re potting....need help
 

I have never re potted a banana.

I picked up a dc yesterday, from the local grocer. It was over watered and under potted.

I think that it may have a case of root bound going on. It is in a 6" pot. P-stem is about 14" tall and has about 2.5" diameter at base. There is a small pup coming up.

What is the best way to re pot it? Should I just take it out of the other pot and put in the new? Should I do anything to the 'root ball'?

Any feedback appreciated.
........................

You know that you are an addict when you 'rescue' a nana from the grocer...two weeks after being inducted into the world of nana newbies.

aaron

Re: re potting....need help
 

I just re-potted my Gran Nain for the first time, about 2 weeks ago. When I pulled it out, some of the soil fell off, so it was a little looser. This may be the best bet for you, since you believe it is rootbound. Make sure you use a light soil, with good drainage and aeration. That way the roots will easily be able to work themselves into the free area.

Anyways, mine worked great. It has put out 4 new leaves, growing faster than before, and 2 Pups that just came up. By comparison, the Nain's P Stem is only 13 inches, and I have it in a 12 inch pot, so you definately need to get it repotted fast.

Re: re potting....need help
 

Don't do anything to the roots. If anything, loosen them being careful not to break any. I'd go with more than twice the size pot it's in.

Re: re potting....need help
 

I've had good luck without doing anything fancy. Buy a larger pot and some good-draining soil. Put some soil in the pot till it's almost full leaving a hole in the center the size of the old pot. Push gently on the sides of the old pot to loosen it, then carefully grab the bottom of the stem and pull it out of the pot. Don't mess with the roots....just put it in the hole you made in the new soil. Put soil around it, press down a bit to solidify it in position....DONE...water.

Nothing fancy....basically just pull it out and put it in the new pot. The roots will find their way on their own....messing with them too much only stresses the plant unnecessarily.

Re: re potting....need help
 

I agree with Bryan. Pull it, dunk it, fill it, and water. Especially during this time of year. Roots are a lot more forgiving in spring.

Re: re potting....need help
 

I just repotted my ice cream and gently massaged as much dirt off as possible and losen up the roots a bit. I'm surprised the plant barely grew since I got it but the root system filled the 7 or 10gal pot in like 6 weeks. There was just a handful of roots when I put it in there. BTW plant is maybe 10in tall.

Re: re potting....need help
 

Green side up, root side down......lol....it's not rocket science. These bananas actually want to grow, especially this time of year.

Re: re potting....need help
 

Thanks for all the feedback.

Here is the dc and some others that i potted up the same day.
another dwarf cavendish, an ice cream, a goldfinger, a grand nain, a dwarf namwah, and a dwarf orinoco.
The usps was not too nice to any of them...however, they seem to be pulling out of it okay now.

Also a ca gold pup that I planted a couple weeks ago...I hope that it comes around.

(sorry photos aren't too good. My camera is in a box somewhere and these were taken with an old camera..that doesn't work too well)

aaron

Re: re potting....need help
 

here is an update on my nanas.

it is 8 days since I have potted them. All have put out a new leaf and most are working on another. They look a bit tatterd and torn....mostly from their battle wounds with the usps, but I think that they are fairing well.

The dc that I rescued got a lot of trimming, as all the new leaves where having difficulties. It seems to be doing much better now and its' newest leaf seems to be emerging fine.

I was a bit worried about my California Gold pup. It didn't show any new signs of life, but after about a week or so it stopped showing signs of drying out. Jeff told me to not water it after the initial watering for 10 days to 2 weeks. (or when it showed new signs of life) (He reinforced this after I watered it at 4 days.) 13 days of 95F+ days, after that last water it didn't look any worse for ware. i watered it deep that evening and in the morning there was 1" of new leaf protruding from the top. That was yesterday. Today it has a good 2-2 1/2 inches and it keeps on going.

I am pretty excited about all of them, but am really glad the ca gold pup is looking good now. (I guess it doesn't really belong in this section..it is in the ground not a pot)

aaron