andy17

Hey everyone,
The oldest leaves on one of my bananas have developed this awful black stuff that is killing the leaves. I have no clue what's going on with them. Could it be sun or fertilizer burn? Any help would be really appreciated! Thanks!

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Duke21

Can you take a pic of the bottom side of the leaf?
What kind of fertilizer are you using and at what rate?
Is it on just the oldest leaves or throughout all of them?
How old is the plant?

andy17

Thanks Duke21 for your help! I'll def get a new picture of the underside of the leaf tomorrow morning. I've attached an older one when the black first started appearing. The plant is going on it's second growing season, so its about a year and a half old. It's been outside since mid May, and the plant is really taking off, which until this point, it has grown very little. It's oldest leaves grew while it was indoors during the winter. Those are the leaves where the black stuff started appearing. The new leaves so far look completely unaffected, but I've noticed the black starting on more leaves, always from the oldest to the second or third oldest. It has gotten progressively worse from light streaking to large patches. I should also mention that the weather has been really wet and rainy. I recently (last three weeks) moved it to a full sun spot in my yard where a sprinkler waters it once a day (it's on a timer so it comes on even if it's rained). I was fertilizing with full strength Miracle Gro once every week or two. In addition I was applying Hi Yield Growers Special at the recommended rate of one teaspoon per 6 inches or about 1 tablespoon per square foot. It's in an 8 gallon pot right now.

Attached Images

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jjjankovsky

Maybe it's just a mold or fungus from being to damp inside. Is it large enough to just remove the darkened leaves so that the offender doesn't continue to infect the new leaves? If so, do it, and don't compost the cuttings.

andy17

thanks jjjankovsky, that could definitely be what's going on here. The plant is large enough to remove the affected leaves, so that sounds like a good plan. I've removed the sick leaves and disposed of them and moved the plant so hopefully that will help out a lot. Here's an updated forum:

Goldfinger With Black Leaves Please Help!

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"Gardening is the purest of human pleasures." --Francis Bacon