Jeff zone 8 N.C.

It still looks healthy and the leaf burn looks normal for an AeAe in sun. I bet it will grow well this winter if kept warm. Still sending good wishes for it to grow to a giant size.

PR-Giants

Now that you have more experience do you still think the problem was nematodes or could it have been just poor soil aeration?

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The cold water soak works a lot better.

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Next time you clean off the rhizome post a photo of it.

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Jeff zone 8 N.C.

No. If it were nematodes I think the plant would have deteriorated farther than it has. My experience is a rapid decline with nematodes.
The cold water soak is something I have never heard of. Can you elaborate on length of soak. Do you use pure water?

PR-Giants

I wouldn't associate the symptoms you described with a nematode problem and nematodes would cause a gradual decline in the plants' health possibly resulting with a lower than expected yield. I've seen many nematode problems and they were always associated with poor cultural practices.

How did you confirm that you had a nematode problem?

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Jeff zone 8 N.C.

I took a corm from a potted plant that was doing poorly and was in very well draining soil, to my county Agricultural Extension Agent. He examined a sample of tissue under a microscope and saw and showed me the nematodes. I did this because I easily grew other banana types, with no problems at all. I could not figure out why my AeAe plants would always begin to fail after growing strong for some time. They would suddenly deteriorate and I could not stop it. I had tried everything grow wise and nothing worked. After seeing the nematodes I gave all my remaining plants a hot water bath and potted them in a sterile mix. They all recovered and grew well. Even then I eventually lost them all, over some years to various problems. I now am trying again, with AeAe and Florida and so far so good. I have them potted in a very well draining mix, as you suggest, because I also think that even though I had used well draining mixes before, they did not drain as well as your mix. I am also keeping them off the ground at least until I get backup offsets.

PR-Giants

You're using a lot of anecdotal evidence to support cause and effect.

Everything you've written is also commonly caused by poor soil aeration.

When I inspect a corm from a potted plant that was doing poorly I would expect to see many different opportunistic insects that had nothing to do with causing the problem.

I think it's clear that we're discussing two different nematodes and I'm only aware of one that causes a problem for bananas and it's easily identified upon a visual inspection. They also affect the subgroups differently, hence the term "nematode resistant bananas".

"Symptoms

The most distinctive symptom of Meloidogyne infestation is the appearance of galls on primary and secondary roots, which become swollen and distorted with heavy infestations. Galls vary in size, reaching up to 15 mm in diameter. In bananas, M. incognita infection typically result in the formation of small galls on the roots or fine dilations in thicker fleshy roots. Different Meloidogyne species can occupy the same gall, as well as colonize the outer layers of the rhizome, where reddish-brown patches appear in the conducting vessels. Observation of longitudinal sections of infected root material with the naked eye can reveal females at various stages of maturation, together with associated blackened haloes known as “female’s chamber”. "




"The majority of soil nematodes are beneficial to soil health and the environment.

Nematodes are often talked about in a quiet fearful voice. The image of the small microscopic worms can bring grown men to their knees. Unfortunately like many things in our world, a few “bad” apples have ruined the entire bushel. Attention has been given extensively to a small segment of the nematode population that negatively impacts crops but those nematodes are a very small percent of the nematode population. The larger percentage of the population benefit agriculture and the environment especially soil health.

Nematodes enhance soil quality in four major areas: regulate the populations of other soil organisms, mineralize nutrients into plant-available forms, provide a food source for other soil organisms and consume disease-causing organisms.

Nematodes are considered grazers. They move through the soil profile devouring smaller organisms as well as distributing any bacteria or fungi that are on them as well as any that are in their digestive system. If the nematode population is low, they will stimulate the growth rate of prey populations. If the nematode population is high, they have the potential to have negative impact on soil health by devouring too much of their prey especially micorrhizal fungi. There are also predatory nematodes that balance the population of other nematodes

Nematodes are important nutrient mineralizers. When nematodes consume bacteria or fungi they release excess ammonium (NH4+). Bacteria and fungi both have more ammonium than what the nematode needs so the extra is released in a plant available form.

Nematodes are not the highest organism in the soil food web. Soil microarthropds and insects as well as bacteria and fungi feed on nematodes. As stated earlier there are also predatory nematodes in the soil that consume nematodes.

A major function of soil nematodes is that they are biocontrol agents, meaning they can be used to eliminate disease causing nematodes and other organisms. This trait causes predatory nematodes to be a great resource in the battle against soil borne diseases."

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Jeff zone 8 N.C.

I see what you are saying. It makes perfect sense. Thanks for clearing that up. Can you elaborate on the timing for a cold water dip and when it might be needed.

PR-Giants

That was in response to a post about weevils.

If a weevil infested potted banana or rhizome is placed in water the adult weevils will climb out of water and can easily be collected. The larvae will drown and if there is a concern about the eggs then check a life cycle chart and repeat after the eggs hatch.

Breaking the life cycle is a common technique for pest control.

Regardless to the amount of damage done to the stored nutrients, as long as the growing point was undamaged the plant will recover.

The plant will continue to grow as normal during the treatment.

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Jeff zone 8 N.C.

Oh ok, I have done that method before. I have used it to rid bananas and other plants of whatever bug soil life is in their pots. Mostly I do it on the rare occasion when I want to bring a plant into my house from outside and only then for rare plants. Most everything stays in my greenhouse for the winter where I think most soil life is beneficial.

PR-Giants

Yeah, all of the basic farming techniques have been in practice long before we've been working the soil and who invented it or when is much less important than who's using it. The most important technique that I attribute my success to was first used by humans 2 million years ago.

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PR-Giants

Many of the problems a newbie encounters when growing the a'ea'e are commonly caused by poor soil aeration and it's not that many of them plan to fail, it's that many of them fail to plan.

Once a plant is in situ it's difficult to increase soil aeration but it's very easy to reduce it. By using a substrate with high aeration many of those common problems can be avoided and the new focus could go towards maximizing growth.

Air is an important part of a plants' environment and it's often not focused on enough.

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Jeff zone 8 N.C.

Agreed. Even though I am not a newbie I'm still learning after nearly 50 years of growing and hoping your advice works out for me and others here.

Jeff zone 8 N.C.

On the coast here in N.C. we have had a fairly warm winter so I know you must have too. Just wondering how your AeAe is doing. Hope it recovered well.

Robbertico18

Hey yeah sorry for the delayed response, the site has still been pretty buggy for me.

I think it’s made three or four leaves since it’s been potted, but they would get fried by the cool nights. The sucker I saw while repotting it still has yet to emerge, and it’s currently shooting out a new cigar!

Jeff zone 8 N.C.

Well if you have kept an AeAe alive outside over winter you can count that as "You have done good". Glad to hear that. It should be about ready to show some better growth. Hoping you have a better summer for it this year.

cincinnana

Once your plant gets past the winter hump it will fare much better.
My plants pull back when indoors too.

We had a mild winter too which helped many tender plants.

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Robbertico18

IMG_6082.jpeg
It’s doing much better this year in a pot, basically in the same spot it was last year.

I think a live oak root had grown right through the rootball last year and was draining all the water and nutrients before the sear had time to get any

Jeff zone 8 N.C.

Looks nice and healthy. Glad you were able to pull it back from it's slump.