Advice Needed
 

I have a struggling banana and at this point I am not sure what to do. Any suggestions will be appreciated!!!


This banana has been in a container for the last two years and spends winters inside and summer's out.

I moved him outside on May 12 this year and shortly there after the last leaf the remained bent over and began to rot (a black mushy rot) at the stem.
See the pictures from May below





I removed the leaf and shortly there after had to remove a section on the top of the pstem. Everything was green and looked good for being leaf-less. I went ahead with my plan to transport this plant into a bigger container on May 26. I know there is adequate drainage holes in the new container and the two new plants I planted in pots with the same soil mixture are thriving putting out a new leaf each already.

Since the transplanting there has been no growth and I have had to remove more matter from the top due to rot. A week ago I stopped watering the plant to see if the roots were too moist. Of course it then rained for 4 of the next 5 days. Below are pictures from today. I will try to add some better angled pictures tonight or tomorrow. The green part sticking up is NOT a leaf coming out but is instead the inside that was left after I cut out the outer rotting layers.

Any idea what I should be doing with this plant now?

Re: Advice Needed
 

Cut it off 1 foot from the soil line. Transplant it into a pot with drainage, preferably 20 to 25 gallon size.

Re: Advice Needed
 

Your Banana has to get used to the outside, my first leaves were ****ty too. Try cutting it down from above untill you see a green fresh leave. (could be just a green small point, and no rotting around it.)
Just be a little patience. Once it will start to grow, you'll be fine! Maybe if you can, put it in the ground, it's always beter for your plant.

Greetings, and good luck.
Maurits (The Netherlands)

Re: Advice Needed
 

I would cut it off just below all that new growth you have there. That will get you back to healthy pseudostem. Place it in a pot 2'' larger in circumference than the roots at the corm. (don't want a bunch of wet soil in your pot until you have a lot of new growth (4-5 leaves).

Use Some Miracle Gro potting soil, mixed with 30% perlite. You probably have a few dead roots (cut them off). use a pot that does not narrow drastically to the bottom. Soak the soil with minimum leakage, and do not water again until the pot is between moist and dry. Keep this up until, and after, the first full leaf.
She will tell you when to water after that!

Re: Advice Needed
 

For an update. I cut it back farther making sure I had all of the black rot out again. In total I cut two to two and half feet away. I little tiny start of a leaf popped out a half an inch a few days later. 10 days later it is still not even an inch out and still tightly rolled up.

Like I had been routinely doing, I gently checked the p-stem for rot and again found it firm. As I checked p-steam the whole plant felt loose. The stem had been broken the majority way through right below the soil line. Both the root area left and the base of the stem were largely white in color. There was some signs of death on the outer edge of the stem but no real rot. I hope the roots will put up a new plant.

Now for the odd part. The stem is completely severed and has absolutely NO roots. I set it aside in some soil out of the way left it there knowing full well it is dead and worthless. Now it seems to be actively attempting to pushing out that new leaf having gained a few inches.

I do not know if the winds from a storm cracked the p-stem or if maybe a landscaper hit it, or if I damaged when transplanting it earlier (which I seriously doubt). Is there and animal or a worm that could have done this damage. I did not see any claw or teeth marks and it was clearly below the soil in a container. Any ideas?

Regardless...I now think the p-stem is possessed by some sort of evil banana deity...