Bananas.org - View Single Post - Two species that aren't doing so well this summer. Heat, drought, etc.

bigdog · 08-19-2007, 06:55 PM

Despite watering frequently (every other day), two species are standing out as poor performers in the extreme drought and heat of August (Well, drought has been going on all year) this year. After an unusually cool July for Knoxville, Musa itinerans var. xishuangbannaensis and Musa thomsonii looked fairly decent, with M. itinerans actually looking very robust and healthy. Since the start of August, with temps consistently in the high 90s (Fahrenheit) and no rain here at my house, they have both taken turns for the worse. The M. itinerans var. xishuang actually started dropping outer leaves that were still green, like they just peeled away from the pseudostem. Also, the last three leaves to emerge immediately browned on the edges upon unrolling. It's like the pseudostem is literally falling apart. It still has about 10-11 green leaves, so I'm not worried that it will die (yet), I just thought it was strange. M. thomsonii just hasn't grown much at all since planting, and it started the same behavior as M. itinerans. Both do get full sun until late afternoon, so maybe that hurts them also. Weird though, because Leu Gardens in Orlando has a planting of them, and they apparently do fine (they are in the understory though). Maybe its the sun + heat that is doing them in. We even broke 100F (101F) last Thursday, which is an event for Knoxville. Hasn't happened since 1995 until this year. Nashville, OTOH, has been burning up for 2+ weeks now, hitting 100F or better (106F last thursday!) 13 out of the last 14 days. Ugh!

08-19-2007, 06:55 PM	#1 (permalink)
bigdog ******* bigdog's Photo Gallery** Location: Gainesville, FL Find me on the map! Zone: 8b Name: Frank Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 2,004 BananaBucks : 968,683 Feedback: 7 / 100% Said "Thanks" 218 Times Was Thanked 1,790 Times in 504 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 131 Times	Two species that aren't doing so well this summer. Heat, drought, etc. Despite watering frequently (every other day), two species are standing out as poor performers in the extreme drought and heat of August (Well, drought has been going on all year) this year. After an unusually cool July for Knoxville, Musa itinerans var. xishuangbannaensis and Musa thomsonii looked fairly decent, with M. itinerans actually looking very robust and healthy. Since the start of August, with temps consistently in the high 90s (Fahrenheit) and no rain here at my house, they have both taken turns for the worse. The M. itinerans var. xishuang actually started dropping outer leaves that were still green, like they just peeled away from the pseudostem. Also, the last three leaves to emerge immediately browned on the edges upon unrolling. It's like the pseudostem is literally falling apart. It still has about 10-11 green leaves, so I'm not worried that it will die (yet), I just thought it was strange. M. thomsonii just hasn't grown much at all since planting, and it started the same behavior as M. itinerans. Both do get full sun until late afternoon, so maybe that hurts them also. Weird though, because Leu Gardens in Orlando has a planting of them, and they apparently do fine (they are in the understory though). Maybe its the sun + heat that is doing them in. We even broke 100F (101F) last Thursday, which is an event for Knoxville. Hasn't happened since 1995 until this year. Nashville, OTOH, has been burning up for 2+ weeks now, hitting 100F or better (106F last thursday!) 13 out of the last 14 days. Ugh!