wolfebc

Anyone considering buying one of the white variegated banana's should
be aware that if you do not live in a humid climate, or have the
ability to provide a humid climate for the banana, it will never look
very good. The white parts will burn up really quick and turn brown.
Usually from lack of humidity. The yellow and green ones are
much easier to grow and don't have this problem, but they
don't look as nice either. I found the same to be true with
the white variegated Monstera Deliciosa. It burns up real quick
when the humidity is low. Just something to keep in mind before
you spend the big bucks. Anyone that would be willing to send
me a peice of stem of a yellow and green Monstera Deliciosa, I'll
make it worth your while. Gave up mine when I started growing
the white one and have been sorry ever since.

hydrojeff

sorry i have the green only one but would love to try the others

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mskitty38583

i only have the green. but my fav gh has the varigated, which i so desperatly want. might have to go visit him on thursday.

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hydrojeff

Mskitty, how much do they want for one?

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Gabe15

I grew 'Aeae' fine in my house in the Colorado Rockies, very dry, 8,500ft in altitude, not tropical or humid at all (especially in the winter). I think there are a lot of factors to consider, humidity levels alone do not entirely affect the health of a plant. In my experience humidity is one of the less important things I worry about when trying to keep plants healthy because it can be difficult to control and can be offset with other things. Humidity mainly affects plants by slowing transpiration (creating a water potential in the air that is closer to the water potential in the leaves), this can be easily offset by giving extra water so as transpiration increases and water is lost in the plant, there is plenty more water to take its place and keep a proper water potential gradient. The water potential is the demand for water in areas in and around the plant, if there is low water levels in one of the areas, water will flow from areas with more water to those with less (this is what moves water from the soil, through plants, and into the air), and if it flows without being replaced, you will see wilting, burning and damage to the plant. One of the best ways to prevent them from burning is to not put them in the sun, they grow fine in shady spots as well, sometimes slower than a banana normally would, but they can stay healthy. Heat, light levels and air flow play an equally important role in keeping a healthy water potential, humidity levels alone are not that controlling.

And although I completely believe that you may have had less than good luck with variegated bananas, I don't think its the best policy on the forum to discourage other growers from trying out for themselves if they want to. I was laughed at and told I was lying when people herd I grew bananas, but anything is possible if you know what you're doing.

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wolfebc

I am not trying to discourage people from buying variegated banana's. I am just
giving my observations of the white variegated plants. I live in Canada, we can't just
plant a Banana tree in the yard and expect it to grow just fine like in Hawaii, California,
or Florida. I was just merely suggesting people consider where they plant their
variegated banana carefully. If I lived in Florida or similar type of climate, I would
plant my variegated where it does NOT get afternoon sun and preferably next
to a pond. I have found that no matter how much I water, fertilize, or light it gets
the white parts burn easily without high humidity. All one has to do is take a good
look at the plants being offered for sale. It is clear they burn easily in even excellent
growing locations such as Thailand and Hawaii. If you look closely at all the pics you
can see white parts burnt. Unless there is a Magic strain of AeAe out there that
that doesn't burn easily, there is no getting around it with the white variegated varieties.

Mark Hall

I have to agree with Gabe on this one. I have Ae aes that I have been growing in the uk for about 4 years now and I have found they don't burn. OK they don't look as good as the ones you guys grow in the U,S but we don't get the nice weather you lot get.

As for the Yellow/ green ones, My variegated Basjoo burns in full sun yet the variegated Rajapuri is OK with the odd bit of damage. My variegared Sikki is fine in full sun too. I have a maurelii that has a small percentage of white in it but that turns black in full sun. Also a variegated Acuminata yellow/green that is fine in full sun too.

All very confusing at time bananas arn't they.

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wolfebc

[quote=Mark Hall;41418]I have to agree with Gabe on this one. I have Ae aes that I have been growing in the uk for about 4 years now and I have found they don't burn. OK they don't look as good as the ones you guys grow in the U,S but we don't get the nice weather you lot get.

As for the Yellow/ green ones, My variegated Basjoo burns in full sun yet the variegated Rajapuri is OK with the odd bit of damage. My variegared Sikki is fine in full sun too. I have a maurelii that has a small percentage of white in it but that turns black in full sun. Also a variegated Acuminata yellow/green that is fine in full sun too.

All very confusing at time bananas arn't they.[/QU

I would hope you can grow these fine in the UK. The UK has a good
humid climate. You don't get the intense dry heat of people in more tripical
places. The UK is much more humid than even Canada. I would be suprised
if you could not grow them there well. Giving them more water sometimes
isn't enough if the plant is in a spot with too much heat. The humidity
around the plant can make a big difference. Another thing
most sellers don't inform you about white variegated bananas is, that if the
soil is too alkaline the plant will revert to all green. The more acidic the
soil is, the more white variegation you will get. I think people should get
the facts prior to considering their purchase. especially when they
are not so cheap. By all means if someone wants to go out and buy
ten of them, they should go right ahead. All is I'm saying is give carefull
consideration to where they are planted. Much more so than any
other Banana plant.

wolfebc

In the current auction on ebay for a variegated banana from hawaii,
you could clearly see more than one leaf that had a whole bunch of parts cut out
of it because it burned up. I say why not be honest with people and tell it
like it is. Then if someone still wants to take the risk and spend the cash, they can't
say they were not forwarned. Greed is NOT good. Even in Hawaii they have trouble
growing them. You would think the nurseries there would be able to grow them
to perfection.?? Why is it that all the ones for sale have some burn marks on them
Yet other people claim theirs dont ever burn??? I am more confused than ever now.
All I know is that with our humid spring and fall, they do well. With our
hot dry summers, they burn, no matter how much I water them, or shade them.
THE WHITE PARTS BURN.

hydrojeff

i live in florida and have a ae ae and my leafs still burn, i think its more the sun intensity than anything, its crazy hot here,and humid, and soil plays such a big roll in plant growing, every 100 miles it changes????

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wolfebc

These are the facts on Florida's climate, taken from the University of
Floriday Climate data:

Minimum humidity usually occurs midday and generally exceeds 50% year round. On a 90°F summer day, relative humidity is between 50-70% but often approaches 90% by dawn. Swimming pools and fountains contribute to increased levels of humidity. Also adding to increased levels is heavy vegetation that blocks air flow around the home

I'm not making this up, this is factual data. I have found the White
Varegated banana start to burn up when humidity drops lower than 80%
The lower the humidity the more it burns. If the humidity goes back
up it's not going to be able to unburn itselfe. So when people say
they are easy to grow and theirs do not burn, well we know they
are not quite being honest. Like I said before by planting by a pond and
where it won't get full sun in the afternoon, will increase chances of having
a nicer looking plant with less burn. Humidity plays a major role on how
these plants look. 50-70% humidity will give you burn. They would
be much easier to grow in florida than most places. The problem is not
everbody lives in Florida. Being an informed shopper never hurts.

mskitty38583

i know that if i put my white and green varigated ee's out in the sun....they get crispy real fast. i lost 3 leaves that way. even some light green colored plants will burn. i dont think its the humidity that causes this i think, its the uva's and uvb's that cause this either on humans or plants. jmo

just an after thought: someone needs to make spf95 for varigated plants: they would make a fortune.

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wolfebc

Taking any plant from indoors to outdoors will burn to some degree. We have go grow
our plants indoors for almost 5 months out of the year under artificial lights. We strive
to find the perfect conditions to grow not only our variegated bananas, but palms and
other tropicals. We experiment with amount of lumen output,temperature, amount of water and fertilizer, and humidity to find which works best. We have found that when the humidity drops below 80% we start seeing the white parts on our white varegated bananas and monteras start to burn and the lower the humidity the more the white parts turn brown. All the other perameters stay the same IE; temperature, light,water
and fertilizer. When we slowly acclimate our plants to the outside in the spring, the
White variegated plants burn a lot more than the all green varieties. The sun dries
the ambient air, therefore lowering humidity. Which these plants don't like. I don't know
about some of you all but in elementary school we learned that when it is hot and sunny
out, the humidity is naturally lower. I just assumed everone else knew this too.
Silly me, I thought this was a forum to assist people to get the most out of their plants.

mskitty38583

oh it is. its just that some of us are very new to the whole tropical growing conditions and special need of certian plants. i hope that you didnt think i was trying to be a smart !@#$. this is my first year with nanas and tropicals and info is something you can never have enough of. i am originally from florida and things there grow differently from things grown in tn. the comments i made were observations for the zone im in.

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Mark Hall

It is. But there are polite ways about doing it.

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Bananaman88

Wolfe,

As Mark said, yes, this is a website for people to learn and get the most out of their plants. However, everyone may not always agree with what is posted on here. No one is disputing the fact that lower humidity contributes to leaf burn, whether it is on variegated plants or normal green ones. I happen to think that it is a combination of things such as light intensity, overall humidity, etc. Please don't take offense when people have questions about what you are posting. That's how we all learn.