New to growing! Would love some suggestions - soil/watering/etc
 

Hi! Seattle grower here (zone 8b). I’m about a month or 2 new to growing banana plants. Would love some suggestions on what I could be doing wrong or what to avoid.

I have a 3 foot tall blue Java in a 16” Pot indoors under a 5000 kelvin bulb, and it’s been pretty good so far! Lush/ new leaves sprouting, etc. I’m assuming I have the soil mixture wrong, because watering it is a mess. When I water, it usually 100% of the time gets fungus gnats, which then lead to Caterpillars in the soil. I’ll let the soil dry out which will make the plant droop (which it never recovers from). I water it again, and new leaves replace the drooped ones.

My mixture is normal soil with a 10-10-10 fert, And about 1/3rd perlite. Since I’m in Seattle.. If I leave him outside for even just 1 hour.. the leaves COMPLETELY drop, almost touching the Pseudostem. I’m assuming it’s not used to the weather change from indoor to outdoor. I’d love to promote root growth to have the plant not sit in the moist soil for so long and succumb to fungus gnats every time.


I also have a Cold Hardy banana outside. It’s about 6 inches tall.. very young. And so far it’s doing fine. Gets whiteflies occasionally, but I started rubbing his leaves with soap water to prevent that. This banana plant attracts A LOT of horse flies, at least 4 or 5 flying around the vicinity everyday. The plants never been inside; grows VERY slow. Seems fine.

What I’m mostly worried about is my indoor java. Watering tips? Soil tips? Promoting root growth? Preventing bugs? He doesn’t seem to be producing new leaves as of late but he has about 5 very lush ones.

Pic included. Setup probably not ideal, but it’s a work in progress.

Re: New to growing! Would love some suggestions - soil/watering/etc
 

Good start is the many Youtube videos on how to grow your plant.
There are many takeaways for bananas as well as tropicals.
You will even find specific information for each issue you might have...
Well.... that is just a start

Re: New to growing! Would love some suggestions - soil/watering/etc
 

Many thanks for your suggestions. cookie clicker

Re: New to growing! Would love some suggestions - soil/watering/etc
 

You can easily deal with gnats with sticky traps that you can buy on Amazon.
Neem Oil also kills them but I've never used it on bananas before.

Re: New to growing! Would love some suggestions - soil/watering/etc
 

I live south of Seattle and put all my bananas outside starting in late April until mid October and they love it outside and grow thick pseudo stems and lots of leaves I even have one with a bunch of little bananas it started blooming in March. In the fall I move them in the garage where I keep my big plants in the winter. The smaller plants come in the house I do not use artificial lighting and water very little in the winter. You have to start them off in a shady location for a few weeks before they tolerate lots of sun. I fertilize every 2 weeks with Miracle Grow in the summer time in the winter I do not fertilize. I don't worry about gnats when I get them which is not often you can put a layer of sand on top of the dirt that is supposed to keep them away. Your hardy banana needs to come indoors during the winter since it is too small to survive outside.

Re: New to growing! Would love some suggestions - soil/watering/etc
 

Forgot to mention.....the best indoor growing advice is found on the cannibis forums.
Bananas and tropicals are grown in exactly the same indoor environment.
There are a bunch of DIY takeaways which will make your tropicals thrive.
Also many great links for insect abatement.