Transplant stress: Is there hope?
 

I am an indoor Dwarf Cavendish keeper. A week ago, I just transplanted two of them to new pots. Both of them are between 2 and 3 feet tall. Now they are both showing signs of stress: Limp, yellowing leaves, drying up on the edges. I have removed some leaves from both plants. How long will this condition continue? I am getting worried.

Re: Transplant stress: Is there hope?
 

It is what it is. Be Patient.

Re: Transplant stress: Is there hope?
 

with pups usually works better to trim all but the last leaf but I assume that these were established plants they usually transplant well just give some extra water and keep out of direct sun for a week or so I have never been really happy with dc seems that rajah puri does much better for me a little tall for house plants though good luck and they should make it fine

Re: Transplant stress: Is there hope?
 

Oh another CA member, It can take a while. especially in cold-er zones.

Re: Transplant stress: Is there hope?
 

Yeah. I like to see myself as the most northern banana farmer in the world. Two years ago, I actually harvested 22 bananas!

Re: Transplant stress: Is there hope?
 

I'm too scared to trim that many leaves! But I'll do it as a last resort if things don't shape up. Thanks for the tips. I'll move them out of the sun.

I've had the 2 plants for 5 years. We've had our ups and downs. We even had bananas 2 years ago! This is the first time I've transplanted into different pots. They looked really healthy when I moved them.

Re: Transplant stress: Is there hope?
 

What kind did you grow that you harvested?? that's very cool!!

Re: Transplant stress: Is there hope?
 

Dwarf Cavendish. Yeah, what a surprise that was! There should be some pics in my gallery.

Re: Transplant stress: Is there hope?
 

Mist the plants with a weak solution of Miracle grow once per week. Plus, mist the plants 2 or 3 times daily with water. ... Due to the transplant shock the roots are not able to feed the plant. Folar feeding though the leaves will support the plant until the roots acclimate to the new pot & soil.

Re: Transplant stress: Is there hope?
 

So Miracle Gro doesn't recommend doing foliar fertilizing with indoor plants. Perhaps I should not risk it.

Re: Transplant stress: Is there hope?
 

Where do you get that statement? ...MG specifically states the advantage of 'Double Feeding" though the roots & though the leaves (folar) on the packaging.

Folar feeding hasn't hurt my nana plants and it hasn't other members on the forum that had the same problem. Folar feeding is regularly used in green houses with young plants.

Re: Transplant stress: Is there hope?
 

I saw it on two separate Miracle Gro boxes. Maybe it's because of the number. I bought 24-8-16. It suggests: "For houseplants, do not wet leaves."

Re: Transplant stress: Is there hope?
 

Bananas in zone 2!!! We should be asking you the questions!

Re: Transplant stress: Is there hope?
 

Thanks! I don't know if it'll ever happen again. It was kinda special, like a total eclipse.

That's why I don't want to lose these guys...

Re: Transplant stress: Is there hope?
 

Mix 1/2 teaspoon of MG per gal of water. Then mist your sick nana plant. You asked for suggestions, this has worked for several forum member.

Re: Transplant stress: Is there hope?
 

I'm desperate enough to try this. I'll update in a couple of days.

Re: Transplant stress: Is there hope?
 

Still zone 2 and fruit on dewarf cav says alot, you keep at it please and take notes! Must have a great indoor set up. what kind of lighting do you use?

Re: Transplant stress: Is there hope?
 

I could show you my post from that time ... if I could find it. Do you know how I can locate my old posts?

At first, after I discovered it was bearing fruit, I thought I would have to establish some complicated set up. I did get 4 couple of special flourescent bulbs to put in the chandelier above the plant, but that's it. I continued to fertilize every 2 weeks (20-20-20). No heater, or anything like that.

Re: Transplant stress: Is there hope?
 

I found the old post! (It's long, a couple of pages)

http://www.bananas.org/f2/too-cold-bananas-22612.html

Re: Transplant stress: Is there hope?
 

I just uploaded a pic of the bananas I raised. Then I realized I did that back then. Now there are two identical pics. If you go to my photo gallery, one of them is labeled "Final Product."

Re: Transplant stress: Is there hope?
 

I only have very few banana plants in pots but agree with pitangadiego "be patient".
I should not say that because I sell fertilizer ;) but I NEVER fertilize a plant in ground or in a pot until I see healthy new growth.
Take it easy on the water also. Don't overwater.

