|
Bananas wasting away please help
I recently (month and a half ago or so) got 4 new grand nain bananas about 2ft tall and immediately planted them and put them inside my heated building. I live in Wisconsin and fall was here early. I have a 12X18 heated shed with a humidifier and grow lights (t-6 bulbs and MH bulbs) along with a 3ft south facing window. The humidity is around 55%, temp near 75f and the lights run for about 10hrs a day. The plants had 4 or more good sized leaves but nothing has grown at all and most of the leaves have turned brown and died off. They have not pushed a leaf or done anything but turn brown. I have a moisture meter and only have watered them sparingly 2x, first when transplanted and 2nd about 2 days ago as the meter registered dry. I have been spraying them sparing also every couple of weeks not too much to encourage rot. The plants are within a foot of the lights and that doesn't seem to make them too warm. I also brought in 2 larger bananas that are in 15 gallon pots and they too have just stopped growing. I run a box fan on med 24/7 so they get some air circulation. I also feared mites as I had the problem last year so i sprayed them last week (took them outside) with a malathion produce spray safe for tomatoes, fruit trees. I don't care about eating the fruit just want the plants a good size for the patio in summer. Note they had not been growing previous to the spraying.Last year I had very large bananas over 10ft brought in and they too stopped growing and turned brown. As it was only my 2nd winter with them I know i overwatered and killed them due to rot hence the purchase of a moisture meter. Are there any suggestions on what I can do so I don't lose these. I wanted them to grow to a decent size over winter so when spring comes I have larger plants. I am at a loss on what to do. 2 winters ago I received 4 plants about 6" tall and they grew very well indoors during the winter and were close to 4ft by the time I took them out in April. Please any suggestions?
|
Re: Bananas wasting away please help
I can tell you now that they are not getting enough water. I soak my potted bananas thoroughly, at least once a week. The only time you need to let them dry completely is if they are going dormant, which is not the case in your situation. If the conditions are unusually hot or dry, and 55% humidity is fairly dry, I water them more often.
Anyone else? |
Re: Bananas wasting away please help
Last winter I lost all 4 of my large bananas as they too quit growing but due to overwatering they rotted so I don't want the same thing to happen again. I will have to keep a close eye on them but i can't justify always watering if they show no sign of growth can I?
|
Re: Bananas wasting away please help
As long as they have leaves, they evaporate water, which has to be replaced. Your air humidity is low, as
Moonshiner already pointed out and that exacerbates the problem. The natural environment of bananas is in the Tropics, where the relative humidity is close to 100% during much of the year. and where they survive lengthy monsoon seasons, during which they are doused with torrents of water. - Draw your own conclusions, water plenty, but make sure the pots drain well. I ensure that by placing a few rocks in the bottom of the pot, which I cover with fly screen, before I fill in the soil. That ascertains, that there will be no standing water and no root rot. Just make sure, that you quit watering, when your water reaches the catch tray. Good luck, Olaf |
Re: Bananas wasting away please help
Agreed, Mr. Olaf. It seems timmko's previous problem was not necessarily the amount of water, but whether or not his soil was draining properly. I follow the same course, good draining soil (Kellogg's Patio mix), water until it runs into the catch tray, and then it's a crap shoot depending on all of the various growing conditions.
Of course, you do have those select few who manage to grow the damned things soil-less in nothing BUT water. It's all one giant mystery, ain't it? |
PS:
On second thought, since you have watered so sparingly, the soil in the pot may have become ‘hydrophobic’,
i.e., it has become so dry, that it won’t absorb water any more. Even in a mild form, that means the soil has retracted from the walls of the pot and any water you pour on will run down between soil and pot straight into the catch tray. The plant gets virtually none of it. If that is the case, then you have to place the pot into a large container full of water and let it soak it up for at least a couple of hours. |
Re: Bananas wasting away please help
Right, Mike, but I do not use all these fancy commercial soil mixes for my pots. Just my compost, which I 'enrich'
with a bit of sand, and sphagnum peat moss in roughly equal parts and I have great success with it at a fraction of the costs :) |
Re: Bananas wasting away please help
It's a lot harder to kill a potted banana with too little water than too much. In the absence of any leaf growth, I'd give some water but only enough to keep the soil slightly moist. If you have an actively growing plant and warm conditions, you probably can't overwater, but in the absence of leaf growth and suboptimal sun and heat, I'd be cautious of overwatering. Bananas store a lot of water, so you'd really have to get them desiccated indoors to stop their growth.
