druidia

Hello all. I am new to keeping Ensete maurelli plants. We installed a pool in the spring and I planted 2 as part of our landscaping. They were doing well until I noticed something eating the new growth (cigar?) in the middle and decided to spray it with some insecticidal soap (smh). Never should have done that. They quickly died.

I bought 2 new ones from another nursery about 10 days ago. I kept them in pots so I could move them around as it has been exceedingly hot here. I wondered if I stressed them out with the full sun before. I'm watering them normally, not too much, and I have moved them to shade. And yet something is all over them. Is this fungus? Are these doomed?

Banana Gallery - resz-20230810_120247









TIA.

Jeff zone 8 N.C.

Just a wild guess. Are they getting watered with pool water or splashed on with pool water? the leaf petiole looks like small insect puncture wounds.

druidia

Thanks for your reply. Not getting purposely watered with pool water. They are on a soaker tube system in a flowerbed. They are also in a spot where they dont really get splashed.

I did think that maybe the first pair I bought were getting overwatered, so this 2nd set I kept in pots, but in the same flowerbed so I could see if the sun/location was the cause.

I'm leaning towards something insect or maybe fungal.

sirdoofus

Maybe I missed it, but any chance you could post a pic of the entire plant in one frame?

You mentioned over watering. Certainly looks to me like that could be the case. Its possible they could be contaminated with something, but if its fungal, that often just means too much water, and unfortunately, being in pots by no means immunizes them from that problem.

Unless you are really certain you aren't giving them too much water, I would suggest for now keeping them in a relatively protected position that gets maybe a couple hours of morning sun, then dappled light/shade the rest of the day. If you don't have one, get a moisture meter long enough to reach the bottom of the pot, they are inexpensive depending on how deep your pot is. Withhold water until they are just lightly moist at the bottom of the pot, then give them a good watering...rinse and repeat.

Of course you want to make doubly sure your medium has good aeration/drainage. If you have to re-pot it, do so.... and no fertilizer until it recovers.

I had a similar looking problem with my potted maurelii and the above procedure seemed to fix the issue. It is now happily living and growing in full sun until about 2-3pm.

Good luck and keep us posted.

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druidia

Thanks. Here's a few pics with a bit more of the plant showing.

sirdoofus

Thank you. That looks substantially how mine looked, and I am 99% sure it was from too much water/moisture retention in the medium.

I am by no means the expert here (I am still figuring out water issues with my plants for goodness sakes), and I can't say for sure what the issue is with that plant, but I am frequently surprised just how finicky some of these beauties can be when it comes to moisture.

If I was to make a bet on your plant, it would be on that.

Another option wold be to just take it out of the pot and examine the corm and roots. After washing the potting medium off, you should be able to tell right away if things look healthy or have been too wet. If too wet, adjust your medium to allow for more drainage and aeration.

What medium are you currently using?

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beam2050

this picture almost looks like over fertilization.

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npk of banana leaf ash 1.75/0.75/0.5

druidia

Overwatering is a definite possibility with the first set due to their bed location. This 2nd set are in pots from the nursery. I have not yet re-potted them and I have not fertilized them. I have put them closer to the house with more PM shade, and so far the new growth looks good and no chew holes. I am going to repot them in the larger pots this week with perlite, potting mix and maybe some peat moss? Then I plan to hand water, prob until spring.

sirdoofus

Cool. Keep us posted.

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