Re: Transplant stress: Is there hope?
 

I have uploaded a photo of the two plants into my gallery and named it "Translant Shock."

Re: Transplant stress: Is there hope?
 

I am not an expert but dosent look like transplant shock to me more like a deficiency of some kind normal ageing also gives this look to a dying leaf but probably not the case here
how does the last leaf to emerge look does it also show the yellowing edges? is it ok to put pic in post ? if not I will remove it also I have dc,s die to the ground and grow back from the corm for no apparent reason

Re: Transplant stress: Is there hope?
 

They were very healthy, not fully grown, perfect candidates for transplanting, I thought. This condition started right after the transplant. Perhaps I didn't use the right soil. I bought typical potting soil from the supermarket. I also added some soil from other pots I had standing around. Yes, the newest rooled up leaf is showing some distress (yellow) too.

Re: Transplant stress: Is there hope?
 

puzzling that the new leaf is failing I would think that would rule out transplant shock even newly separated pups with little root on them may loose their leaves but the new leaf shoot is almost always fine maybe some one else has some input maybe something in the new potting soil ?

Re: Transplant stress: Is there hope?
 

Hmm just how cold are these bananas getting?

What kind of potting soil is that?

Don't kill your plants with love =)

Re: Transplant stress: Is there hope?
 

"Miracle-Gro Moisture Control Potting Mix 0.18-0.10-0.10"

"Protects against over and under watering. Feeds up to 6 months. Absorbs 33% more water and releases it to roots as needed."

Also, they are not getting cold at all. They are indoors (22 Deg. Celsius).

Re: Transplant stress: Is there hope?
 

So could I be underwatering if the soil is retaining the moisture in order to "control" it?

Re: Transplant stress: Is there hope?
 

Thanks so much for pointing out the soil! I dug the bag out of the garbage to look at it. Sure enough, 33% more water is being absorbed by the soil! That means the plants get 33 % less water from normal watering!!!

I've watered them real good now... I hope it's not to late to save them.

Re: Transplant stress: Is there hope?
 

I just read bad reviews about the moisture control soil! Looks like I'd better re-pot ASAP if I want to save them!

Re: Transplant stress: Is there hope?
 

Yes!! Repot ASAP!! Go buy some perlite! Mix a normal potting mix (I like earth-gro) by scotts. It has I would say 80% rice hulls mixed in! Perfect mix for bananas. Mix any potting soil with 50% perlite!!! The perlite will retain water in its micro-cracks for root access. Without keeping roots soggy. The perlite also keeps the soil loose, light, and fluffy! Allowing more oxygen to roots! Bananas love perlite! I buy mine in 4cf bags from my local feed/farm store. Very cheap. $14 a bag I think.

The yellowing on the outer edge of the leaves is a sign of overwatering. More the water crystals in the mix than you I'm sure! If the plants were outside the edges would be brown (burned from the sun).

When you repot if you see any brown/dead roots trim them off! They will rot against the corm. Pups are good size they should be fine!!

Re: Transplant stress: Is there hope?
 

I have the two plants drying their roots in the sun. Both of them have severely damaged roots. If I have to trim most of them off, cant he plant recover?

I got a good potting mix from a local greenhouse. No package, just something they dug out of the back room with lots of perlite. Very light-weight soil, looks a lot like the soil the original banana plant came in, so I am confident about it. They told me to add a little bit of worm castings.

The root ball is quite wet. Should I let it dry more before repotting? Or will it dry out in the new light-weight soil?

Re: Transplant stress: Is there hope?
 

That is a sign the corms have developed a fungus. The fungus will 'draw' water from the roots & corm making the wet root ball. You need to kill the fungus by washing the corm in bleach water and remove ALL the old soil. Then re-pot not need to sun dry. Also, continue to mist & folar feed the plants until new roots regrow.

Re: Transplant stress: Is there hope?
 

Thanks so much for your prompt reply. Was just sitting here wondering what to do. No car to go and get more products. This is great. I'll update later.

Re: Transplant stress: Is there hope?
 

Here is an update:

I washed with bleach and trimmed all black roots. I tickled all the old soil away from the root system.


Then I placed the plant in the new soil. The question that remains is: Do I water these plants now?

