Phil

Hi
I live in the far south coast of New South Wales, a coastal temperate climate.
I grew my first banana, sourced from Backyard Bananas, Queensland some years ago. I grew a dwarf ducasse ......it grew well and fruited ....delicious.

We moved house and I took a pup to grow in a conservatory which is part of the house. It has grown, flowered and now has a large hand of fruit that I am waiting to ripen (hopefully).

Apart from mealy bug which I try to control with soap washes and weekly neem oil sprays of the fruit there is something else which has got me wondering.
The outside tip of the leaves are drying out and turning brown otherwise the plants look healthy.

Is it the heat in the conservatory? Is it a water issue...too much or not enough?
Any suggestions.

There is enough space in the conservatory to accommodate 2 plants ...So I have 2 plants and each gets to keep one pup.

I am unsure how sustainable or viable it is to grow bananas in this situation. Initially I doubted that they would fruit....now I wait to see how the fruit will ripen and if it will produce delicious fruit.

Has anyone grown bananas in a conservatory? Any comments, suggestions appreciated

HMelendez

Welcome to the banana gang!......

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cincinnana

Welcome to the Jungle...

My first guess (only because I grow indoors in the winter) there might be slightly lower humidity than what the plant needs.

But the other variables which were mentioned are suspects also.
Length of daylight can play a roll also.

If you do an internet search for best temperature and humidity for a greenhouse you should be able to takeaway some good points which pertain to your conservatory setup.
There is a few minutes of reading on different heat, moisture topics but I am sure you will take away some good pointers. Your fix could be as easy as putting a large container of water in the space to add more moisture in the environment.

There are many forum members whom grow in greenhouses for the winter and hopefully they will offer up some information.

It is amazing you have fruit, I hope they will taste good.

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Phil

Thanks for the feedback

I think the browning has become more pronounced during our summer
months (?).....we do have a large water bowl in situ to increase humidity...not enough (?).....as you suggest more research seems to be required. Growing in a conservatory although an attractive idea is not as straightforward as growing outside...not that that doesn't have it's own challenges.

Simply Bananas

It does sound like a slight humidity condition.

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cincinnana

A fan blowing over the water will increase the evaporation rate adding the humidity you need.
Adding some ventilation or shade will also decrease heat gain and remove excessive heat.

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Phil

Just a brief update

I am very pleased to say the bananas have ripened (dwarf ducasse /sugar bananas) and they taste good....

This is despite less than ideal growing conditions....we measured humidity in the conservatory....it is about 50% near ground level (I guess it could be higher up where the bananas are?).....but from what I have read and remember humidity should be much higher...over 80% ....also high humidity may also impact on mite and possibly the other plant pests which seem to be doing quite well in the conservatory. Also I expect higher humidity would alleviate the browning of the leaves.

So the next project is to try to raise humidity levels.

psa

Considering that you managed to get good fruit from your bananas, I'd be tempted to say not to change anything, because you're obviously doing something right.

We have a fluctuating humidity, especially during the summer, in our large hothouse. We arranged to have water briefly sprayed sideways on a number of the plants, including the bananas, during the dry part of the day, which really cut down on mites and other pests, while also raising humidity and moderating temperatures.