Cpatrikis

im sorry for writing so much in this post but i am just really worried about the life of my plant. im just going to give you the full history of it and hope you can give me some pointers and re assure me!

i have a musa basjoo that i have had for about 3-4 weeks now. when it first arrived in the mail it had 2 leaves on it. one was healthy and the other had brown edges and was dieing. there was also a third leaf that the nursery must have clipped for the shipment. once the first new leaf shot up and opened i clipped the first bad leaf because it had been getting worst and worst every day.

shortly after i had noticed two brown spots on the origional healthy leaf and saw a what i now believe to be salt deposit on the outside and top edge of the clay pot i had it planted in (i keep the plant indoors under a plant growth bulb in a normal light fixture). every day the spots on the "healthy" leaf got bigger and bigger until they connected forming one big unattractive brown spot. it started browning on the edges as well. so i decided to transplant the plant into a plastic pot because of the advice of others on this site.

soon after the transplant (i think the next day) the plant light i had had un-clipped from the shelf i had it on and of course, broke off the newest leaf. my banana plant was then a one leaf plant (the one that was browning more and more each day). after a few days a smaller leaf shot up rather quickly to replace the other. since it was a replacement it was smaller and the stem of the leaf was weaker than any of the other leafs that were on it before because i suppose it produced the leaf quickly to get enough energy for the plant. this new leaf is actually smaller then the new leaf that had just been produced and broken off.

the other leaf that was on it had just gotten so brown and withered i had to clip it as well. now once again my plant only has one leaf. the stem goes from thick (not really think but in relation to the plant it is) to super skiney in one small area where the leaves kept drying out and getting clipped at where the small leaves stem comes through.

i dont water it until the soil is dry and i have a thin layer of mulch over the soil. the soil is a composite of organic earthworm castings, sand and cactus/ palm tree potting soil for retaining moisture.

i guess what im asking is do you think the plant will begin to produce big strong leaves any time soon even through the narrow black spot on the trunk?

and are their any other possibilities for the leaf browning besides pests, and water?

i will try and give you a new picture but if you look at the pictures in my photos the trunk is not at all as think is it was then.

please help!

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Chris

Cpatrikis

the first and second pictures i posted in the message are what it currently looks like. in the second picture you can see how the trunk gets really thin (as thin as the new leaves stem because that's all that's there besides dead clipped leaf remains).

the third picture is the leaf i just clipped before posting the comment today and those brown spots spread through the entire leaf.

the next image shows the what i believe to be salt deposits on the old pot.

and the final was the first picture i posted about 2 weeks ago. the new leaf coming out is the one the lamp broke off. and the one in the back left if the original damaged leaf.

i just noticed looking at the 4th picture, the leaf in the front you can see the very beginning of the first two brown spots that spread and merged together drying out the entire leaf (the one i just clipped).


again please help! i need all the advice and encouragement i can get guys i am new to this hobby and don't want to have to give up on this plant and buy a new one!

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Chris

Richard

I believe your plant is indoors? That's ok, provided:

• 8 hours of bright light per day
• temperatures remain above 40 F
• it is not overwatered

For a potted plant, don't check the soil moisture at the top. Instead, check the soil by sticking your finger in a hole at the bottom. If the soil there is wet, it is not time to water.
The banana plant will go "dormant" and loose some or all of its leaves when the day time high temperature stay below 65 F.

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dablo93

i had the same with my basjoo, velutina and musella last year, the stem got very, very thin. when i dead some research i found out that the corm was rotting
overwintering inside is very difficult i think.
also watch out for dry air inside , in living rooms there is often less then 40 % in winter when the living room is heated.

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Cpatrikis

yea im going to try some of those things thanks guys.
latest update tho.. my clumsy hands actually broke off the only leaf while trying to move one of the pots nearby. unfortunately i think this plant is done for and its time to buy another one.

i just removed the mulch that i had on top of the soil and noticed a lot of small bugs. i don't know if they are spider mites or not because they are not red. i am not thinking this is the cause of my plants problems.

i know a banana plant is able to loose all its leaves and fully bounce back over winter but this plant is almost brand new and probably doesn't even have its root system established yet.
any suggestions of how to fix the problem? im about to just dump the soil and plant and clean the pot really well. i think its time to try again.

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Chris

Tog Tan

Just a note from my personal experience. I germinated a bunch of old seeds of the Musa velutina and only 1 popped up. Then one day after 2 weeks, I notice the plant looked bad. I gave it a tug and it came up rootless! I thought it was gone for sure. Not wanting to throw it away, I stuck it into another small pot of soil. Guess what? Now it is a 2ft pseudostem plant with 1 pup. So what I am trying to say is, you ought to give the leafless plant a shot by keep on watering it. It should bounce back.

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Tog Tan has sadly suddenly passed away 6/16/09. We will miss you Tog Tan.

Cpatrikis

yea i actually removed it from the larger pot with the what i thought were spider mites and rinsed the roots very well with water and put it in a smaller pot with fresh soil. i clipped the trunk down to about where the roots started and it is all under the soil. i also chopped up the trunk and leaf and put it in the soil on the top as a layer of organic compost to hopefully give it nutrients. watered it with a little mirical grow and have it covered with a plastic top to keep the moisture level up too.

you think this will help it bounce back and how long do you think it will take? the roots looked fine by the way.

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Chris

Tog Tan

Wow! I think that's a bit drastic for a small plant. I have a similar situation here now with a local cultivar, the Pisang Berangan. I got it in very bad condition and the top leaf wasn't there and its a week now, so far no 'movement' but it is looking very well. Things like this takes anything from 3 wks to 4 wks to rebound. If the plant is strong and healthy it should come back. Otherwise another lesson learned in 'nanas!

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Tog Tan has sadly suddenly passed away 6/16/09. We will miss you Tog Tan.