drone

hey, y'all!

Long time no speak!

I thought I'd try again with a tanee and ice cream as last time, i was told it was a namwah, not tanee. but variegated namwah are very cool so I wasn't too bothered.

Anyways I got these on the 27th of April 2023. These are them now. not much progress but there's in my polytunnel, and it's been super hot and humid in the UK. I've not overwatered them and tried to protect them. They had hot warm conditions so far.

The tanee is fine the ice cream is slightly more concerning, but, im hopeful they have growth soon. Not checked roots as don't want to cause extra stress! keep in mind these were bareroot!


the photo below of when they arrived and not!


thanks

Attached Images

	corm import 27.png (1.23 MB, 19 views)
	corm today.png (1.49 MB, 17 views)

sirdoofus

Obviously hard to tell from the photo, and of course not sure when you last watered it, but the potting mix looks pretty wet. What is it made up of?

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drone

I watered just before the photo, sometimes, well very often at the moment the polytunnel gets to 35 degrees +. so I'm providing some moisture as it gets so hot.

my mix is perlite, compost, worm casting, bark and peat. I was thinking it could be some heat stress on the ice cream (the one looking worse for wear)

thanks!

sirdoofus

I haven't grown those varieties or grown plants from bare corms, so I may not be the right person to answer this, however, I would be most concerned about rot. Frequent watering + high temps + lack of roots + lack of leaves to transpire moisture = good conditions for fungal growth and rot. I have learned the hard way here that bananas without leaves are extremely sensitive/prone to rot from too much moisture.

So when I see pics of leafless bananas looking like your ice cream, my first thought is always rot. It certainly may be something else, but the first thing I would do is make sure your medium is appropriate.

If it were me, and I am most definitely no expert, I would gently extract the corm from the medium and have a look at it to make sure there is healthy new root growth. If all looks good down below, then maybe it is something else.

I personally would also consider moving it to a spot that isn't so hot during the day.

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drone

thank you for the advice. It's really appreciated mate!

i do try to keep it dry as possible, but with the head we've received i did give it some water. I've given the tanee the exact same and its fine. it's always odd how this happens! banana mystery lol.

I worry with removing plants causes extra shock but ill give it a go. ill move it to a shady position also!

rot is the killer of bananas, especially bare-root ones. it's an art to do and an art i haven't mastered!

cheers for the advice!

drone

I took your advice and checked the roots! Thankfully I planted in a clear pot, you can see roots appearing on the outer side of the pot. so hopefully this is a good sign! the photo is attached. This is occurring all across the pot.

I've circled one example. My phone hasn't got a great image quality but there are roots there!

cheers

Attached Images

roots.png (1.13 MB, 10 views)

sirdoofus

Have a look at this thread.

Time to separate the variegated pups

He uses clean course sand for his sensitive bananas and finds it works well for him. I haven't tried it so can't speak to it from experience, but I am intrigued.

Maybe the tanee is more tolerant, or maybe because its a bigger corm, or maybe the ice cream already had issues, or maybe the tanee is headed in the same direction? I don't know, but I do find different varieties definitely have different tolerances for varying conditions. Treat any other banana like a basjoo and.....

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drone

Oh interesting! so many different methods to choose from.

I find different climates play a major role. especially as most members here are from the USA, things you guys can do and try maybe wouldn't work here in cold, rainy England. On the other side of the pond!

it's hard not to be over-caring, especially when u pay £200 for a corm. banana prices are decreasing as COVID has passed. The USA banana market is much larger and more established than the UK/EU one. you have a lot more availability from what I've seen. so the pressure is on not to kill it. but tanee and ice cream aka tall Namwa are considered hardy here and more tolerant to conditions than something like Musa aeae Florida.

if it grows or dies ill let you know! but the roots I showed above are a really promising sign that it'll be fine! the larger tanee corm i hopefully won't kill either! seems self-sufficient almost! but we will see

thanks for the interesting info! and sorry for this long message. I need to visit the US and try get work experience or a bursary to see how you guys cultivate bananas!

cheers!

sirdoofus

Yeah, I am in a similar boat as you. I live on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Also hard and expensive to get any kind of selection. We have lots of wet most of the year, generally relatively warn, dry summer days and cool/cold nights. Makes growing large specimens of anything other than the coldest of cold hardy varieties a bit of a challenge. My Dwarf Orinocos even limped along here ( I lost them the winter before last, unfortunately, due to, I think, the poor choice of potting medium I used.....it was their second winter.....they rotted in my garage and by the time I noticed something was amuck, it was too late)

Best of luck, I hope it all works out and maybe someone with more specific experience will chime in. Definitely keep us posted.

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