enjoy it here and learn a lot. Yeah, I wouldn't peel back the pseudostem.....just leave it alone and let it do its own thing, IMO.

__________________
BANANA RAVE!
Feel the beat from start to stop, dancin' and movin' from bottom to top!
lilraverboi@genxglow.com
RIP Tog Tan. We love you and will always remember you!
I'm Bryan with a Y! There is no 'I' in BRYAN!

tmc2009

Thanks everyone for your advice. I did cut a little off of the top and the next day the leaf came out. Its making progress. We had more rain and cold weather. Its currently 56 F and its July 9th for petes sake. I was wondering though how green is a banana leaf. Does it normally have a hint of yellow coloration to it or should it be dark green? How do I get the pictures to show larger?

.

r3tic

The leaves tend to darken as the get more exposure to the sun. Welcome aboard!

__________________

LilRaverBoi

Yeah, eventually, most varieties will be dark green (though things like margarita or the yellow siam ruby are more chartreuse). Like Dave said, they come out paler and then as they get some sun, develop more color. I'm sure yours will be just fine!

__________________
BANANA RAVE!
Feel the beat from start to stop, dancin' and movin' from bottom to top!
lilraverboi@genxglow.com
RIP Tog Tan. We love you and will always remember you!
I'm Bryan with a Y! There is no 'I' in BRYAN!

saltydad

Welcome tmc. You can upload your pics to your gallery and they will be normal sized. Click Photo Gallery and then Upload Photos and you're on your way!

__________________
Men In Nursing- "A Few Good Men"

"Gardening is the purest of human pleasures." - Francis Bacon





"If by a liberal, they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind; someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions; someone who cares about the welfare of the people, their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, their civil liberties; someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicion that grips us; that is what they meant by a liberal, I am proud to be a liberal."
John F. Kennedy, September, 1960


http://flickr.com/photos/saltydad/ and
http://community.webshots.com/user/saltydad
http://s751.photobucket.com/albums/xx151/saltydad/

tmc2009

Hi, My Raja Puri is improving. I think the warmer temps have helped alot.
I've also added pictures to my gallery. I think I'm suppose to reduce the size though? I already have pups on my other bananas. Don't they sap energy from the main plant. Should you remove them as soon as they appear?
Thanks

Eric

Running a tad late but Welcome aboard, Tmc2009 ! Not much of a prob with photo sizes. Most of the photos I put in my albums are about 3400 px by 2500 px. The system will let you know if a pic is too large.
Anyway, hope you enjoy & get as much out of this place as I have!

BTW, I rarely remove pups from my banana trees. For many species you can get the mother plant to make bananas with as many as 4 pups attached. When I do remove one, I wait till the pup is at least 2-3 feet tall (on a 12-16' mother plant) & make certain I take a bit of the corm & sufficient roots for the pup to survive (not necessary, though, if you're just eliminating the pup).

tmc2009

Hi everyone, I purchased some banana fertilizer off of ebay. It's 15-5-30 from Tropical Delights. Its water soluble. It says to apply only every 7-14 days. That doesn't seem like alot for 1/2 tsp/gal. Can fruiting banana plants be identified by their leaves or only by the fruit. If I don't get these to fruit I'll never know if I got what I paid for. I guess that just helps with the motivation of getting these to fruit. I'm thinking of trying to build a lean to on the house so that I can have them grow during the winter. I think I read that they stop growing below 58 degree fahrenheit. No problem right now we finally got our 80 degree temps with high humidity.
Thanks
Tom

Eric

The amount of fertilization sounds about perfect to me & I've been growing bananas for 3 years now. In fact, during the cold months, you'll want to cut that amount back quite a bit.
Bananas will go dormant at about that temp. I always bring mine indoors when temps get that low. Also, even if you keep them at around 72 degrees or higher, it's rare that they will put out more than 1-2 leaves during an entire winter.
If you're plant has 3 leaves or more, you can take pictures of it and start an Identification thread to find out what it is. The Banana experts here are very good at ID'ing bananas like that. For ID'ing, fruit isn't usually necessary.

BTW, I always leave the dead leaves on my banana plants. The plant suck potassium & other nutrients from the dead matter. Those who like trimmed plants, usually drop or mix the dead leaves into the soil for extra nutrients.
Also, if you have any more questions about photos, there is a guide to using photos in "Site Feedback & Help" near the bottom of the homepage.
Hope this helps .