sharpstick

long live the banana!
i noticed that my dwarf cavendish in my homemade earthbox was developing some serious brown leaves. upon closer inspection, the daughter plant was still looking a good, and i discovered two more babies popping up between them.
i've never seen a mother plant die this young before. i hope this isn't a serious problem. it had looked pretty healthy until a week or so ago.

Attached Images

bananas-4.jpg (984.2 KB, 190 views)

D_&_T

P-stem is still green so wait and see what happens.

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Chironex

I would cut off the bad leaves, the energy is being lost to them. But, I am really interested in your homemade contraption. Is it something you built yourself? Please tell more and provide a diagram or plans for it. What are the advantages?
Good luck with your bnanas!
Thanks

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Scot

sharpstick

sure
kitty litter earthbox post
the earthbox design keeps a reservoir of water that is available to wick up into the soil at all times so doesn't dry out. i've even kept tomatoes alive into the summer longer in them. (hard to do in the florida heat)
earthbox company/
i have some commercial ones, but they are a bit pricey. i do appreciate their research and development and highly recommend them. the kitty litter knockoff was an act of desperation when i needed a planter and had a growing pile of kitty litter pails!
going out to cut off leaves now. thanks.
billy s

amaznjohn

I'm not sure that you want water to "wick up" into banana roots. From what I understand, it takes much more energy from the plant to suck up water from below. I believe bananas prefer to have water "run down over" the roots and then drain out. But, good luck.

sharpstick

i don't think the water wicks up too much. the earthbox company says that any kind of plants can work although they don't mention bananas.
to have water run down would require a pump and plumbing, a more complicated system.
i've seen a banana tree that is growing inside our local hydroponics store that is about ten ft high and is pretty happy, even in the low light.
so far so good, but i'll report after a while.

amaznjohn

Please do. I'd be interested in knowing how it does.

Velutina

I've had an earthbox before to grow tomatoes. I was not impressed. The plants always looked sick..... but I didn't have to water as much

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Adam

lorax

There is such a thing as nanners being too moist - mine always hated having wet feet and it sounds like this Earthbox contraption might kind of ensure this problem. Hence the unhealthy look of that poor puppy.... Let it dry out substantially and see if it helps.

Pablo Vega

Very few bananas like wet feet, that might be the problem.

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PJV

pitangadiego

Not uncommon after winter stress, especially in Cavendish Family and the reds.

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Encanto Farms Nursery
http://encantofarms.com
We Be Bananas
http://webebananas.com

sharpstick

we only had one minor frost in february this year, but we're way past winter. this plant was in fine shape up until a few weeks ago. it's now into the 90s here. (Tampa FL)

chong

I have half a dozen Earthboxes, and there are some things different that I see between your construction and theirs. One is that you did not mention anything about perforating the bottom of the pot that holds the soil. If you did not do this, then there is no way for the air to "oxygenate" the soil from the bottom. Therein probably lies the reason for the blackening of the leaves, which is tantamount to overwatering.

Another is that Earthbox does not use anything else for a wick other than the soil it self. About an eighth of the width of the bottom of the box is filled with the soil and is actually submerged in the water. So the soil is the actual wick. The perforated plastic plate that holds the soil only runs 7/8ths of the width of the box and is elevated from the bottom of the box by about 2". The 1/4" overflow holes are drilled 1.5" from the bottom. This would leave an air gap of approximately 1/2" to which the bottom of the soil is exposed.

I will post a copy of "Rubbermaid" system of hydroponics for banana that I got from the net several years ago.

chong

If your soil is packed firmly, it should wick just enough. And if you have the perforations at the bottom of the upper pail, then the water intake wouldn't be too detrimental as long as the air can be absorbed into the soil sufficiently from below.

Here is the file that I copied from the net on a Hydroponic system for banana growing, using Rubbermaid storage bins. No complicated plumbing is involved. Just a timer and an aquarium air pump.

Enjoy!

Chong

Attached Files

BANANA HYDROPONICS-large.doc (215.5 KB, 11 views)

sharpstick

where did you find that? he doesn't give any details on hydro solution to use. and it looks like the air bubbles traveling up the tube create enough flow to rise to the top of the medium. that's a pretty good height. i would want to experiment with tubing size and height first unless he already has.