Prometheus

Hey all,

I'm Brad, a banana rookie (already addicted), and I was looking for banana advice online and stumbled my way onto this great community. I'm a zone 5 person in Michigan, so my plants are mostly for foliage and a tropical feel on my deck during our sweltering summers. Currently I have two Musa Basjoo's that I started as little pups, a larger healthy Siam Ruby (4 pups and counting), and a healthy Abyssinian Red (Musa Ensete Maurelli?). One of my basjoo's has problems though. One is doing great, yet the other has been spitting out smaller and smaller leaves with each new leaf, and the other leaves are brown and wilted. There is a small 4" pup (sucker? - see, I did do some research), yet I didn't think this would drain that much energy from the "mother" plant. If I can figure out how to do it, I'll post some pictures of these. I've treated both basjoos the same; one beautiful, one, um, not so much. Any ideas? BTW, this appears to be a great forum full of great people. Glad to join. Thanks.

lorax

Welcome aboard, Brad! Pictures will definitely help us to diagnose what's going on with your Basjoo. Pups don't normally cause that to happen - they're natural reproduction in action.

MediaHound

Welcome!!!

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Apologies in advance if I am slow to reply to your PM. I suggest posting in the forums for support if you need something urgent.

Caloosamusa

Welcome to the organization Prometheus!

It is difficult growing bananas in that environment, taking them in at night when temperatures are below 65F will work wonders.

Good growing!!

Bob

Welcome aboard. The first thing i thought of when you mentioned your basjoo is that you should check the pot ( I'm assuming it's potted) for drainage issues. Possibly lift the plant and check the roots for signs of trouble. What type of fertilizer are you using?

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Jack Daw

Not quite, I didn't take my Cavendishes in (although they are potted), when the temps fell below 10°C (50°F), yet it didn't even slow them down. The very real fact actually is, that bananas do like and grow in temeperatures of 15 to 30°C (60 to 85°F) the best. Anything above and I've noticed (and measured) slower growth during the day. Also humidity is very important, that's when I found out, that my spring, summer and autumn rainy days are much better for the banana growth.
However when I consider fruit ripening and development (although I have no proof of that), I think the ideal temperatures are around 30°C (85°F) + and the weather should preferrably be sunny.

Dunno. Although, to get back to the topic, I believe, that when the day temperatures are higher (16°C or 60°C, night will be just long enough to drop to 5°C at worst and that, even for a short time, won't matter then, when the day temperatures are back to 20s in Centigrade or 70s in fahrnheit).

Just an observation. Although tropical bananas like SDC (Super Dwarf Cavendish) and DC (Dwarf Cavendish) are perfect for damage warnings (7°C or 45°F). If for example you see SDC or DC burnt after the night, you know, that you should really start watching the temps, because from this point on, any lower temperatures can be tricky to your bananas. What damages SDC will be coming through with almost no damage and flying colors for any other banana (not Mahoi, Dwarf Red and other Cavendish related, but you get the point). Crude, maybe a little bit torturing, but effective. Before anyone points anything out, none of my naners ever died yet, although it's not been that long history in my case, but still, there has already been plenty through my fingers...

Wish you luck growing and don't let the temperatures scare you. It's always worth a shot. As I've written, to evaluate the best conditions for my subtropical naners, I usually put a tropical one near them and watch the damage to it instead. This way, you can minimize the observation of dozens to observation of one (usually about 60 seconds is sufficient).
For basjoo and hardier species, the most ideal growth temps are about 20°C (68°F), any more and the growth is a little bit slower. This one really rocks in milder climates.

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Thnx to Marcel, Ante, Dr. Chiranjit Parmar and Francesco for the plants I've received.



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