Cut down or wait it out: salt water damage from Ian

twotallgirls · 10-04-2022, 04:38 PM

So I thought I'd pose this question to group... while I've grown many bananas for years and put up with different growing conditions and storm recovery, this is a first for me with salt water.

Hurricane Ian surge covered our yard with 3 feet of salt water for about 12 or so hours before receding. I cut down 75% of bananas but a few seemed ready ready to bloom... Most don't have any viable leaves. Cut the stalk down or wait and see?. Any leaves left on my plants are getting yellower and yellower. A few have bunches but I harvested rather than try and fix the snapped stalks (which really weren't recoverable). I had a Gold Finger that needed another 6 weeks but couldn't hoist / stake it up myself as way too heavy....

What has been others experience with salt water and what worked to get to recovery best? Just wait it out, water extensively, cut them now to save some growing season?

Of my 15 varieties, seems Raja Puri fared the best, Super Dwarf Cav. is a total loss, Saba all snapped, and Brazilian lost all leaves in wind.

wstrickland1 · 10-04-2022, 05:40 PM

Really sorry about not just your plants but everything else that's happened down there. No idea about the salt water thing.

momoese · 10-04-2022, 10:07 PM

Wow, never really thought about the salt water damage!

Other than flushing with lots of fresh water I have no other clues how to deal with that.

I've used rock salt in a gravel parking lot to kill weeds and it was very effective.

beam2050 · 10-05-2022, 08:05 AM

i have some friends that live just above tampa i have known since the 90's, i visit them alot. they live in an area that has a number of manmade canals connected to springs which go to the gulf, so the canals are most of the time fresh water. but they get extreme high tides 2, 3 times a year. going to as much as 5ft. or more.

there are many people there growing bananas low enough that, with an extreme high tide, the bananas are under water for some time. and i am one of them.

but not for 12 hrs., 6 or 8 maybe. most of the bananas everybody else has are orinoco or dwarf cavendish, most. anyways the salt does not seem to affect them. i see fruit all the time.

but i will say again, not for 12 hrs. that i know of.

pitangadiego · 10-05-2022, 02:46 PM

I am always in favor of wait and see. Generally you have nothing to loose, and everything to gain. As long at you remove anything that is rotten, brown and mushy, let the rest play out.

Had a bunch of Fhia-18 that has been on the ground all summer and just ripened about 35 pounds. ad nothing to loose by letting things play out.

PR-Giants · 10-05-2022, 05:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by twotallgirls

What has been others experience with salt water

Sea water has a salinity of 3.5% and many banana growers irrigate daily with water that has a salinity of 0.2%.

Your bananas will be fine.

10-04-2022, 04:38 PM	#1 (permalink)
twotallgirls Location: Marco Island, FL Find me on the map! Zone: 10A Join Date: Oct 2013 Posts: 100 BananaBucks : 24,064 Feedback: 0 / 0% Said "Thanks" 7 Times Was Thanked 208 Times in 69 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 5 Times	Cut down or wait it out: salt water damage from Ian So I thought I'd pose this question to group... while I've grown many bananas for years and put up with different growing conditions and storm recovery, this is a first for me with salt water. Hurricane Ian surge covered our yard with 3 feet of salt water for about 12 or so hours before receding. I cut down 75% of bananas but a few seemed ready ready to bloom... Most don't have any viable leaves. Cut the stalk down or wait and see?. Any leaves left on my plants are getting yellower and yellower. A few have bunches but I harvested rather than try and fix the snapped stalks (which really weren't recoverable). I had a Gold Finger that needed another 6 weeks but couldn't hoist / stake it up myself as way too heavy.... What has been others experience with salt water and what worked to get to recovery best? Just wait it out, water extensively, cut them now to save some growing season? Of my 15 varieties, seems Raja Puri fared the best, Super Dwarf Cav. is a total loss, Saba all snapped, and Brazilian lost all leaves in wind. __________________ Blue Java, Raja Puri, Goldfinger FHIA-01, Mona Lisa FHIA-02, Sweetheart FHIA-03, Pitogo, Saba, Dwarf Cavendish, Super Dwarf Cav., Namwa, Brazilian, Mysore, Dwarf Red, and a mystery or two

10-04-2022, 05:40 PM	#2 (permalink)
wstrickland1 Location: Charleston, SC Zone: 8-B Join Date: Jun 2020 Posts: 967 BananaBucks : 64,950 Feedback: 0 / 0% Said "Thanks" 306 Times Was Thanked 1,427 Times in 595 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 2 Times	Re: Cut down or wait it out: salt water damage from Ian Really sorry about not just your plants but everything else that's happened down there. No idea about the salt water thing.

10-04-2022, 10:07 PM	#3 (permalink)
momoese Banana grower momoese's Photo Gallery Find me on the map! Zone: zone 10 Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 7,593 BananaBucks : 10,495 Feedback: 9 / 100% Said "Thanks" 3,758 Times Was Thanked 10,895 Times in 3,314 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 730 Times	Re: Cut down or wait it out: salt water damage from Ian Wow, never really thought about the salt water damage! Other than flushing with lots of fresh water I have no other clues how to deal with that. I've used rock salt in a gravel parking lot to kill weeds and it was very effective.

10-05-2022, 08:05 AM	#4 (permalink)
beam2050 banana cereal killer Location: middleburg fl. Find me on the map! Zone: 9b-8a Name: walkinbeam Join Date: Sep 2016 Posts: 2,445 BananaBucks : 12,633 Feedback: 0 / 0% Said "Thanks" 10,889 Times Was Thanked 3,384 Times in 1,553 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 816 Times	Re: Cut down or wait it out: salt water damage from Ian i have some friends that live just above tampa i have known since the 90's, i visit them alot. they live in an area that has a number of manmade canals connected to springs which go to the gulf, so the canals are most of the time fresh water. but they get extreme high tides 2, 3 times a year. going to as much as 5ft. or more. there are many people there growing bananas low enough that, with an extreme high tide, the bananas are under water for some time. and i am one of them. but not for 12 hrs., 6 or 8 maybe. most of the bananas everybody else has are orinoco or dwarf cavendish, most. anyways the salt does not seem to affect them. i see fruit all the time. but i will say again, not for 12 hrs. that i know of. __________________ ................................................... npk of wood ash 0/1/3 to 0/3/7 npk of banana leaf ash 1.75/0.75/0.5 Last edited by beam2050 : 10-05-2022 at 08:08 AM.

10-05-2022, 02:46 PM	#5 (permalink)
pitangadiego Senior Member Location: San Diego, CA Find me on the map! Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 1,489 BananaBucks : 180,222 Feedback: 9 / 100% Said "Thanks" 2 Times Was Thanked 2,732 Times in 930 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 0 Times	Re: Cut down or wait it out: salt water damage from Ian I am always in favor of wait and see. Generally you have nothing to loose, and everything to gain. As long at you remove anything that is rotten, brown and mushy, let the rest play out. Had a bunch of Fhia-18 that has been on the ground all summer and just ripened about 35 pounds. ad nothing to loose by letting things play out. __________________ Encanto Farms Nursery http://encantofarms.com We Be Bananas http://webebananas.com

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