fish2026

My baby banana plants from Agri-Starts are 4-6" tall. I've repotted all of them in 6" diameter pots.

There are in a shed - greenhouse where the top allows sunlight in ( greenhouse) while the sides are stucco with a few windows. It probably gets 6 hrs of direct sunlight a day with a few hours of indirect light.

I live in south texas and theres plenty of sunlight.

How much light can and should these plants have? Can the puts be put outside to where they get 10+ hrs of sunlight? If they cant be put out now.... When?

I water them each day with the hose on shower until each plant is damp and the leaves have drops on them. Is that enough?

MediaHound

I would put them in full sun for 6-8 hours per day, or filtered sun for longer.
Keep the hose nearby and keep them misted as the day progresses.
If it's really burning hot out I wouldn't put water on the really young plants leaves' as the droplets can burn the plant where they magnify the sun. Maybe hose underneath the micro canopy.
But it sounds like you'll hopefully be repotting them soon, try not to get them rootbound. The overall long term success of the plant, fruit quantity, etc. depends on the initial care it receives. So don't stunt their growth if you can avoid it.

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fish2026

I've already repotted them.

What is rootbound? why is it bad and what can one do to prevent it. Thanks for all the help mediahound. Do you ever watch someone eat a banana and think that you made it all possible? lol

MediaHound

The judge ordered that I can't be in a room anymore with other people and bananas.
j/k




But if the roots end up looking like this, that's not good (note that these are not actual pictures of banana plants, I just found these images on the web, quick n dirty):











^rootbound plants that all should have been repotted sooner

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fish2026

uh oh just about all the little Tissue cultures from Agri-Starts looked like that only smaller. I may have squeezed them a bit to loosen them up while potting but they do look like some of the pictures. Well all except picture number 1.

Im hoping that with all the new nice soil mixture in the pots and lots of water those roots will find new places to venture.

MediaHound

Indeed they did, at that stage when they are getting ready to ship, it's a delicate balance between getting a plant small enough to be manageable in large quantities while all the while being mature and strong enough to handle the shipment and acclimation to the new environment. Any smaller and they may not have fared as well as they did when you got them.
The Agristarts folks may have some comments about that if they see this thread but that's basically the jist of it. I wouldn't worry so much about it, they probably weren't that way for long, anyway. There's a quick turnover from what I understand.
PS the roots are already probing down into the new areas
You did good, maybe for the next up-potting you can put them straight into the ground.

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Apologies in advance if I am slow to reply to your PM. I suggest posting in the forums for support if you need something urgent.