Annie6078

Hello,

This is my 3rd season growing bananas here in Zone 6a and am trying new varieites & to learn more ea. year. I have an 8-10" Red Abyssinian and a 12-14" velutina or ornata (I'm afraid I got them mixed up moving pots around over the winter) that get SO wilted during afternoon heat -- whereas other varities of equal size, etc. next to them -- are happy and "alert". The Abyssinian's leaves actually curl in 'till they look like pencils (altho wilty ones ) ... I thought I had lost the poor thing the first go-round of this. I've been either fine-misting a bit to drop the temps around them a couple of degrees and/or using old umbrellas to shade them during the hottest parts of the day. In the evenings, they perk right back up and look fine. Should I be trying to find a shadier spot for these? From what I'd read before planting, both varieties appeared to like full sun.

Also, I am hoping to purchase a Blue Java and am wondering if someone could tell me if that variety prefers shadier areas as well, as info I'm reading seems to conflict on this subject.

Thanks SO much,
Andrea

Annie6078

Sorry, forgot to ask my other question. I found some banana fertilizer that is "15-5-30 Premium Water Soluble Fertilizer w/minor elements". Does anyone know if that is a good ratio for my area?

Thanks again!
Andrea

hydrojeff

hi Annie i have only had my red aby for a month it is also small like yours, not sure about it but it seems fine where i have it, its gets all morning sun till about 1 pm then shade, i have ice cream avaible if you like you can pm me and we can talk, and the fert you are talking about seems perfect for nanas......

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Jeff

Bananaman88

Bananas will fold up their leaves in response to the heat of the day, especially if they are dry. Are your bananas possibly root-bound?

hydrojeff

Andrea, what is the name of the fert you are using and where did you buy it i would love to buy some? it sounds perfect!

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Jeff

Annie6078

Thanks to both of you for taking the time to respond. The answers are:

Brent: No, neither is rootbound ... in fact, tho we have clay soil around here, I amended the soil and made an extra large/deep hole of the softer medium just to make sure ea. banana had plenty of room to stretch out and establish a good root system.

I also made an error, the one next to the wilty one is the velutina/ornata mystery -- the one that's actually wilting during the day is an orinoco. Again, tho, I thought they preferred nearly-full sun.

Jeff: I will try what is working for you and move the aby & orinoco to a more morning-sun location. I had a feeling that was what I was going to have to do, as it's been a few days and neither has "hardied up" -- I had just never run into this before and don't have much room left outside of the super sunny areas.

Yes, I would love to discuss an ice cream from you and will PM. The only ones I've found online are outrageously expensive, so I'd appreciate seeing if we might be able to work something out.

In the meantime, I found the fertilizer on eBay from a seller I was purchasing some other interesting plants to experiment with. I thought a good ratio for nanners was 3-1-6, so I thought I'd give it a try. The seller is "wellspring100".

Thanks again for the assistance gentlemen!
Annie

hydrojeff

i pmed you back, i have orinocos in full sun and they do fine, there leafs do fold in the heat of the summer, most nanaers fold there leafs when it gets hot ,like Brent said. i think its just the red aby you have to be concered with? and thank you very much for the fert info, i will try some.....

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Jeff

sandy0225

sounds to me like the plants just haven't rooted in well yet, which is to be expected when you've just planted them out. In other words, the size of the roots aren't in proportion with the size of the tops. If they get in a lot of sun, the roots just aren't able to process the water up to the tops fast enough. If you rig it up a little shade, as they root in in a few weeks they should be able to be rooted better and be able to process quicker then.

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Sandy Burrell



Northern Tropics Greenhouse
1501 East Fuson Road
Muncie, IN 47302
www.northerntropics.com


specializing in bananas, heirloom tomatoes and water gardening plants~
check out our new online store at our website!

sandy0225

Also, the "tropical foliage special" fertilizer I use is 24-8-16 with trace elements. If anyone is interested, I can bag some up and sell it for $3.50 a pound plus shipping. I buy it in a bulk bag from my greenhouse products supplier.
Bananas grow like crazy on this stuff! You mix it up at 200-300 ppm during the warm months, but start them off at 100 ppm when you first transplant them. It is about 1T per gallon of water for 100 ppm, 2-3T for 200-300 ppm.

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Sandy Burrell



Northern Tropics Greenhouse
1501 East Fuson Road
Muncie, IN 47302
www.northerntropics.com


specializing in bananas, heirloom tomatoes and water gardening plants~
check out our new online store at our website!