Melissa D

I received my first ever banana plants on 7/13/16. I ordered a Seminole, and a Dwarf Cavendish and a greenhouse book. what was delivered: 2 dwarf cavendish, 2 Seminoles, 1 California Gold, 1 Goldfinger, 1 Basjoo. (to say there was a mix up with the shipper/supplier- is an understatement!) Anyway- I've always wanted banana plants, and I was blessed with 5 extra ones. I get them.. 7/13, my 2 ordered in one box in EXCELLENT shape, and the other 5 sadly crammed in the same size box, box was badly damaged in shipping, and at least 2 of them nearly dead from being crushed in shipping. Seller said his mistake is my gain.. I followed the directions identically as told-and it's not working!! I was instructed to use Miracle Grow MIX not SOIL. Water when dry after a few days of being dry. NO directly sunlight, put under shade trees ( or like situation if not trees available for shade.) I've had them since 7/13- today is 8/9. they received 1 cup of water on arrival, and 3/4 cup of water 10-12 days later. i just gave about 1/2 cup with Miracle Grow plant food in it for the first time today. Soil was a bit moist, but I'm desperate for them to live, so I thought adding the fertilizer/plant food might help them..And the water is ONLY distilled water. NOT TAP WATER - he was very specific to that. By the 4th day, the 2 that were the most badly damaged from shipping all but died (1 dead now i think.) The other bad one (upon arrival) had 3 leaves, i cut off 2 immediately by his instructions, and the ONE left was ok, but now dead. it's dead most lieky, ( i say this since the unrolled leaf that emerges from the stem is still unrolled after 3 weeks, and the other 1 leaf left is browned all sides. I come home today, the 3rd badly received one.. now dead, stalk bent over from the weight of the ONE leaf left (cut the other leaf off upon arrive, was damaged and broken so badly. the 2 i actually ordered in the box together were the best 2 received, as of now... one of them (seminole) is looking pretty good, and just unrolled a leaf in less than 3 days.. and the other one that was perfect upon receipt, is a stem only- 4 inches from the dirt. all cut off due to rot.

Since my house is very poorly lit, I moved them outside after about 7-10 days..because they were wilting back at the leaves and apparently not doing well at all, looking worse for the wear, I decided to purchase a 3ftH x 3ftW x 6ftL greenhouse with zipper. I've put window screens in front of the unzipped front flaps to allow a ton of air to flow through ,whereby keeping the temperature inside the greenhouse the same as the natural air. when it rains, i have a tarp that covers them and keeps them completely dry. they are getting TONS of indirect light from the greenhouse plastic (green and white plastic, not solid clear plastic.) I can provide a link to amazon for the one I purchased here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1 . I have bent over backwards, and lost countless hours of sleep trying to help them. And I do not know what I am doing wrong.. so today.. i dragged them out of the greenhouse, and they are sitting right now the last 10 minutes in direct sun, to dry up the water i just gave them with the Miracle Grow (blue crystal type mixed in water.) hoping making them dry up will make them absorb the plant food sooner to hopefully bring them back from the brink of death. Its been almost a month since getting them.. and already 2 dead, and 2 definitely dying.. and 2 in DECENT shape, (but not growing or developing at all..) and 1 that seems pretty good.

It's important to note that I've been in Horticulture and AG all my life, from exotic plants to veggie gardens, to living and working on the farm raising our own 'meat' and feed. It's all I've ever done, and place in every category i enter in the State fair every year for AG and horticulture.. I wanted to add that so it's known that I'm not a complete idiot.. :-P I know how to grow/propagate/harvest just about anything I've ever attempted. and now.. my dream of a small (hobby) banana farmer has absolutely went down the tubes. I don't know what to do and am desperate for help!! I cannot possibly be over watering them, as they dry out for 2-3 days before i water them again.. and they've received only a few cups of water in almost a month! please help me!I have plenty of subpar quality photos to offer if i can figure out how to do that. Thank you

Side note: seller advised to use either 8 or 10 inch pots. large holes in bottom of pot, (the tall black plastic pots, typically what nurseries/greenhouses sell their item in that you would throw away once you brought your new plant home and repotted it. that is what he said to use, and that is what i bought. every detail followed exactly.)

melissa
desperate wanna be banana farmer hobbyist
Kentucky

Kat2

Could you post pictures of your plants? When I get new plants, I pot them up in compost, water them, place them in a shaded location and let them do their thing. If your Miracle Gro mix includes fertilizer, you shouldn't be adding more at this time. It should be warm enough for your pots to be outside. I'd tuck them under a tree and let them alone. Either they'll survive or they won't but fiddling with them too much is not a good thing.

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Tytaylor77

I totally agree with Kat. The harder you try the faster they die for me. Pics would help a lot.

Small TC plants are harder and more fragile than a pup. I have only purchased a few TC plants when I first got into bananas. I ended up getting the wrong varieties they were healthy just not what I ordered. Search around and you hear the same story as mine. For example I'm pretty sure a "Siminole" is not TC'ed. By agristarts at least. That means the seller took another variety and sold it as a "Siminole" just to make a sale. Same with the Cali gold im pretty sure it is not in TC so it's something else. I may be wrong, you will have an idea in a few months when they get larger. But this is the reason I do not buy TC plants. I don't want to grow one for 2 years and end up being not what I ordered.

My experience with TC plants if the leaves die the plant dies. That's just my experience. Unlike a pup they have a tiny corm and cannot support themselves without the leaves. It sounds like you are not overwatering which is good. I wouldn't give them any fertilizer until they get much larger. It's more likely to harm than help when they are small.

Post some pics and good luck. I hope all the rest pull though for you.

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150+ Varieties!!. See profile for list. Help me add more!

www.bananapups.com

Melissa D

Thank you both for responding!! How do I upload pictures here?

Richard

Richard's Guide for homegrown bananas

Richard's Guide to Potted Plant care

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Back in business at plantsthatproduce.com

Melissa D

Hi- I added pictures to 'Galleries'- in my own profile, I wrote the name of each in the title, and a description of each. Is this where I was supposed to add the pictures? Can you guys see them, and please give me advice?? i think of the 7 there are maybe 2-3 that can possibly be saved... and also - directed to: TyTaylor77: what does "TC" mean?? I do not know acronyms- This is my first ever experience with banana plants, so you'll have to write out the entire word for me.. sorry, and thank you!

Melissa D

Attention Richard: I have no idea what you are talking about in your banana tree attachment. you have to remember I'm attempting to grow banana plants for the first time, and have no idea what Injector Sets, and Resultant ppm's mean. or anything else on that page.

Melissa D

I was told not to let the plants have direct sunlight.. only indirect under a shade tree, and water very little. I've never let them be in 'direct' light under the sun, following the exact instructions that was given to me by the Seller at Green Earth Publishing Co. - is this right or wrong?? Seems everything i look at on 1 website completely contradicts what the next site says, and the next and the next and the next and the next. i swear after this nightmare dealing with trying to keep them alive, buying a habitat for them, and all the useless research and talking to the seller has left me with nothing but dead and dying plants, and i'm nearly at the point of throwing all of them away, and just forgetting the entire deal. its so frustrating and disappointing to say the very least! i really hope people here can help me figure out what to do to save the few i have left.

JP

I sent you a private message.

Lau

Hi Melissa, just because the top of the plant dies doesn't necessarily mean the whole plant is dead. Good luck