My Siam Ruby is Having Problems
 

I bought this Siam Ruby from an eBay Seller from Orlando, FL in 11/2007. After 2 months, I noticed that the oldest leaves tend to develop a red coloration at the upper portion of the outermost pseudostem, eventually withering, then the pertinent leaf will bend down at the base of the petiole. The leaf stays green but dries out eventually.

This is what it looked like when I first got it:


Took this on 02/19/2008:


This was taken today, 03/02/2008. the pstem that has the dark coloration is the 3rd or 4th to develop such. The succeeding leaf's pstem is also starting to show some coloration at the same elevation as the previous.




Has anyone had this problem?

Re: My Siam Ruby is Having Problems
 

I would not be surprised to see it regrow a new pseudostem from the base and ditch the old leaves completely.

Reminds me of my Kru a couple years ago that did this shortly after I got it:



That's a stick holding up the old growth.

Thats the sort of thing that happens when dealing with tissue cultured plants, they're fragile and sensitive to changes in their environment, and these changes become noticeable in the growth of the plant.

I cut a pup off my Siam Ruby today actually, speaking of Siam Ruby :)

Re: My Siam Ruby is Having Problems
 

How much light is it getting? how about temps? We still do not know a whole lot about this musa.

Re: My Siam Ruby is Having Problems
 

Hi chong, I had that with a basjoo, musella and a velutina, the P stem aws getting skinnier and skinier, it was rot from the inside:(
hope that that is not with your plant

Re: My Siam Ruby is Having Problems
 

Thanks, Mark.

There's a fluorescent lamp 6" above it and it's inside my bedroom 2 ft. from a window. The temperature does not get below 68degF at night, and averages around 70degF during the day. There is an ultrasonic humidifier pointed at it 24/7. I need the humidifier in my room anyway.

Speaking of lack of info on this plant, notice how when I got it the earlier leaf has a lot of red while the later leaves had barely any? Then the succeeding leaves after them did not have any color except very thin around the edges. Now the emerging leaf, the one in the middle, is showing some color developing. It almost seems that it's genes were not distributed evenly within the plant itself. I guess this is why TC products contain many green plants.

Re: My Siam Ruby is Having Problems
 

In my opinion, a standard fluorescnt light isn't really sufficient for any musa species. Even 2 feet from a window. I would say lack of light is an issue here. Try exposing it to southern sunlight a bit closer to a window, and let us know if it pops right back!

Erlend

Re: My Siam Ruby is Having Problems
 

Thanks Jarred,
If you've had the Kru for a couple of years, has the plant fruited yet? I can imagine that it would be quick to fruit if it were planted in the ground and at a very favorable temperature like in your area. I wish I had known about this organization when I was there in the Del Ray Beach Marriott for 10 months with FEMA after hurricane Charley. My house would be full of bananas since I could have brought them back with me on my 30-day R&R back to Seattle.

And how did the original plant fare? Did it survive? I hope mine does. Or at least pup like yours.

Thanks again.
Chong

Re: My Siam Ruby is Having Problems
 

Thanks Erlend,
Unfortunately, moving it next to a window will not improve the situation tremendously because the sunlight is not very bright here in the Puget Sound region during the winter. Matter of fact, hardly any when it's raining. Unlike other places in the US. And most people know how much it rains in Seattle. To make matters worse, my house has a 3-foot overhang all around.

Maybe, I'll just double the wattage plus add another lamp with a 25-watt incandescent lamp over it. Or maybe, even a 60-watt halogen lamp over it. Come to think of it, I still have a half dozen of them. I wouldn't dare place it in my greenhouse because the temperature over there is only 55degF(12.8degC)

Thanks again.
Chong

Re: My Siam Ruby is Having Problems
 

One thing that I forgot to mention was that prior to these remaining 3 leaves, I noticed that there was white mold growing around the base of the oldest leaf's petioles down one and a quarter inch. I cleaned it with a warm and soapy water in a paper towel and rinsed it off with clean moistened paper towel. After that, I moistened a Kleenex with 3% Hydrogen Peroxide and wipe the entire pstem. It was after that, that I took the picture of the 2-month old plant. I looks like the mold was taken care of because I don't see it forming anymore.

I wonder if anyone thinks this might be relevant to my problem. This morning, I looked at the pstem that was turning brown, and I noticed that the brown area is completely shriveled and appears to have cut off supply to the leaf, though which is still green.

