rpbp58

Is it unusual that my indoor container Highgate always has only 4 leaves? Each new leaf is larger than the last, but it perpetually maintains a total of 4.

As the oldest leaf starts to die off, a fifth shoot appears but doesn't open until the oldest leaf is dead.

cincinnana

The plant can have as many leaves that it wants to sustain its growth for the area/enviroment that it is in....
Your plant will leaf out depending what the environment is giving it.

The plant is pretty much doing what a plant does......environmental factors drive growth. Length of day. pot size, temperature all affect the plants behavior.
Your plant is doing what plants do....

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rpbp58

Any guesses as to what might be causing this behavior?

sirdoofus

Looks like you have a fantastic grow setup there, I am jealous.

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Who keeps calling me nuts??

rpbp58

Thanks, but I wish the banana agreed with you. It's been in the 4-leaf mode since I got it. Spring, summer, winter.

I don't think it's the lucky kind of 4 leaf. It's on its 3rd repotting in a good cactus mix of pumice, charcoal, perlite, compost, peat moss, and sand.

sirdoofus

I am no banana expert so I probably won't be much help, but a few questions I can of think are:

What size pot is it in or what size pots have you tried, do you add fertilizer and if so how much/often, is it in the greenhouse during the warm season and if so how hot does it get and what is the humidity level, have you tried other bananas in the same situation, have you had success with other bananas in that soil mix and if not have you tried a different mix, how often do you irrigate it in the different seasons?

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rpbp58

At the moment it is in a 7 gallon pot, and the pseudo stem is 3 feet. It looks taller because it is propped up on the 30 gallon pot that I hope it will grow into.

Before that it was in a 3 gallon pot, and before that a 1 qt. pot.

I add a combination of miracle grow and seaweed juice every other watering. Watering happens whenever it is dry more than an inch down. This can range from 36 hours in the summer to every 2 weeks in the winter, It stays in the greenhouse year round. In the winter it is maintained at around 70 degrees, except Jan/Feb when I let it go down to 65. There is powered ventilation, so it doesn't usually go above 85 in the summer. The humidity is not controlled, so it is whatever the ambient is during the summer, and anywhere from 40 to 60 in the winter depending on whether I have watered the plants recently.

I have never grown a banana before, so I can't compare different mixes. BTW, there is also some hardwood ashes in the mix.

The DLI in the winter is around 9-10 Mols in the winter and around 40-50 in the summer.

cincinnana

You plant will do what it wishes when small
Disregard most everything you have read.....about small plant leaf production.

Growing a small plant in a hothouse with supplemental led lighting changes many factors as well.
Moving the plant outdoors in direct sunlight brings even more change

You have really no issues with your plant
Do not fret......your plant is just growing and will sort itself out with subsequent growth.

Wait till it gets 6 feet tall and three leaves......

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sirdoofus

My wife and I are beekeepers (OK, my wife is the beekeeper, I m the grunt) and one thing we always highly recommend to new beekeepers is to start with at least 2 colonies, for comparison, backup, experimentation, etc.

I usually apply that to other endeavors as well and would suggest considering acquiring another banana for comparative purposes - it may help to shed some light on the situation - besides, the more bananas the better

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Gabe15

If you wan't any chance of fruit as well as more leaves maintained (which are related), you will need to put it in a much larger pot, however, although it a "dwarf" that is relative to it's taller counterparts, but 'Highgate' can be still be rather large plant and not one I would consider a "small" variety, so in order to get it large enough to fruit effectively, it may outgrow your greenhouse.

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Growing bananas in Colorado, Washington, Hawaii since 2004. Commercial banana farmer, 200+ varieties.

Best day

It needs a larger pot. Put it in a 15 gallon pot. Then it will grow faster and have more leaves. To get it to fruiting size you will need a minimum of 25 gallon pot. A 45 gallon pot would be better.

Bill