problem with banana leaves
 

Last year I had a problem with my banana leaves falling over and hanging straight down soon after they unroled. I had hoped that over the winter the problem would fix itself. However, either it is worse, or I have a new problem. My banana plants seem to be unable to grow new leaves before they become destroyed. I am putting the pictures in the gallery and trying to post them below. Any suggestions on what could be causing this? I would love any and all advice you could give me. Thank you.

Re: problem with banana leaves
 

Is this happening to all your bananas?
Here's my uneducated thoughts:
Check soil PH?
Too much water for low light/temps?
Any recent elephant escapes from the zoo?
Herbacide residue in the soil?
I think it was Island Cassie whose next door neighbor sprayed herbacide that drifted over and did sort of the same thing to her plants. I can't find the thread though.
Strong doses of pesticides?
Insects?

That's all I can think of. Are all your plants the same variety?
Very strange.
Good Luck with them.

Re: problem with banana leaves
 

It looks like it needs to be trimmed back so that the leaves can get out to me. Cut the dead stuff at the top back more so that the leaves can get out cleanly.

Re: problem with banana leaves
 

The leaves are actually coming out very cleanly, than I'll go out one day and instead of seeing inches of growth, they are collapsed and some of them "shreaded." I had been thinking about the water, but I'm really only watering them once a week right now since it is still cool. This is happening to all of my bananas, and as far as I know they are all the same species. My neighbors aren't big gardeners, so I doubt its pesticides, but I guess it is possible. Any thoughts on how to fix the situation so that my plants can actually get some leaves? Thanks

Re: problem with banana leaves
 

From your description and the photos, the damage appears physical rather than chemical. Are there ravens, rabbits, or similar in the area?

Re: problem with banana leaves
 

I have never seen rabbits in the area (and the plants are about 3 feet high) but I do have some cactus wrens nesting in the yard. Could they be doing it? Would putting a fruit net over the plants keep the birds away?

Re: problem with banana leaves
 

I had a similar problem with one of my Dw. Cavendish a few weeks ago. It lasted for about two months. It had been bitten by the cold (not quite frost), at least I presume. I could see down into the corm that the top of the new leaves and one that hadn't fully emerged, were all brown and dried up going down into the corm. I tried helping it by unraveling off some of the dead leafs, but it wouldn't do anything else and stopped growing for a few more weeks. So I finally hacked off about a foot off the top of the corm and IMMEDIATELY the next two leaves sprung up 4" before my eyes within a matter of minutes!!!! And about 12"-18" of new leaves came out within a week. What zone are you in and/or where are you located at? From my own personal experiance as a beginner with naners :2742: , I'd definately agree with Sandy and cut back all of the dead stuff, and then some more just to be sure that you got everything that is preventing the new leaves from coming out.

Re: problem with banana leaves
 

I guess I can try trimming some more, but they are already trimmed a lot. The most confusing part for me is that the leaves look completly normal when they start out. Some have reached 6-8 inches, nice and green, growing inches a day, and then all of a sudden they are fallen over and distroyed.

Re: problem with banana leaves
 

Sounds like a pest to me. Are the wrens currently building nests?

Re: problem with banana leaves
 

think slugs or snails. try putting down slug bait. it can't hurt:aliennaner:

Re: problem with banana leaves
 

Hi Muffen - it is not pesticide like the stuff that destroyed mine you will be pleased to hear. They are definitely struggling so I would surround them with a mound of the richest well-composted stuff (technical term) that you can find, and them not water them much unless they are very dry, until they start to come back. Cut back the sad plants a little to make them look better and to allow the new leaves to emerge more easily if you like. I don't know which area you are in or what the weather is like - this will make a big difference. If they have been in the ground for a while (about a year) hopefully they will have a good root system/mat going and will produce pups when they are happier and the weather warms up. Too much water if they are cold will not help them. Hope this helps.

Cassie

Re: problem with banana leaves
 

Thanks, I'll try that. I have some manure from homedepot and I can get some horse manure. Would this work for compost? I live in Tucson, so we are mostly in the 60's and 70's now, but are creaping into the 80's some.