Re: My Siam Ruby is Having Problems
 

Could be light. More light needed. But also could be sick. How is the watering? I have noticed that these guys do not get there red till about a foot if they are TC.

Re: My Siam Ruby is Having Problems
 

I haven't been at all happy with this banana. I bought it last summer, it was a fair sized plant, about 2 ft tall and had beautiful red coloration. I planted it in the greenhouse in full sun. Its done okay, no real problems with it trying to die, but it lost all the red color, and it really hasn't grown at all over the winter, while the Ae Ae next to it has more than doubled in size.

I was wondering if maybe I was overfertilizing mine.

Re: My Siam Ruby is Having Problems
 

Do you not fertilize each one the same way? Are they kept in the same temperature? If so, your SR might be from TC also. A sword pup from a mature plant will take off pretty fast.

Re: My Siam Ruby is Having Problems
 

I had a orinoco TC that grew way faster than all the pups that I have planted.

Re: My Siam Ruby is Having Problems
 

Hm...interesting Chong...

My Siam Ruby is doing well actually. Yes, it has lost all of the red color, but when you give it more intense light, it shows up (especially on the newest leaf). Right now...it has 3 leaves, and y'all are right, it has not been growing very fast. About a leaf a month or ever 3 weeks or so. It is in the process of putting another leaf out right now and I just can't wait to put her in the ground and let her go...I'm sure it will be a showstopper :)

Re: My Siam Ruby is Having Problems
 

[quote=chong;31016]I bought this Siam Ruby from an eBay Seller from Orlando, FL in 11/2007. After 2 months, I noticed that the oldest leaves tend to develop a red coloration at the upper portion of the outermost pseudostem, eventually withering, then the pertinent leaf will bend down at the base of the petiole. The leaf stays green but dries out eventually.

This is what it looked like when I first got it:


Took this on 02/19/2008:


This was taken today, 03/02/2008. the pstem that has the dark coloration is the 3rd or 4th to develop such. The succeeding leaf's pstem is also starting to show some coloration at the same elevation as the previous.




Hi if by chance their is something going on with the roots,,wich im sure thier is go buy some Halt systemic and water that in ,it is a fungicide will help protect the roots!!!Had a banana that did the same thing to me and as soon as i did this about 2 weeks later it was looking back to normal! Hope this helps,Jason.

Re: My Siam Ruby is Having Problems
 

Well, yes, mine are right next to each other, side by side, Chong. They get watered at the same time, they get the same fertilizer, and they get the same light, which is full "greenhouse" sun. There is nothing impeding the sunlight from the floor in the section that they are planted in.

My other thought was, perhaps its DAYLENGTH and the decreased intensity of the WINTER sun that might have caused the "greening up". It certainly hasn't affected the Ae Ae.

Here are 3 photos. The first one shows the Ae Ae and the Siam Ruby. This is after the Ae Ae was brought back into the greenhouse after my experiment in keeping it outdoors all winter (I decided that wasn't all that good of an idea). So its pretty small, because its just regrown from being frozen to the ground. This first pic was taken in Sept 2007. See that beautiful red color on the Siam Ruby??

The second photo I was actually taking a picture of the huge 6 foot bromeliad in the front and the Ae Ae just kinda got into the frame. Its trunk has aaded a huge amount of bulk and it has really grown. The Siam Ruby, however, is the same size, but is totally green and very hard to see in all the other stuff there, but its the little banana down in the left in front of the Ae Ae.

The 3rd photo shows the green Siam Ruby better and the Ae Ae less.

I am hoping that, now that Spring is here and we have added daylength and are adding light intensity, the Siam Ruby will revert back to its former glory. If it doesn;t, I'm gonna be pretty mad.

Re: My Siam Ruby is Having Problems
 

photo #2

Re: My Siam Ruby is Having Problems
 

photo #3

Re: My Siam Ruby is Having Problems
 

Hey is that a variegated screw pine???

Re: My Siam Ruby is Having Problems
 

Thanks Jason,
I will try that. Though, I dusted the roots of this plant with Captan before planting in this larger pot, I may not have reached portions of the root where some of the fungus are present. Rather than uproot the plant again, a systemic treatment would be better. I had not heard of that before, but since you introduced it to me here, I will certainly look for "Halt" in the garden shop.