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Originally Posted by marco
Are you saying the variegated varieties are more suitable for lower light just because the dark colors will absorb more more wavelengths of light than lighter and "greener" ones, or is there some other reason?
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I suggested those not because they grow easily under low light or humidity, but because they are usually grown in some shade. They'll burn in bright sun. The white areas won't photosynthesize. Plus, they're just cool looking!
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And I'm assuming you're talking about CA outside conditions- probably consistantly pretty hot, right?
That is quite a departure from what my basjoos experience all winter in the house here...67-70 F temps, heat pump supplied humidity with normal light coming through venetian blinds.
In the summer we do go 'old fashioned' and leave the windows open quite a bit,
(We have good shade trees & nice breeze generally)
The house inside temps can get to the mid to upper 80's with higher natural humidity in the summer, though.
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Yep, outside in the bright California sunshine. I have seen 5 weeks straight of over 100 degrees with the highest being 112 daytime in July, and then down to around 55 at night with the Delta Breezes (gotta love 'em). Some nights, we get a hot, dry north wind for the nights, and the temp is still over 90 at 11pm. Humidity around 20-25%. I did get leaf folding and some minor sunburn.
I ran my ground level drip sprayers at about 5-6pm for about 45 minutes, more to drop the temperature, than to raise the humidity. Next year I'll spray overhead instead of at ground level just for the humidity and cooling and hook them to a timer for more waterings, and less duration... The lower temp days in the 80's have low humidity and there is no leaf folding.
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My goal, again, is to grow a 'arid tolerant' banana in high 'natural' window-front indoor light conditions completely year-round.
If the oil that I've used on the basjoos helps me get to that goal, I'll use it to help hold in the moisture in the 'arid tolerant' variety if I have to until I learn the plants limits.
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Now the question is are you going to truly go 'arid' and purposely going to withold water from the plant, or will it get regular watering? I'm sure most of us try to supply all the water the plant can handle, the indoor growers probably less so, Jason seems like he's got it going on, but I think you can (with proper soils or water holding crystals/gel, etc.) cut watering down and, maybe, still get a couple of bananas to ripen... Do you want fruit production? If so, then more light, water, and nutrients are going to be required.
If they will get regular and deep waterings, and the soil holds water well, you may not have humidity and heat related problems and grow a lovely houseplant. I grew 1/2 a dozen different bananas last winter in my livingroom with no humidity related problems. They were in a very gloomy room with little light. I only watered them once a month, but they were in oversized containers and the soil held water well. Now, my intentions were only to keep them alive, but they grew and looked good. If your oil will deter mites, now you may be on to something. I'll bet an oiled plant looks muy sexy!