miaella

I have a dwarf ladyfinger that is about 14 inches tall and has stopped growing. I think I over watered it (bad soil) and the leaves all started to brown and shrivel up. The leaf that was beginning to grow from the center has stopped.

I have re-potted the plant in better soil. What else should I do? Do you think it will come back?

momoese

The only hope for that plant is to remove the corm from what looks to be soggy soil, chop down the pseudo stem in increments until that black rotting center leaf is no longer showing black. You may have to cut it all the way down the the corm and possibly even dig out the middle of the corm to remove all the rot. Then let it dry out a few days and repot it in dry potting soil. I would not water it until I saw some sign of new growth or a new pup coming up.

It doesn't look good for your plant.

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Mitchel

miaella

I've done some research but am not exactly sure what the corm is. Is is the "bulb" part?

Can you describe the digging out of the corm part? I'd rather not do any more damage than is already done.

momoese

The corm is the round bottom part of the plant underneath the soil line. The pseudo stem is the trunk of the tree. If you chop down the trunk all the way to soil line and you can still see black in the very center of the top of the corm, then the corm has started to rot and will require some surgery. You can use any sharp knife or an exacto blade and dig all the rotted material out that you can.

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Mitchel

miaella

Momoese, thanks for the help!

I cut just below the top and the leaf was still green. I have taken the banana tree out of the soil to dry... do you have any more hope for my poor plant given its current status? Should I cut the roots off in case of rot below the corm?

Here are photos of the plant now:

momoese

It doesn't have much of a corm. Must have been a TC plant. Just repot it and leave the soil dry for a few days. Then water it lightly one time and wait to see if takes. Keep it out of direct sunlight. If and when it grows you can start adding some more water.

Do you see any soft dark rot on the roots or corm?

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Mitchel

miaella

These is some soft dark rot on the ends of some of the roots. I can't really tell on the corm since it is so small.

(Not sure what a TC plant is, I bought this online from logee's)

momoese

TC = Tissue Culture

If there is not any rot on the corm itself it might survive but the corm is so small that it will tough for it to make a come back.

Go ahead and repot per my previous instructions and hope for the best!

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Mitchel

miaella

Thanks again for the help!

This is my first attempt at growing a banana tree, hopefully it springs back to life.

Momoese, do you have any recommendations on where I could buy a bigger banana corm? I'm in MN so I probably won't have any luck locally.

D'Andra

Hi Miaella.

You may have some luck finding some good corms if you post in the For sale/swap & wanted forum. I think you can find it on this sites homepage.

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D'.

miaella

Thanks D'Andra, I'll give it a try!

fish2026

Let us know. Where you able to save it ?

JoeS475

Make sure your plant (or replacement plant) gets great drainage, and is never sitting in water - from the looks of the first picture you posted the soil could be soggy, and the tray it is sitting in may be collecting water (tough to tell though).

Bananas LOVE water, but HATE sitting in it!

~Joe

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miaella

The photo makes the plant look wetter than it was--I had a mix of 50% potting soil and 50% perlite so it drained pretty well (for the last week). The couple weeks before then it was in pure potting soil and was very wet...which seems to have done it in.

I'll be sure to keep you guys updated if it survives!

miaella

It has been almost two weeks since I began trying to save this Dwarf LadyFinger. The good news is that it is still green. The bad news is that it doesn't seem to be doing anything except for brown at the top. Anyone have any hope for its survival?

momoese

Is it getting any bright indirect sunlight?

You might want to continue cutting the top if looks like it's rotting. Turning brown and rotting are two different things though.

As for hope, yes, there is still some hope, even for your very small TC. Bananas are actually very tough plants that can surprise you!

If all else fails you have learned that bananas like sunlight and don't like to sit in water that becomes stagnant.

On a side not, I wouldn't recommend glazed pots as they don't breath and will promote root rot.

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Mitchel

miaella

The plant was outside for the past week getting some sun. The top isn't rotting, just browning. I re-potted it just now and noticed that some of the roots were rotting so I cut those off and tried to remove any rot left on the corm.

mrbungalow

Put it in the compost and buy a new one. Unless there is a lot of sentimental value, there is no use utilizing time on a problem-plant that is easily replaced.

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bencelest

Dwarf ladyfinger is hard to find nowadays. Logees run out of stock, the only source I found before.

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Banana Nut

51st state

Hi Erlend

what a pessimist!!...It's a banana after all, tough as old boots.

I 'found' a cutting from an unnamed banana outside a restaurant in Italy earlier this year and its just about to unfurl its first leaf. So patience is the name of the game.

I would give it lots of TLC, plenty of warmth and humidity (but with ventilation too), and bright conditions (but no direct sunlight) I expect to see photos of it sprouting in a week or two.

fingers crossed, good luck

Kev

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