Also, the cut areas where I trimmed the leaves are now bleeding brown water. Is that from the bleach (I dunked them into bleach water while tickling away the olds soil).

Re: Transplant stress: Is there hope?
 

banana sap turns brown as it dry s and stains every thing it touches and its permanent

Re: Transplant stress: Is there hope?
 

Make sure the pots will drain water and not hold water. Give about 1 cup of water to each pot.

The thick white roots do not take up water & nutrients. Small hair roots will have to grow,, so this will take a couple of weeks.

Re: Transplant stress: Is there hope?
 

I will give a cup of water, but how often? Once a day? They will drain well now.

I didn't rinse the root ball after dunking in bleach water. I hope that won't pose a problem.

Re: Transplant stress: Is there hope?
 

It would have been better to have rinsed the corms in clear water, but the bleach would have neutralized by now so don't worry. ... a cup of water mow and 1/2 cup in 8 to 10 days if the top 1 1/2 inches is dry. The plant wont grow any for now, so we only want to keep the potting soil moist to dry until there is a new leaf showing. Mist the plant leaves 2 or 3 Xs a day. The upper plant will take in the water it needs from misting.

Re: Transplant stress: Is there hope?
 

I am misting the plants 3 x a day. How often should I spray with fertilizer (using 24-8-16)?

(Oh, I see now edwmax said once a week.)

Re: Transplant stress: Is there hope?
 

When mixed per directions, it is not 24-8-16 any more. That is the dry powder analysis. ... As a mist, you are only applying may be a tablespoon, 2 or 3 to the plant. Which is a very small amount of fertilizer.

Does your plant plant look any better after you started misting?

Re: Transplant stress: Is there hope?
 

I can say one thing for sure: They don't look any worse. I am encouraged that the remaining leaves have not worsened over the last 24 hours.

Re: Transplant stress: Is there hope?
 

It has now been 9 days. I think the plants are drying up now, but I'm not sure. The leaves have dry parts, I have cut some off. Today I dug up the roots to take a look. They are shriveling up! I'm not sure if they are rotting or drying up. They soil is dry (I watered on Day 6) and so I watered well today after suspecting that they are drying up. Should I trim the roots again? I tried to upload updated pics, but the upload does not seem to be working today.

Re: Transplant stress: Is there hope?
 

Here are the pics (the files were too big, so I shrank them, and it worked):

Re: Transplant stress: Is there hope?
 

Rot is black soft mushy roots. ... As stated already, the white roots do not take up water. Small hair roots will have to grow and this will take several weeks.

Give some water, may be flood the pot and let the excess drain off. Then give water when the top 1" of the soil is dry. Get a moisture meter to check moist deeper in the pot. ... I see both plants have a new cigar leaf, so it appears they were recovering.

If the new leaves and the plant foliage keeps dying, then a repot in course builders sand may be required. If so, cut the pstem just above the come to stop rot in the pstem and you being frustrated with the plants; and trim some of the roots. I don't expect you will see and growth until next spring. Flood the pot with water the first time; then give a little water every week or 2 if dry.

Re: Transplant stress: Is there hope?
 

Oh, how big are those pots? Use 12" pot or bigger. The extra soil and room will hold more water without being too wet and AIR.

Re: Transplant stress: Is there hope?
 

Sounds like the plants are just in transplant shock. Depending on the plant that can last for weeks so just be patient with the situation and let them build their root systems :)

Maybe try some Fox Farm Grow Big.

Re: Transplant stress: Is there hope?
 

Halleluja! (Insert music)

The cigar leaves that were already there have finally begun opening! A sign of recovery, for sure!

I am SO THANKFUL for the advice that I ave received here. Without it, these guys would be gone. And banana plants are hard to here get way up north.

So we are on the mend, thanks again!

Re: Transplant stress: Is there hope?
 

One is 12" and one is 15". I started watering twice a week (like I do with my healthy plants) and that seems to be what it needed. I had been too afraid to water due to the root rot I was trying to eradicate.

Re: Transplant stress: Is there hope?
 

puzzling that the new leaf is failing I would think that would rule out transplant shock even newly separated pups with little root on them may loose their leaves but the new leaf shoot is almost always fine maybe some one else has some input maybe something in the new potting soil ?

:nanadrink: :nanadrink: