need help w/ this problem
 

I had a couple of 3' naners in 16" containers. They quit making new leaves, although the pseudostem seemed firm. When I went to peel off some dry layers of the pseduostem, it was not green inside, and they fell over. I have now cut them off at soil level, and pulled the soil away from the top of the corm looking for anything squishy. I didn't really find anything soft (one of them was maybe a *little* miost where I had cut a pup off a few months ago).

I am not sure what to do now, and I am stumped as to what happened. I figured I'd pull the corms out of their pots and take a look at things. Should I cut some of the roots off and put them in smaller pots? Should I cut off the little parts of the corm that may be rotted? I guess I won't water them until they start (hopefully!!!) growing again. It's been a week or 2 and they have done nothing yet.


s.

Re: need help w/ this problem
 

I don't really have much of an anwser, except leave them alone, and wait till spring for warmer weather.
Some of my less hardy bananas have done the same thing in an unheated greenhouse. My philosophy is if they can't survive in my unheated greenhouse then hell with them. :( , but then again it bums me out, and I keep the really precious ones in my heated house.:o
Good luck

Re: need help w/ this problem
 

Don\'t over water until warmer weather and be patient.

eek! more questions
 

I went ahead and pulled the corm out. It was still firm, but when I went to cut away some suspicious stuff, it was rotted. It\'s strange, though, because it looks like the center of the corm is rotted. I was not expecting this.

I cut away as little as possible, which now leaves about 75% of the corm, and tried to dig out the rotted stuff from the center of the corm after I cut away some stuff from the side. It\'s a little hard to explain, I guess. I don\'t know how to embed a picture in the post, but I put some pics in my gallery.

I am assuming the center/top of the corm is the important part, and without it, it won\'t grow back? I remember something about a meristem...

Or should I cut some more off the top and make sure there is no more rot in the center, and maybe it will start growing a pup off the side of the corm?

I\'ve got the cut corm drying for now, and it still has nice roots which I left with soil on them. I just don\'t know how long I can/should let the corm dry.

saturn :confused:

Re: need help w/ this problem
 

Re: need help w/ this problem
 

Saturn,

From my personal experience if the corm is exhibiting any signs of rotting than its “game over”. It will have a hard time to recover and probably it will not make it in time for the cold season. But, you can try to repot it and make sure that the soil temperature is at about 80 F.

Lucian

Re: need help w/ this problem
 

Thanks for putting my pics up, MediaHound.
I have now taken a look at both corms, and the 2nd one was even more rotted. I cut away all the black/spongy stuff.
I left all the roots on, with whatever soil is stuck on the mass of rootlets. I don't think there is much hope, and I don't know if I should cover up the corms with soil when they dry, but I'll hold on to them for a few months.

I am sooooo bummed - these were my tallest naners.
s.

Re: need help w/ this problem
 

I have had corms come back from worse than that! Clean all of the roots off, because they will die anyway if the tips are broken off. Then I would clean all of the soil off and drench the remainder of the corm in a weak fungicide or bleach solution to kill any remaining fungus. Let it dry out, then stick it back in a pot with some fresh, sterile soil. Give it lots of heat and wait. Hope it comes back for you.

Re: need help w/ this problem
 

I would try replanting them, so that the roots are in soil, and the corm is above the top of the soil, and hope for the best. Again, keep them moist, but do not overwater. You will need energy from the roots,