redrumloa

I'm a newbie and don't know the species.



The main plant tilited and the next day snapped. The 2nd largest offshoot is looking stressed. Could this be stressed from dogs urinating on it? A lack of fertilizer?

TIA

Nicolas Naranja

Probably not from dog pee. When was it planted

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Some people go bananas, I went plantains.

redrumloa

It was planted roughly 18 months ago, if memory serves me right.

I was told this is plant produces large bananas when I bought it.

Bob3

It looks like your soil is really sandy; that may well rule out "wet feet" but the poor critter would no doubt appreciate a good dose of compost and/or well rotted manure.
Clean off the dead stuff, might not hurt to wait 'till it's a bit warmer.
Don't spade in the compost blend 'till after some recovery & new growth is seen, but feel free to pile around 'above ground', over the roots right away but don't mound up tight around the p-stem.
A little ring of low fence edging should re-direct the dogs to pee on something easier to hit.

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rogersjames84@yahoo.com

Don't think it is the soil. I too live in Florida.Florida soil for the most part is neutral
on the ph scale. And this is good. Most plant do well in a ph of 6 to 7.5 People here do a lot of planting with out compose or additives.I some times add composed manure. But not always.How much water are you giving it. Is it in full sun and is the plant open to wind damage.From the photo the plants look to have been in the ground for a while. The top branches on the fallen stalk are green. Do you ever fertilize it. This is Florida with our sandy soil plants need fertilizer here and sometimes a lot. Remember sand perks water quick .So we need to water more often.

redrumloa

Thanks for all the replies!

@rogerjames84

It is in full sun almost all day. The plant would be only somewhat protected from find being near a workshop and maybe 13 feet from a wood fence on 2 sides. When I first planted it I added some compost, fertilized it and a few months after it established I added mulch to the area. Honestly in the last year I have not been hand watering at all. Last summer we had near record rains, but this winter has been fairly dry. I really haven't done much in the last ~8 months at all. I always thought of a banana plant as a plant it and forget about it type of plant.

I see some suggestions to remove the dead leaves, so I have done this. When I first planted it I read somewhere it was best to leave the dead leaves to self mulch but it is now cleaned up a bit. I will take a new picture tomorrow and post it so you get a better idea. I've removed the dead one and added some Black Kow manure. It's been hand watered today.

Is there a Home Depot available (organic) fertilizer you would recommend? Any specific mulch type or will any do? I will make a point to hand water until the rains return.

rogersjames84@yahoo.com

Full sun is considered full sun no shade for at least 8 to 10 hours a day.The plant needs to be watered regularly as do all plants. We have been getting rain about every week and a half. I live in Hernando county Florida.It is good to leave the dead leaves around the plant. It helps protect the trunk from cold damage.You must keep your plants watered.at least an inch a week. Some plants more.I do not use organic fertilizer.I have not found one with a high enough nitrogen, phosphate and potash levels.Nitrogen will give you growth and green,phosphate will help the immune system and cause the plant to produce flowers, potash will help develop roots and also help in the immune system.Black Cow or manure will really do very little in adding needed nutrients because it is only.05% nitrogen. It should be used more as a compost to help the soil retain water.The University of Florida has a page that will be helpful for plant problems.Try www://solutionsforyourlife.ufl.edu

redrumloa

Here is a picture of it cleaned up a bit.

rogersjames84@yahoo.com

The plant looks ok. Maybe some how the larger stem was damaged. I see it needs some fertilizer and magnesium sulfate . Little close to the shed but I think it will work. Try adding a little liquid iron and water that in good.

2woodensticks

if the other one goes down i would say some sort of virus

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rogersjames84@yahoo.com

I wouldn't say virus. From the photo the leaves show no sign of a virus.The yellowing could indicate to much water, but the you said you didn't water it for a while, lack of nitrogen or iron and a possibility of lack of magnesium . The one branch looks like a lot of wind damage , from the photo. Got to new growth coming up from the mother root system.That's good news.The original photo looks like something or some one damaged the trunk. I still say you need to keep it well watered and feed.Try the magnesium and the fertilizer.

sandy0225

It actually looks kind of overwatered to me which doesn't really fit in with the way you said it was growing. Is there not good drainage there, or is the soil really compacted from people walking up to the door, or the dogs trampling it down all the time running through there? Does it stay wet there?

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1501 East Fuson Road
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redrumloa

re: watering

No chance it has been over-watered. This has been a rather dry winter and until after the original post, I really haven't been hand watering. If anything it could be under-watered.

The pictures don't show it, but I do have a plastic border surrounding the plant and it was mulched a year ago. People probably haven't been walking near it much and this type of soil is sandy and doesn't get terribly compact. Only dogs occasionally walk by it as they want to pee on everything. I don't let them, but the kids aren't always as strict to keep the dogs away when I'm not home.

One thing I noticed after clearing out the olddead leaves and the few weeds near it that there are what appears to be small ant mounds near the base.

Bob3

Magnesium = Epsom salts. Usually a visit to your local drug store with a buck will get a half-gallon size container of epsom salts.
Both magnesium & iron are handy to counteract mischief, some of which is associated with 'wet feet' & are good to be adding this time of the year.

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Recipes & links for Cajun, Creole, & other goodies.

rogersjames84@yahoo.com

This I already know.Iron will give the leaves a really dark green color.Put it on your lawn and you'll have the darkest green grass in the neighborhood.I am a lawn and landscape contractor in Florida. Plus I use to farm. An did Ag studies at the University of Florida and Kentucky.I buy my magnesium at the wal mart drug department.

rogersjames84@yahoo.com

He lives in Florida like me . We have the best drainage in the country. We have sand.Water it and in a half hour its dry again.Water really perks fast down here.Sand will not hold water long unless you add a lot of organic material to it.ANY CLAY SOIL WHERE HE LIVE OR WHERE I LIVES HAS TO BASICALLY BROUGHT IN.MIGHT BE A LITTLE IN THE NORTHER PART OF THE STATE BUT WE LIVE FURTHER SOUTH.

redrumloa

We had some good rain this week and I've been hand watering on the days it didn't rain. No improvement yet, the next biggest stem continues to decline.





I took everyone's advice here and picked up and applied some fertilizer (10-10-10 was the closest Home Depot had), 2 cups if Ironite and about half a pint of Epson salt(magnesium). Should I add more Epson salt? I was unsure of how much to apply of this. I put down some newspaper as weed block and mulched. This was all done today. Besides hand watering on days with no rain, any other suggestions from here? I don't want to lose this stem that is leaning and looking rough. Florida gets windy for no reason all the time, if needed I will figure a way to stake it.

Thank you all for the help!