I'd take one of the small ones out of the pot and have a look at the roots. That could tell you a lot. |
Re: Bananas wasting away please help
Quote:
|
Re: Bananas wasting away please help
Quote:
growing conditions" is sufficient water. They are not dormant. That would be, when water is detrimental and can cause root rot. |
Re: Bananas wasting away please help
Quote:
|
Re: Bananas wasting away please help
Roots look white and the moisture meter does say normal for moisture but the soil does seem dry |
Re: Bananas wasting away please help
that being said here's a bit more background. These came in small seed pots and were busting out. I replanted loosening up the root ball and planting in 1 gallon pots that have the water spout at the bottom for watering from the bottom up. I haven't used them that way but it is a good judge when the water comes out that spout there is an excess of water and it can be poured off. The last ones I got from the same source took almost a month to start growing but really took off you can see that one in the background it is closer to 3 ft but it too is turning brown. That one is in a 20" pot and quit growing also when I brought it in. I thought that these would eventually take off and then I could water more frequently after growth started to help prevent rot. As you can see most of them have lost leaves and are turning brown. So where do I go from here? Soak the pots in water and see what happens? I can increase the humidity but as the temp drops even more it is harder to keep it up. Right now it is getting in the low 30's at night outside and anything over 60% is gonna cause water droplets to start building up inside on the windows. I have the shed thermometer set at 74degrees and it goes up a bit more during the day with the sunlight and lights another 3 or 4 degrees. Again 2 yrs ago I got 2 6" plants and grew them exremely well in here during the winter once they got over the transplant shock ( and they were shipped to me in the cold of winter).
|
Re: Bananas wasting away please help
I live in a semi arid area with about 35mm (14") annual rainfall. When I first moved my two Ornatas out
into that fairly steady dry southerly wind this spring they looked very much like that picture, just not as severe: The lower leaves showed signs of wilting. When I moved them into a more wind protected area, they recovered. My knowledge of bananas is still rather limited. However many plants shed leaves in times of drought in order to conserve water and I cannot help but assume, that this goes for bananas too. Provide lots of water and make sure, that any excess can drain off at the bottom and you will have no problems. Good luck, Olaf |
Re: Bananas wasting away please help
Quote:
interrupted for any reason, drying out or different soil layers, then the top portion of the roots is left hanging dry, while the bottom portion may be drowning. I am aware, that you have not been doing this. But the only way to ensure the health of most potted plants is to water from the top and provide drainage through the bottom and not through a spout near the bottom (I do not know how these spouts are arranged in your case), because the latter may keep the lower roots permanently soaked. Quote:
at least one large hole in the bottom of the pot. If you do not want to re-pot, then take a 1/8th” drill and drill lots of holes closely spaced from the bottom. If you drill bigger holes the soil might fall out. Quote:
roots to supply all the water your leaves can evaporate, even in your dry environment. That process should be helped by the fact, that they have already lost/shed some of their leaves. Best, Olaf |
Re: Bananas wasting away please help
They could use more water, though that probably isn't the reason for lack of growth. When bananas are growing roots after stress (like you messing with the root ball -- which probably isn't a good idea with bananas), or when you separate a pup, they often won't put up new leaves. The roots look fine. Give them a bit more water but don't over do it.
|
Re: Bananas wasting away please help
After seeing the pictures, I agree with the posts here Tim, I think they look underwatered. I had one last year the looked just like that, and the reason was I wasn't watering it. Take note of what everyone said here-it's all true. I lost a Thai last winter from underwatering, of all things. It started to look just like yours. But yours isn't a lost casue at all. It's a catch 22 really, too much or too little water. What's that saying, watering is an art not a science? Is that how it goes?
|
Re: Bananas wasting away please help
Most said before:
1. Well draining soil mix 2. Frequent watering (If it drains well it also has good aeration and you won't have rot.) 3. Maybe a little longer light duration 4. Misting to help with the humidity 5. Maybe some bottom heat to keep root zone warm (What is your soil temp?) 6. Insulate your pots from the slab which could be considearbly cooler than the air temperature at five foot high. |
Re: Bananas wasting away please help
|
Re: Bananas wasting away please help
Quote:
Thank you, Tony This article is well worth reading, that is why I am quoting it once more here. :) |
| All times are GMT -5. The time now is 10:43 AM. |
Powered by vBulletin Version 3.6.8,
Copyright ©2000 - 2025, Jelsoft Enterprises Limited.
All content © Bananas.org & the respective author.