BananaGrower1

I have a Rajapuri banana plant which I bought and planted in February here in Arizona just outside of Phoenix. The plant is on the south side of my home and on the east side of a wall. So far, the growth has been amazing, every two weeks it has been pushing out a new leaf, each larger and stronger than the previous one. It is however beginning to get hot here now (it has been about 107 F for the past few days) and the newest leaf was very white in color. The new white leaf was looking very weak and was burning in the sun before it completed opened, so I decided to put a sheet over the plant today. Unfortunately the sheet actually made the matter worse because the new leaf was so weak that it just broke under the weight of the sheet.

Does anybody have any suggestions as to how I can remedy this problem? Is the white leaf actually because of the sun, or could this be a vitamin deficiency? Will the other leafs now have problems since the newest one is basically gone? What else might anyone recommend for protecting this plant from the hot Arizona Sun? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

bananimal

Air conditioned, shaded greenhouse!

Abnshrek

Now that's funny Dan.. I think some shade cloth and Mister may even do the job.. :^)

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sunfish

The missing leaf will not cause any problem.

BananaGrower1

Thanks for the info!

BananaGrower1

LOL! That would be nice.

PR-Giants

I'm not too sure about that Jefe.

I'm pretty sure I've read in multiple scientific publications that banana plants can exhibit phantom pain.

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BananaGrower1

Today I went out to take a photo of the situation and of course the remainder of the leaf has now turned green (and is also rotting a little on the end). But anyway. I attempted to post the photos to the photo gallery of this site. I tried twice because after an hour the photos are still not available in the gallery. I will link the photos as soon as they show up in the gallery.

Also, I already have misters on it the plant. And aside from spending $10,000 on a temperature controlled bio-dome (lol), does anyone have a practical option for protecting it? Should I just let the white leafs push out and fend for themselves? Or should I try to protect them in some way? Is this white leaf thing normal for bananas growing int the Desert? Next month it will be over 110 degrees here in AZ so I would like to get ahead of the problem if possible. Thanks for the help!!!

sunfish

. Not much you can do about the heat other than shade.

GreenFin

One way to combat extreme heat and low humidity is to grow the plant hydroponically in one of those 5' diameter hard plastic wading pools that people often get for their kids or dogs. Put some gravel in there (don't need to fill the pool with it, just enough to stabilize the banana), get a cheap aerator, hook up some airstones under the gravel, and plant your banana in the middle. Add nutrients and you're good to go.

Your banana gets maximum water (without drowning, since the water is aerated), and also gets a bump in humidity by being located over the pool.

I used this method successfully here in Kansas last summer. We had extreme drought, with lots of days over 100F and very dry, dessicating winds. The one banana I planted in the ground withered away to almost nothing, but the bananas in my three wading pools flourished.

Here's something similar that someone shared on YouTube:

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BananaGrower1

Thanks! That is a great idea. I'll check out the details of which nutrients are needed and pricing on them. Hopefully it will be within a reasonable range. Thanks again.

bananimal

Pull up stakes and move to south Florida. I recently hooked up a south Cali guy, who was seriously thinking about it, with a realtor friend of mine and he just went to closing. Right here in PSL. He bought and planted lychee, mango and avocado trees before going back west to sell the other house.

Now that's what I call a real trop fruit nut!

BananaGrower1

So you guys were right, The plant is already pushing a new leaf out, no problem. Thanks for the advice.

Bananaman88

Is a southern exposure your only option for growing this plant? Maybe somewhere with a little less intense sunlight might help. A southeastern exposure might even be enough with the intensity of light and the heat there.

BananaGrower1

Thank you for the reply.

Here in the Sonoran Desert the sun is the most intense in the late afternoon. It gets above 120 degrees in the summer and for a few days below freezing in the winter. I chose the southeastern exposure hoping that it would give the banana the morning sun (less intense) and afternoon shade (from the more intense sun). Also since it gets quite cold in the winter time, I think that a northern exposure might be too cold during those months. Is my though process wrong on this? Is anyone else growing bananas in this environment who might be able to shed some light on whether this was/is a bad exposure choice for these banana plants?

BananaGrower1

Here is a Photo of just after the leaf broke. I cut the broken rotting piece off.

BananaGrower1

Here is an update from today about 1 week after the initial problem. It has grown a new leaf which is not as white or weak as the previous leaf but it is still looking a little light green and limp.