Kanana

I bought 2 Dwarf Iholena banana plants from SDDarkman back in March of '18. During the summer it tipped over and started growing up, so now that I repotted it, it's almost at a right angle. Should I cut off the P-stem for a new one to grow out normal and straight, or leave it as is and face the tops of the leaves towards the west, so the stem will slowly grow towards the east, searching for the sun? Thanks.

Sarah Brubacker

I had a plant almost bent over so far and I just set it up again and eventually it stood up, basically straight, (it was smaller than yours ) but if your plant isn't growing it might not stand up? Also the stem looks rather weak, so it might not be able to stand up again.??

Kanana

Thanks for the response Sarah. Things are still growing here in Florida. The stem is kind of puny since I never repotted it over the summer. It was stuck in a 4" pot that tipped over in my lanai, that stayed lost for several months. Surprised it lived. The companion to this one rotted from overwatering so I'd like to salvage this one.

I also have a much larger Blue Java (4-5 feet tall) that got knocked over during the storms this summer and pretty much the same situation. Should I cut it or hope it grows back upright?

Sarah Brubacker

What I probably would do when transplanting is turn the plant so that it was upright when done transplanting.
Don't know if that makes sense?
But maybe other people wouldn't think that's the best way, but I've done things like that and it seems to work fine!

Kanana

Sarah I thought about that, but I'd need quite a large pot wide enough to be able to lay it sideways for it to be upright. May be possible to put this in a 3 gallon container to make that happen, but my Blue Java that is 3-5 feet (maybe 6 feet??) will be almost impossible to do.

cincinnana

I have had that happen before while on vacation.
What a conundrum I was in.

Here is a thread and link which can help with your bent stem.
Pick and choose what can help your situation.

Just reposition(replant) your plant in a new vertical position.
You will be turning your plant to almost a right angle....but your young plant will sort itself out in no time.
Larger diameter plants take little longer.


.Bent Pstem. follow the thread.

Here are some photos of the conundrum I had.

Bent P-stems

Good luck!!

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sddarkman619

just stand it upright, it will straighten out.

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cincinnana

That one is in dog years..

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sddarkman619

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sddarkman619

Agristarts has started shipping some bananas out of tray and laying flat because they get too tall for the boxes. In the process of ONLY 2-3 days they do this:


and it takes a few weeks to get them straightened out.

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beam2050

I had a couple of namwa plants about 3 ft hight last year blow over and looked like that by the time I discovered them. they will do that with a quickness but they take along time to straighten back up. and it seemed to take the starch out of them, those 2 plants have not done well since.

anyways, small as that one is I would repot but I would not try to plant it straight up, let it straight some up on its own.

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Kanana

I did get the smaller Dwarf Iholena repotted in a 3 gallon container and layed it sideways, so now it is pointing straight up. I just didn't know if having part of the p-stem buried like this, could potentially rot the stem as it is buried in moist potting soil.

The other 4-6 foot Blue Java I am still in a conundrum of what to do. Wouldn't it be simpler to cut the P-stem and just start it over instead of digging a 6 foot wide hole to lay that in sideways?

Cincinnana, I will check out your links now as I just wanted to respond to the new posts here since I was last on here yesterday. Thanks in advance.

Kanana

SDDarkman, wow that's a shame about Agristarts doing that. Seems it would put uneeded stress on such a young plantlet that is pretty delicate at that stage.

Kanana

Just saw the thread and the 31 photos in your links. One thought is it wasn't clear by the pictures of what you part of the rootball you cut from the picture of the bent pstem sitting in the wheelbarrow, to the next pic of all the banana plants repotted upright. I wish you had a few step by step pics as the knife sitting in the rootball I first thought you cut it straight down but then realized that was a shadow. So which part did you cut and how many roots or part of the corm did you lose?

cincinnana

I have some others doing the Detroit lean right now.
I will post pics later but in the meantime just tip your plant on its side and visualize its new vertical position and make your cut through the the excess rootball. Do not disturb any more roots than you have to. Do not tease the dirt out of the roots.

Or you may just reposition the plant in a vertical position in a larger container which is much easier and less invasive to the roots.



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