Sorry I haven't replied lately. Been occupied catching up on family and life.
I think most cultivars of banana are susceptible to the Badnavirus, but this source suggested two that seem to "rarely" have this virus:
"Cultivars Lady Finger (Musa AAB group) and Goldfinger (Musa AAAB group) have been propagated in large quantities in Australia by tissue culture, but infection in these cultivars is very rare (A. D. W. Geering & J. E. Thomas, unpublished data)."
They still can get the virus so control of the mealybugs should be a regular treatment plan. Introducing "mealybug destroyers" or other insect control of mealybugs would be helpful. I have used the mealybug destroyer with success as an experiment by a friend from Davey Tree Company. They were wonderful cleaning up my hibiscus without chemical treatments, and ridding mealybugs, scale, and aphids elsewhere in the yard. They are voracious predators.
The only problems with them are they look similar to mealybugs in the young stage. Adult stage gives the name of brown ladybug. My neighbor mistook them for mealybugs and blanketed the area and part of my adjoining yard with chems killing many (they will travel to other yards in search of more prey). So, you need to know what they look like to avoid killing them. I organicide when they are not present to destroy soft bodied insect pests.
You can also do soil drenches with organicide, and spray your bananas directly to rid them and control the pests, but, remember, it only takes one mealybug to spread the virus which may not show up immediately.
I believe you are on Pine Island, right? Go to one of the nurseries down the road and ask them what they recommend. They could recommend a good banana that might work for you.
Meanwhile, I am at it searching for mealybug infestations on my plants. Keep us informed as to what you decide to do and the outcome, which may take a while.
Good luck, and thanks for bringing this problem to light!
