Carmen53

Hello! I am new to this group. I live in Indiana and I purchased a banana tree to grow indoors a few weeks ago from a local hardware store garden shop. I simply thought it would be fun to try. I do not know the variety. I did however do some research on the subject regarding soil, watering, light, humidity, etc. I have watered about twice a week and have given fertilizer once. I used Miracle Grow soil but added some soil for succulents as recommended on another site. I also added a bit of sand to help with drainage. I'm uploading some photos because it is looking a bit sad. If it doesn't make it then I will look for recommendations here on a variety that grows well indoors, as I have suddenly developed a fascination with this plant!
Here are my questions:

* What might be causing the yellowing or brown areas on the leaves? (I'm trusting it is not disease!)
*What type of banana plant is this? Is it possible to tell from these photos?
*Any tips for nursing it back to health?

I added some photos to my gallery but am trying to figure out how to post them.
Thank you!

Sylviap

Im not an expert but it could be stress from moving and repoting. Looks like from what i can tell it may not be getting eneough light either. And from ehat I have read you cant identify most varieties untill they bloom. Everything you are doing sounds good.

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Really want:
1000 Fingers, A'ea'e, African Rhino Horn, Cuban Red, Dwarf Red Jamaican, Ele Ele Hawaiian Black, Lady Finger (GHB), Variegated tanee (tie black),Mysore, Praying Hands, Red Kru, Saba, Nino, Pitogo, Preying Hands, High Noon, French Red, Florida Variegated, Silver Bluggoe, Rose.

sirdoofus

I am by no means an expert either, but that looks like Ensete ventricosum to me, I could be wrong.

Most of my experience is with houseplants in general, so the following is based on that and not necessarily specific to bananas with which I too am a newbie......

As far as its condition: you say you have watered it twice a week. Have you verified it needs to be watered before watering it? I think the most common reason house plants in general die is due to over watering.

The other thing that comes to mind is humidity. My only, very limited, experience with bananas in the house is with seedlings and I keep them inside an indoor greenhouse basically in order to keep the humidity up.

Fertilizing: most plants purchased new from garden stores have come directly from the nursery with all the fertilizer they will need for awhile. I usually hold off for several months at least before adding more lest I burn the plant.

If it were me, based on what I have seen recommended on the forum previously and I had no other specific advice from the experts, I would consider pulling the plant out of the pot and looking at the roots to see if they are waterlogged and starting to rot. Healthy roots should be nice and white. Advice from there likely depends on what you find.

I would also consider re-potting it anyway in a mixture that contains 50% perlite (recommended to me by other forum members, which I now use - I make my own with 25% commercial seed starting mix, 25% coir, and 50% perlite - seems to work but there are a million recipes on this forum) in case the problem is over fertilization.

Anyway, let us know what you find when you examine the roots.

I am sure one of the more experienced members will come across your post soon and weigh in.

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Who keeps calling me nuts??

edwmax

You're watering tooo much. Nanas inside do not transpire a lot of water and do not take up that much though the roots. Get a long stem moisture meter to check soil moisture at the corm and near the bottom of the pot. Add water only if the soil is almost dry. ... Bananas are tropical plants and need high humidity. So mist the plant a couple times per day as the house humidity is very low due to the ACing.


Now does your pot drain excess water out into a saucer. If not drill holes into the bottom of the pot and raise it above any water that may drain into the saucer.

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Carmen53

Thanks for all of this information. It could be several of these things, but I finally did realize it had developed spider mites! I have never had this on any houseplants ever. So I read abut that and got some Neem oil. I have sprayed it every 7 days for 2 weeks, so twice now. The newest leaf is looking better, and when a new one comes up, I am taking one of the yellowed and brown ones off.

Beyond that, I am wondering if the soil is draining enough...

Carmen53

And I will try to get the misting and a moisture meter. Thanks for suggesting that.

Carmen53

Thanks so much for all of this information! Much appreciated. I have great luck with house plants and an indoor organic garden, but beyond the spider mites that I finally realized were on the banana leaves, I am going to try to check the soil and roots. I'm thinking the Neem oil spray will take care of the spider mites though. Ugh. Never had those before.

sirdoofus

Spider mites can be a pain. Make sure you are spraying the entire plant, including crevices and such on the p-stem, and the potting medium.

What I usually do if i do get an infestation on a plant is to fill the bathtub or utility sink with soapy water and dunk the entire plant for about 20 minutes. I have not had that fail to eradicate the problem - although I tend catch infestations early.

Of course if your plant has been over watered, dunking is not a good option at this point, so be diligent with the spray.

Just curiously, are you using a pre-mixed neem spray or are you mixing neem oil with soap?

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Who keeps calling me nuts??

Carmen53

It'sa pre-mixed one. Natria Neem Oil spray. I did spray it all over, but I didn't spray the soil. Will try that as well.

I am not sure this banana is going to make it, but I'm not giving up yet. The newest leaf that came up look better. Since I have never tried to grow one before, and I'm so intrigued with it, I will try another one if this one doesn't make it. :-) I really appreciate all the information here!

Carmen53

I hadn't considered stress on the plant, but I'm certain it didn't help!!

cincinnana

If you have other plants nearby inspect them also...mites will travel from plant to plant.
Spray the soil and the containers also because they hide everywhere.

I will move the plant away from the others until I know the mites are under control.

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edwmax

We all killed our first potted nana plant or 2.

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Carmen53

Oh....well, I'm sorry about that but, it does make me feel better!!!! :-)

beam2050

what kind of fertilizer did you use?

I once used miracle grow on a number of bananas in pots and the ones I didn't kill rather looked like that.

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npk of wood ash 0/1/3 to 0/3/7

npk of banana leaf ash 1.75/0.75/0.5