Ruby Siam : Yellow Sigatoka
 

I received two 5" tall Ruby Siam banana plants May 18th from Central Florida Farms Nursery. I planted them the same day under fairly ideal conditions. The two leaves (of one of them) appeared increasingly unhealthy (thought they might just be dying back). Wrong. Using magnification, I compared them to a photo of a Yellow Sigatoka infected leaf. Identical, right down to the 1 mm units of the fungus. I sprayed with a copper-based fungicide, today. The plant has a new unfurled leaf coming up.
Question : Does the new leaf stand a chance?
Michael James

Re: Ruby Siam : Yellow Sigatoka
 

thanks, i'll be real careful about where i get my pups from now on.

Re: Ruby Siam : Yellow Sigatoka
 

It's probably just plant shock from being ship from florida. I hate to see ya give some one a bad name for something it's not.... give them 3 weeks & don't fertilize till you see two or three leafs growth. Its really amazing how anything can live throu our mail....
Also what size of pot is it in? In cooler climates bigger pots stay damp a long time. Just remember root rot can make the leaves look funny to.

Re: Ruby Siam : Yellow Sigatoka
 

yeah ur right if hes not 100% sure..i would keep that thing quarantined untill you are sure.i never stick corms directly into the ground no mater where its from..i give em a bath before i plant em. if it looks good for a while in a pot then i put em in the plot. thats just my ritual.

Re: Ruby Siam : Yellow Sigatoka
 

I stand corrected; use of a company name, despite the unofficial nature of my communicae, was somewhat inappropriate. Still, I do have a background in botanical studies and possess the necessary books and equipment which strongly support my conclusion. In addition, I have never registered a complaint against the company for any reason. -- Nonetheless, it Is yellow Sigatoka I observed under my microscope. The source of the infection is, naturally, entirely unknown (the plants and packaging pass through many hands enroute) and even a mailman might have come in contact with the fungus prior to delivering the mail.
Shock & subterranean afflictions typically project a limp condition in the fibers of the plant - the plant is agreeably supple and firm. I have every intention (after the holiday) of contacting the company owner (whom I happen to like and have spoken with before) to alert them to the problem. In doing so, solutions might be found to help prevent any further mishaps.
Back to the problem at hand : Though I'm unfamiliar with the actual chemical pathways involved, I understand that the copper sulfate is an effective cure for the fungus. The second of the 2 plants seems perfectly healthy (which also leads me - and should lead others - to believe that the source of contamination was likely during the delivery process). Temperatures (over the past week) have been in the 60's, at night, and the 80's to 90's during the day. With such favorable conditions, I elected to plant them directly outdoors in 75% sun and a ground mixture of 1/2 sandy loam & 1/2 crushed oak leaves (my other banana species have thrived well, for years, under the same conditions). Also, while I water them well, I never allow them to stand in water and do allow a period in which they dry out. -- The question still being, with the fungicide applied, is there a chance that the 3rd (still unfurled) leaf might survive?
Michael James
Ps. My sincerest apologies to Angel who Very Likely is Not at fault.

Re: Ruby Siam : Yellow Sigatoka
 

please post a photo/s.

Re: Ruby Siam : Yellow Sigatoka
 

Will post the photos I took soon. Have re-packaged the plant & will be taking it to the botony lab at O.U. tomorrow. BTW, Moe, thanks for answering the one question I didn't ask.
Michael James

Re: Ruby Siam : Yellow Sigatoka
 

BTW, Simply Bananas, Thanx for the rescue op; Not sure why I didn't think to post the photos before! Also, thanx for the comic relief; Needed something to cheer me up, just now!
Michael James

Re: Ruby Siam : Yellow Sigatoka
 

Michael, the action of CuSO4 against the Sigatoka fungi is not terribly well studied - it's been sort of taken as a given that "it works" and left alone. As far as I can tell it messes up something in the cytokine metabolism of the fungal cells, so they die rather than metabolizing properly.

There's a good chance of leaf survival if the necrosis was less than 30% of the total leaf area.

Re: Ruby Siam : Yellow Sigatoka
 

Nice! Thanx tons for the great info, Lorax! Have posted 6 close-up shots, of the 2 plants (with planting/care info), in a new album I titled 'Yellow Sigatoka? 2009'. Would sure appreciate it if you could take a peek & let me know if they reached the 30%.
Thanx & Thanx! Michael James

Re: Ruby Siam : Yellow Sigatoka
 

You might lose that one leaf, but if you continue with the Copper antifungal the next ones will be fine.

Re: Ruby Siam : Yellow Sigatoka
 

While I'm no plant cytologist or expert in banana pathogens, my guess is that this is not sigatoka. To begin with, the leaf shape is odd. It is a little lanceolate and the plants look leggy. At 5" tall its hard to tell. I suspect there is some sunburn going on also, as it has been in the Oklahoma sun a full week. Transplants often take some time for the roots to "get going", and most often certainly more than a week and often times up to a month. This would be indicative of the dehydrated look of the leaves(ribs are showing).

Also, if you suspect contamination during shipment...I'd be shocked if YS, innoculated your plant that fast.
Have them checked to be on the safe side, but I'd get them back in the ground.

Re: Ruby Siam : Yellow Sigatoka
 

Thanx, again. Have reached a decision. Put them back in the ground and will continue the scheduled antifungal sprays. If I'm right and it is Sigatoka, the badly infected one's unfurled leaf should allow it to survive. If not, then I only stand to lose one since the other seems quite healthy enough to grow & eventually produce pups - I also have 2 very healthy ones in the far back yard to fall back on.
Not sure about the 'during transport' thing - It's like the 'splitting Rhino fruit thing' with Woody; a convenient way to re-route a potentially disasterous discussion in favor of an agreeable solution. I try to avoid such 'clever' means of ending a debate, when possible.
Thanx again for all the help! Eric.
BYE